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SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS.  Bu5.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  i. 

TORONTO,  JAN.   14, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann 

f  aitb  Xea&0  to  Ibigpocriei?^ 

:o: 

The  prejudice  of  unfounded  belief  often  degenerates  into  the 
prejudice  of  custom,  and  becomes  at  last  rank  hypocrisy. 
When  men,  from  custom  or  fashion  or  any  worldly  motive, 
profess  or  pretend  to  believe  what  they  do  not  believe,  nor  can 
give  any  reason  for  believing,  they  unship  the  helm  of  their 
morality,  and  being  no  longer  honest  to  their  own  minds,  they 
feel  no  moral  difficulty  in  being  unjust  to  others.  It  is  from 
the  influence  of  this  vice,  hypocrisy,  that  we  see  so  many 
church-and-meeting-going  professors  and  pretenders  to  reli- 
gion so  full  of  trick  and  deceit  in  their  dealings,  and  so  loose 
in  the  performance  of  their  engagements  that  they  are  not  to 
be  trusted  further  than  the  laws  of  the  country  will  bind  them. 
Morality  has  no  hold  on  their  minds,  no  restraint  on  their 
actions. — Thomas  Paine. 

EDITORIALS. 

WHAT  PREACHERS  THINK  OF  CHRISTMAS. 
If  the  choir-master  has  his  work  cut  out  for  him  to  organize  something 
new  and  startling  for  the  Christmas  festivities  at  the  church,  it  is  no  less 
incumbent  on  the  parson  to  add  his  mite,  little  as  it  may  be,  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  attractions.  The  task  is  undoubtedly  a  hard  one  with  such  a 
threadbare  subject;  and  the  man  who  tries  to  say  something  rational, 
and  succeeds  in  saying  something  not  unmistakably  idiotic,  about  thr 
mraculous  birth  of  an  infinite  and  almighty  being  m  the  shape  of  an 
unconscious  infant,  deserves  at  least  a  putt}'  medal. 

Canon  Cody,  at  St.  Paul's  Anglican  Chiu'ch,  chosfi  for  his  toxt :  ''And 
this  siiall  be  a  sign  unto  you  :   yr>u  shall  find  the  habo  wr.ippcd  in  swad- 


SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


dling  clothes,  lying  in  a  manger."  Surely  this  was  a  wonderful  sign  ! 
If  the  swaddling  clothes  had  been  made  of  asbestos  cloth  or  cocoa-nut 
fibre  matting,  or  even  plain  Scotch  linoleum,  there  might  have  been 
something  unusual  in  it ;  but,  as  swaddling  clothes  are  the  proper  per- 
quisite of  all  infants,  where  was  the  particular  sign  ?  Was  it  in  the  fact 
of  the  manger  being  used  for  a  cradle  ?  Truly,  not  many  newly-born 
infants  are  laid  in  mangers,  but  as  the  parents  of  this  one,  we  are  told, 
could  not  obtain  better  lodgings  than  a  stable,  the  inn  being  full,  the 
manger  must  have  been  handy  and  not  very  unsuitable.  Matthew,  how- 
ever, tells  us  that  the  wise  men  found  the  family  in  a  house  ;  but  such 
discrepancies  don't  count  in  **  inspired  "  writings.  It  is  possible  there 
might  have  been  a  manger  in  the  house,  because  "  manger"  may  be  a 
mistranslation.     In  any  case,  the  difficulty  is  to  see  the  sign. 

We  remember  once  an  unwished-for  birth  occurring  at  a  Methodist 
Sunday-school  picnic,  in  which  case  a  lady's  under-garment  served  for 
temporary  swaddling  clothes  ;  and  not  long  ago  a  similar  event  occurred 
in  a  railway  carriage,  when  the  resources  of  the  lady  passengers  were 
similarly  taxed.  Here  there  was  room  for  a  sign,  if  you  like  ;  but  plain 
common  swaddling  clothes  !  Where  was  the  halo  all  this  time — the  halo 
that  all  the  painters  see  round  the  heads  of  parents  and  child?  That 
must  have  been  a  photographic  effect,  which  took  about  fifteen  centuries 
to  be  developed. 

Canon  Cody's  chief  point  seems  to  have  been,  that  the  humble  sur- 
roundings of  the  infancy  of  Jesus  were  **  a  kind  of  a  sort  of  a  prophecy" 
of  his  life  of  poverty  and  self-sacrifice  that  *'  culminated  in  the  cross  !  " 
This  is  a  common-place  way  of  "  improving  "  the  story.  If  the  infant 
.lesus  had  tripped  over  a  stone  and  broken  his  nose,  this  also  might  be 
regarded  as  a  prophecy  of  his  ultimate  fate ;  and  again,  like  William's 
fall  when  landing  on  the  English  coast,  it  might  be  interpreted  as  a  pre- 
sage of  conquest.  You  pay  the  fee,  and  the  parson  imparts  his  wisdom 
to  you.     Such  wisdom  ! 

Nor  can  we  agree  with  Canon  Cody  that  "  in  the  supreme  moment  of 
life,  it  did  not  matter  whether  we  were  rich  or  poor."  This  also  is  a 
common  and  easy  way  of  **  improving"  the  story — for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  ;  and  doubtless  it  satisfies  many  of  the  poor.  But  what  moment 
is  the  supreme  one  in  a  man's  life  ?  Is  it  the  moment  of  birth  or  that 
of  death  ?  In  both,  the  possession  of  **  means"  may  be  vastly  important 
to  most  people,  though  a  stoic  may  profess  to  be  indifferent  to  comfort 
or  power.     Is  it  that  flood-tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  which  leads  to — 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  3 

riches  and  honor  or  poverty  and  disgrace,  but  which  may  be  modified 
in  either  way  by  the  wherewithal  ? 

Most  men  differ  from  Canon  Cody  in  this  matter,  his  fellow-preachers 
especially.  It  matters  to  them  very  greatly,  in  the  supreme  moment 
when  they  receive  a  new  **  call  from  God  to  do  His  work,"  whether  the 
call  comes  through  a  rich  or  a  poor  congregation.  The  dying  man  may 
not  be  able  to  take  his  riches  with  him,  but  he  usually  evinces  a  keen 
interest  in  their  ultimate  disposition.  To  him,  it  matters  very  greatly 
whether  the  estate  he  has  worked  many  years  for  should  be  squandered 
by  a  reckless  spendthrift,  or  carefully  conserved  and  used  for  the  object 
he  had  in  view. 

It  is  all  very  well  for  Canon  Cody  and  other  preachers  to  tell  us  that 
it  is  character  that  counts,  not  wealth,  and  so  on  ;  but  if  they  want  us 
to  believe  they  are  honest  in  their  laudations  of  poverty,  they  should 
begin  to  practise  what  they  preach.  Until  they  make  some  attempt  to 
do  this,  we  can  only  regard  their  professional  homilies  about  poverty  as 
hypocritical  poppycock. 

Rev.  Dr.  Milligan  also  "  hit  up  "  the  poverty  lesson,  and  he  was  very 
near  making  a  discovery.  He  said  that  "  From  the  life  of  the  Carpenter- 
Messiah  he  drew  the  lesson  that  it  was  through  man  that  God  best  re- 
vealed himself."  Had  he  gone  a  little  further,  he  might  have  got  nearer 
the  truth  by  saying  that  "  God  had  revealed  himself  only  through  man," 
and  then  he  might  have  discovered  that  all  we  have  to  justify  the  idea  is 
this — that  some  men  have  said  that  God  has  revealed   himself  to  them. 

Rev.  Dr.  Sparling,  at  the  Methodist  Cathedral,  talked  of  the  Incarna- 
tion as  "  the  great  pivotal  feature  of  God's  creative  plan  !  "  We  have 
been  inclined  to  look  upon  **  the  Fall"  as  the  pivotal  point,  for  without 
the  Fall,  the  Atonement  would  have  been  unnecessary  ;  and,  of  course, 
if  no  Atonement,  no  Incarnation,  no  Crucifixion,  no  Resurrection,  no 
Ascension,  no  Son,  no  Holy  Ghost,  no  Trinity,  no  Christianity,  and  no 
Morality — nothing  but  a  common  work-a-day  world,  evolving,  through  a 
knowledge  of  natural  law,  to  higher  and  higher  stages  of  happiness  and 
nobility,  unimpeded  by  Christian  ignorance,  bigotry  and  brutality.  No, 
the  Apple  Tree  Incident  cannot  be  thus  unceremoniously  dismissed. 

Mr.  Sparling  went  into  some  high-sounding  rhetoric  in  this  fashion  : 

•*  The  Incarnation  is  the  highest,  manifestation  of  God,  the  culminating  ex 
pression  of  the  method  and   principles  that  had  always  governed  the  activities 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


of  God.  God  is  tr)ing  to  incarnate  himself  in  our  political,  social,  religious, 
home,  and  church  life  ;  and  if  he  is  not  incarnated  in  your  life  and  my  life  it  is 
because  we  have  hindered  the  incarnation  by  our  determination  to  keep  him 
out  !  " 

It  must  require  real  genius  to  put  this  sort  of  stuff  together.  What 
is  "  incarnation  ?  "  Mr.  Sparling  must  have  had  some  extraordinary 
experiences,  for  he  evidently  knows  that  "  God  is  trying  to  incarnate 
himself  in  Ontario  politics."  He  surely  might  easily  have  chosen  a  less 
putrid  set  of  circumstances.  Why,  he  is  red  icing  his  god  to  the  level 
of  Gamey  or  Stratton,  Sam  Thompson  or  Urquhart.  Fancy  the  Almighty 
trying  to  get  into  our  social  life,  and  being  kept  out  by  our  determination 
not  to  let  him  in  !  WHiat  meaning  can  Mr.  Sparling  attach  to  the  terms 
"  god  "  and  "  almighty  ?  "  Is  an  almighty  god  less  powerful  than  a  weak 
man  ?  And  when  God  incarnates  himself  into  Ontario  politics  and  social 
life,  how  shall  we  know  it  ?  Will  he  appear  visibly,  in  human  flesh  sub- 
sisting— a  veritable  Second  Coming  ?  Or  is  Mr.  Sparling's  sermon  only 
so  much  meaningless  Methodist  shibboleth  ? 

Dr.  Parker,  of  the  Jarvis  Street  Baptists,  thought  *'  The  Pre-eminence 
of  Christ  "  a  good  Christmas  subject.  Well,  as  "  I  and  my  Father  are 
one,"  if  Christ  is  not  pre-eminent,  why  do  men  call  themselves  Chris- 
tians ?  Dr.  Parker  thought  Christ  was  **  the  very  image  of  the  invisible 
god  !  "  But,  if  God  be  invisible,  how  can  Dr.  Parker  justify  his  opinion  ? 
Dr.  Parker's  logic  is  identical  with  that  of  the  nigger  who  "  knew  there 
must  be  a  debbil,  else  how  could  dey  make  his  picter  so  bery  like  him  ?" 

**  Christ's  pre-eminence,"  said  Dr.  Parker,  in  old-time  preaching  style, 
•*  was  suggested  in  his  incarnation,  vindicated  in  his  resurrection,  re-es- 
tablished in  heaven,  and  recognized  in  meditation."  There  seems  to  be 
mighty  little  of  a  substantial  nature  here  to  prove  anything,  ignoring 
altogether  the  tremendous  claims  made  for  Jesus.  His  pre-eminence  is 
suggested,  vindicated,  re-established,  and  recognized  ;  bat.  Dr.  Parker, 
how  are  you  going  to  prove  that  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels,  if  he  ever  lived, 
was  anything  more  than  an  ordinary  religious  enthusiast,  uttering  many 
foolish  and  many  contradictory  maxims,  and  utterly  lacking  the  needed 
knowledge  for  formulating  an  ethical  system  ?  As  Goldwin  Smith  eays, 
we  have  much  Oriental  hyperbole;  but  Oriental  hyperbole  makes  a  poor 
moral  guide. 

At  St.  Micliael's  (Catholic)  Cathedral  business  began  in  the  dark  hours 
before  daybreak,  masses  being  said  every  hour  from  6  to  10  a.m.  Then, 
at  10.80,   His  Grace  the  Archbishop  **  pontificated,"  and  Father  Ryan 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


preached.  A  few  words  from  "  His  Grace"  preceded  his  announcement 
of  a  **  plenary  indulgence  "  to  all  who  attended  confession  and  holy 
communion.  Which  meant,  that  these  favored  ones  left  the  church  with 
a  free  pardon  for  whatever  excess  they  might  commit ;  they  could  "enjoy 
themselves  just  as  they  damn  pleased,"  without  any  fear  that  the  priest 
would  censure  them,  whatever  the  magistrate  might  say.  Surely  such 
immoral  teaching  should  not  be  permitted  in  our  day. 

One  part  of  the  decorations  of  St.  Michael's  consisted  of  a  represen- 
tation of  the  manger  of  Bethlehem.  The  manger  exhibit  and  the  plenary 
indulgence  are  well  matched :  they  are  both  rather  for  beasts  than  men. 

"  GOD." 

The  history  of  the  God  Idea  is  one  of  the  strangest  of  all  histories. 
Among  civilized  peoples,  while  at  all  times  there  have  been  men  who 
ridiculed  the  popular  notions  concerning  gods  and  other  "  divine  "  beings 
who  inhabit  a  spiritual  or  supernatural  world,  from  which  they  are  able 
to  play  tricks  with  this  world  of  sense,  the  belief  in  such  strange  ideas 
has  been  almost  universal,  and  seems  to  be  almost  universal  in  our  own 
day.  We  like  to  think  that  such  a  belief  must  be  dissipated  by  progress 
in  real  knowledge,  but  it  is  clear  that  that  progress  may  be  very  great, 
and  yet  produce  but  a  small  effect  upon  the  inherited  beliefs  and  preju- 
dices of  the  masses.  "  A  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing  "  is  as 
true  a  saying  to-day  as  it  ever  was  ;  we  see  that  in  many  cases  it  simply 
changes  the  phase  of  superstition  ;  but  knowledge  is  certainly  the  only 
savior  of  mankind,  and  it  is  our  business  to  make  it  as  effective  as  is 
possible  for  the  progress  of  freedom  of  thought  and  speech. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  considerable  progress  had  been  made 
in  observation  of  natural  phenomena  and  in  logical  discussion  of  them, 
and  many  of  the  ancient  philosophers  were  pronounced  disbelievers  in 
the  old  theology.  But  the  civilization  of  Greece  and  Rome  was  wiped 
out  entirely  by  the  barbarism  that,  allied  with  Christianity,  submerged 
the  Western  world  in  two  millenniums  of  brutal  ignorance,  from  which 
it  is  only  just  beginning  to  emerge. 

During  those  two  millenniums,  while  a  corrupt,  debauched,  ignorant, 
and  tyrannical  priesthood  controlled  its  destinies,  the  West  owned  un- 
wavering allegiance  to  the  God  Idea,  to  the  witchcraft  idea,  and  to  all 
the  strange  dogmas  put  forward  by  the  priesthood  as  founded  upon  their 
fetich,  the  Bible.     Rabelais  and'^'oltaire,  Fontenelle  and  Volney,  might 


6  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

expose  the  vices  and  crimes  and  follies  of  the  church,  but  few  indeed  of 
even  the  brightest  intellects  thought  of  doubting  the  existence  of  some 
sort  of  a  "  god."  Heretics  were  simply  exterminated,  and  religion  and 
brutality,  ignorance  and  cruelty  reigned  supreme. 

The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation  came,  and  with  them  some 
small  measure  of  enlightenment  and  discussion  and  toleration.  Not 
much,  certainly,  as  Servetus  found  no  less  dearly  than  Bruno;  but  when 
authority  was  divided,  some  progress  in  freedom  was  inevitable. 

"  When  thieves  fall  out,  honest  men  get  their  rights,"  it  has  been  said. 
In  this  case,  however,  the  "  honest  "  men  were  too  debased  to  know  much 
about  their  rights  or  their  wrongs.  They  felt  and  no  doubt  resented  the 
exactions  and  tyranny  of  the  priests,  but  they  howled  with  delight  at  an 
auto  dafe,  and  they  crowded  with  glee  to  fiendishly  torture  old  women 
to  death  for  the  impossible  crime  of  witchcraft. 

Considering  that  it  has  been  only  in  our  own  day  that  the  first  attempt 
has  been  made  to  give  to  the  masses  an  intelligent  idea  of  their  rights 
and  duties,  it  is  not  surprising  that  even  to-day  the  common  people,  as 
well  as  most  of  the  upper  classes,  are  mentally  little  else  than  the  tools 
and  victims  of  religious  and  political  fakers. 

During  all  the  centuries  of  Christian  supremacy,  the  God  Idea  has 
been  a  great  club  in  the  hands  of  ecclesiastical  Thackambaus,  wherewith 
they  have  knocked  out  the  brains  of  heretics  and.  benumbed  the  brains 
of  believers.     "  God  "  has  simply  been  the  will  of  the  priest. 

The  people — not  only  the  masses,  but  the  aristocrats  also — have  been 
so  intellectually  debased  that  they  have  accepted  as  "  sacred  truth  "  the 
theological  jargon  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed  from  infancy, 
without  thinking  of  asking  *'  the  reason  why."  Had  they  done  so  with 
intelligence,  they  would  have  inevitably  discovered  that  no  proof  can  be 
given  of  the  existence  of  God,  and  that  no  description  of  him  has  ever 
been  forthcoming  that  a  Zulu  would  not  laugh  to  scorn  and  prove  to  be 
idiotic  unreason. 

In  the  light  of  the  modern  development  of  real  knowledge,  however, 
the  God  Idea  is  undergoing  a  transformation,  and  a  few  men  are  begin- 
ning to  regard  it  almost  as  rationally  as  other  men  regarded  it  tw^enty 
centuries  ago.  After  going  through  various  forms  of  Polytheism,  Mono- 
theism, Deism,  Theism,  Pantheism,  and  Atheism,  even  clergymen  are 
beginning  to  perceive — faintly,  it  may  be — that  **  God  "  is  a  theme  that 
can  only  be  discussed  seriously  by  lunatics  or  frauds.  And  the  reason 
is  plain  :  the  rational  argument  is  entirely  on  one  side. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


The  terms  we  are  compelled  to  use  in  describing  **  god  "  are  mutually 
ilestructive.  The  old  and  present-day  orthodox  idea  of  a  god  is  strictly 
that  of  a  person — a  powerful  man.  Such  an  idea  was  admirably  suited 
to  the  semi-barbarous  peoples  of  ancient  and  even  modern  times  who 
believed  in  good  gods  and  bad  gods,  witchcraft,  sorcery,  clairvoyance, 
telepathy,  spiritism,  talking  beasts,  and  angels.  But  such  an  idea  is 
utterly  destructive  of  the  idea  of  infinity  or  omnipotence — the  essential 
attributes  of  a  deity.  That  people  believe  these  two  mutually  destructive 
qualities  can  co-exist  in  their  god  proves  how  infantile  is  their  reasoning 
power,  or  how  deeply  the  orthodox  unreason  has  entered  their  brains. 

Long  ages  of  intellectual  debasement  have  resulted  in  the  production 
of  a  mental  condition  but  slightly  elevated  above  that  of  a  new-born 
infant ;  and  it  is  with  difficulty  that  even  those  who  have  made  some 
mental  progress,  and  are  largely  emancipated  from  the  current  ortho- 
doxy, can  avoid  the  logical  pitfalls  which  the  unwholesome  discussion 
opens  before  them. 

DR.  LYMAN  ABBOTT'S  GOD. 

A  striking  instance  occurs  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  who,  in  a 
sermon  on  the  Sunday  preceding  Christmas  day,  told  the  Harvard  stu- 
dents that  he  had  lost  faith  in  the  "  First  Great  Cause  " — the  old  stand- 
by of  Christian  apologists ;  and  also  said  some  other  things  which  are 
thus  reported  in  the  newspapers  : 

"  I  believe  in  a  God  who  is  in  and  through  and  of  everything — not  an  absentee 
God,  whom  we  have  to  reach  through  a  Bible  or  a  priest  or  some  olher  outside 
aid,  but  a  God  who  is  closer  to  us  than  hands  or  feet.  Science,  literature,  and 
liistory  tell  us  that  there  is  one  eternal  energy,  that  the  Bible  no  longer  can  be 
accepted  as  ultimate,  that  many  of  its  laws  were  copied  from  olher  religions, 
that  the  Ten  Commandments  did  not  spring  spontaneously  from  Moses,  but 
were,  like  all  laws,  a  gradual  growth,  and  that  man  is  a  creature,  not  a  creation. 

"  No  thinking  man  will  say  there  are  many  energies.  The  days  of  polytheism 
are  past  There  is  only  one  energy.  That  energy  has  always  been  working.  It 
is  an  inlelligent  energy.  No  scienlist  can  deny  it.  It  was  workiiig  before  the 
lime  of  Christ,  even  as  it  is  now.  For  three  years  the  rlouds  broke  and  tl^e 
light  flashed  through.     Then  they  closed  again. 

"  Yet  god  has  a  personality.  We  recognize  il  as  we  recognize  the  personality 
of  a  Titian  or  an  Angelo.  Only  god  is  always  working,  always  creating,  whereas 
iheir  work  is  done.  God  stands  m;ar  us.  I'he  mother  of  a  deaf,  dumb,  and 
i>lind  child    gives   her  daughter   one,    two,  three  gifts  wiihout  being  recognized. 


8  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


Finally,  there  breaks  through  the  child's  intelligence  the  fact  that  these  gifts,  so 
kind,  so  loving,  s[)ring  from  the  same  source.  It  feels  the  mother's  hands  and 
face,  then  throws  its  arms  around  her  neck  and  kisses  her.  Even  so  we,  ever  in 
the  presence  of  god,  come  to  realize  his  proximity  and  love.  God  makes  for 
good.  Man's  progress  is  a  progress  upward.    Each  day  is  better  than  the  last." 

As  will  be  seen,  Dr.  Abbott  practicallv  repeats  nvhat  be  said  in  Toronto 
a  few  years  ago,  when  he  told  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  students  that  *'  Herbert 
Spencer's  Unknowable  is  God."  But  he  has  not  yet  reached  the  stage 
of  intellectual  development  which  would  enable  him  to  see  that  such  a 
definition  is  totally  subversive  of  his  other  contention,  that  "  God  has  a 
personality." 

If  God  is  '*  a  great  and  ever-present  force,  manifest  in  all  the  activities 
of  man  and  all  the  workings  of  nature ;"  if  he  is  "  in  and  through  and 
of  everything,"  then  necessarily  he  is  everything,  he  is  infinite,  and  there 
is  nothing  else  in  existence  but  god.  And  the  NewThoughtist  is  justified 
in  crying,  *'  I  am  God  !  "     To  which  we  might  respond,  "  What  a  god  !" 

Men  who  say  that  god  is  infinite  and  almighty  do  not  seem  to  be  able 
to  understand  that  these  terms  necessarily  exclude  the  idea  of  god  being 
a  person,  or  manifesting  personality,  or  of  any  action  being  possible  but 
god's  actions.  It  is  one  of  the  strangest  phases  of  the  modern  discussion 
of  the  God  Idea,  that  men  who  refuse  any  longer  to  assert  that  god  is  a 
person,  do  not  hesitate  to  claim  that,  though  admittedly  but  an  infinite 
force,  god  displays  personality  and  intelligence — that  a  thing  which  is 
not  a  person  can  exhibit  the  qualities  of  a  person.  By  substituting  the 
word  ''personality"  for  "  person"  they  think  they  surmount  a  difficulty. 

Intellectually,  such  men  are  strictly  in  line  with  those  who  believed 
that  the  gods  in  Valhalla  feasted  and  quarrelled  and  fought  and  chopped 
each  other  into  mincemeat  one  day,  only  to  wake  up  again  next  morning 
as  sound  as  ever  to  once  more  go  through  a  similar  performance. 

And,  strangely  enough,  Dr.  Abbott  thinks  that  "  no  scientist  can  deny 
that  the  infinite  energy  is  an  intelligent  energy;"  for  intelligence  is  one 
of  the  very  things  which  scientists  have  certainly  failed  to  find  in  the 
cosmic  forces. 

TURNING  THE  TABLES  ON  THE  RATIONALIST. 

It  is  another  remarkable  feature  of  this  modern  discussion  that,  while 
the  old  theologian  used  to  depend  upon  alleged  miracles,  or  interferences 
with  natural  law,  to  prove  the  existence  of  his  personal  god,  the  present- 
day  superstitionist,  tlirowing  aside  miracles  as  absurd  stories,  cites  the 


SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


immutability  of  natural  law  as  good  evidence  of  the  personality  and 
intelligence  of  a  cosmic  law-maker — a  personal  infinite  energy. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Eomans,  their  idea  of  an  over-ruling  power 
that  controlled  the  destinies  of  both  gods  and  men  may  be  considered 
as  equivalent  to  our  modern  conception  of  universal  law  ;  but  men  like 
Lyman  Abbott  are  a  generation  behind  such  a  conception  as  this.  They 
are  in  a  theological  harlequinade  of  self-obfuscation. 

Dr.  Abbott  thinks  that,  like  a  blind,  deaf,  and  dumb  child  who  comes 
to  know  and  love  its  mother  through  her  loving  gifts,  men  can,  **  in  the 
presence  of  God,  come  to  realize  his  proximit}"  and  love."  Other  men, 
well  salaried  and  pampered  like  Dr.  Abbott,  have  said  the  same  thing. 
God  is  wonderfully  kind — to  those  who  are  surrounded  with  good  things. 
But  what  about  the  weaklings,  the  victims  of  pestilence  and  famine  and 
accident  ?  Such  rubbish  is  a  disgrace  to  the  intellect  of  the  twentieth 
century.  But  it  marks  the  church's  present-day  stage  in  its  progress 
towards  rationalism,  and  perhaps  we  should  not  expect  more  when  we 
consider  the  social  and  pecuniary  interests  that  stand  in  the  way. 

When  Lyman  Abbott  has  given  us  his  three-fold  message,  how  far  on 
the  road  to  Atheism  has  he  gone  ? 

If  we  are  '*  ever  in  the  presence  of  an  infinite  and  eternal  energy," 
which  is  God,  then,  as  we  are  a  part  of  that  energy,  we  are,  as  Fred. 
Burry  tells  us,  all  gods.  Why  not  ?  But  what  becomes  of  the  one  big 
god? 

If  history  teaches  that  *'  there  is  a  power  outside  ourselves  that  makes 
for  righteousness,"  sliall  we  find  evidence  of  it  in  the  Russo-Japanese 
war,  in  an  Indian  famine,  or  in  the  Canadian  elections?  If  so,  may  we 
not  ask,  is  the  lesson  painted  on  the  sky,  or  is  it  slo.vly  and  painfully 
worked  out  by  the  human  intellect  ? 

And  if  the  message  of  literature — "yellow"  literature? — is  simply  a 
repetition  of  the  first,  would  it  not  be  better  to  drop  "  god  "  altogether 
from  the  tedious  and  nauseating  discussion,  and  to  try  and  put  the  dis- 
cussion of  ethical  and  cosmical  problems  upon  a  purely  rational  basis  ? 

There  have  been  many  mystifying  definitions  of  "  god,"  but  there 
are  only  two  that  can  lay  claim  to  being  in  any  way  rational  or  logical  ; 
the  first,  that  god  is  an  almighty  Being;  the  second,  that  it  is  an  infinite 
Power. 

In  various  forms,  with  differences  that  only  accentuate  their  folly,  the 
first  is  the  basis  of  Theism,  ^nto  whatever  form  it  may  be  put,  the 
second  is  simply  Atheism — that  is,  without  a  personal  god. 


10  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


PROGRESS  OF  FREETHOUGHT. 

If  the  preachers  are  not  making  very  rapid  progress  in  the  formula- 
tion of  a  rational  religion,  those  outside  the  churches  are  certainly  not 
waiting  for  them.  The  recent  unique  Freethought  Congress  at  Rome 
would  seem  to  prove  that  the  three  great  Latin  peoples,  the  French, 
Spanish,  and  Italian,  are  making  great  strides  in  Freethought  propa- 
gandism  and  organization.  And  there  are  others.  Only  a  few  weeks 
ago,  it  was  announced  that  the  Jews  of  the  East  Side,  New  York,  had 
organized  a  large  numher  of  Freethought  societies,  and  were  preparing 
to  erect  a  central  temple  as  their  head  quarters ;  and  the  Freethought 
delegates  to  the  St.  Louis  Conference  were  entertained  at  the  hall  of  the 
Union  of  German  Freethinkers'  Societies  of  North  America,  a  body  that 
comprises  a  large  membership  and  owns  considerable  property. 

From  Springfield,  III,  we  get  news  of  an  equally  startling  movement 
in  Chicago.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Baptist  General  Association,  a 
Mr.  Clissold,  of  Morgan  Park,  who  read  a  paper  on  ''The  Need  of  Reli- 
gious Work  Among  Foreigners,"  asserted  that  there  were  twelve  thou- 
sand children  in  *' Bohemian  Sunda} -schools  "  in  Chicago,  who  were 
being  taught  Atheistical  lessons  from  a  catechism,  which  he  exhibited, 
and  from  which  he  quoted  a  few  questions  and  answers : 

•'  Q.  What  is  God  ?  A.  It  is  a  word  designating  a  supernatural  being  which 
people  invented  and  thought  out  for  themselves.  God  never  revealed  himself, 
for  there  is  no  god. 

"  Q.  What..is  heaven  ?  A.  It  is  a  place  imagined  by  the  church,  and  used  as 
faith  for  believers. 

•'  Q.   Has  man  a  soul?     A.  No,  it  is  an  invention  of  the  church. 

"  Q.  What  is  the  church  ?  A.  It  is  a  society  of  people  believing  in  something 
of  which  they  know  nothing,  and  who,  with  their  money,  keep  a  large  crowd  of 
useless  and  lazy  beings  called  priests  and  ministers. 

"  Q.  Are  faith,  hope,  and  love  virtues  ?  A.  They  are  not  virtues,  but  the 
contrary.     They  are  superstitions,  and  every  superstilion^  is  a  disgrace. 

"Q.  Ought  we  to  pray?     A.   We  ought  not.     It  is  a  loss  of  time." 

Mr.  Clissold  described  this  catechism  as  *'  stuff  and  rubbish  ;"  but, 
though  we  are  not  bo  tnd  to  endorse  all  of  its  crude  statements,  we  bet 
the  Bohemians  would  be  able  to  show  him  that  it  is  far  nearer  the  truth 
t  lan  the  ''  stufif  and  rubbish  "  drilled  into  the  children  in  his  own  Chris- 
tian Sunda3'-school8. 

Coming  from  a  Christian  source,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  statement 
is  true  that  there  are  as  many  as  twelve  thousand  children  being  taught 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  11 

in  these  Bohemian  Sunday-schools ;  but  the  other  facts  we  have  men- 
tioned clearly  prove  that,  while  Britons,  Americans,  and  Canadians  are 
almost  at  a  standstill,  or  even  retreating,  in  their  fight  with  the  church, 
the  other  portions  of  the  Western  world  are  waging  an  increasingly  vic- 
torious campaign  against  the  fundamental  bases  of  supernaturalism. 
*'  Back  to  the  Bible  !  "  is  the  inane  battle-cry  of  the  Anglo-Saxons — the 
mystery-mongering  descendants  of  Puritan  and  Presbyterian,  Calvinist 
and  Arminian,  who  exhibit  their  religious  proclivities  in  such  demented 
performances  as  those  of  the  Eddyites,  Dowieites,  Boothites,  Pentecostal 
Dancers  and  the  Burning  Bush,  and  the  multitudinous  sects  that  to-day 
have  converted  the  Protestant  world  into  an  intellectual  pandemonium. 

POVERTY  IN  THE  EPISCOPAL  PALACE. 

The  humble  follower  of  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  who  occupies  the 
throne  of  the  Bishopric  of  London,  Dr.  Ingram,  makes  a  plaintive  cry 
for  more  salary.  He  only  receives  $50,000  a  year,  and  he  asserts  that 
during  the  last  three  years  his  expenses  have  exceeded  by  $25,000  the 
income  of  his  see.  Dr.  Ingram  is  a  bachelor,  too,  and  some  people  are 
wondering  what  he  would  have  done  if  he  had  had  a  wife  and  family 
to  maintain  in  addition  to  his  present  Habilities. 

It  is  noted  that,  in  France,  $2,000  for  a  bishop  and  $5,000  for  an 
archbishop  are  thought  to  be  good  annual  stipends  ;  but  then,  you  know, 
France  is  not  like  England,  and  these  French  prelates  are  Catholics,  and 
perhaps  their  foreign  gibberish  has  to  be  translated  into  understandable 
English  before  it  reaches  the  throne  of  grace. 

For  a  real  solid  English  prelate,  who  has  to  keep  up  a  princely  esta- 
blishment, with  two  palaces  costing  $6,000  a  year  for  repairs,  stables 
and  horses  that  cost  $4,500  a  year,  farms  and  gardens  costing  $3,500  (a 
bishop  couldn't  descend  to  making  his  farms  return  a  profit),  and  mis- 
cellaneous household  expenses  amounting  to  $8,000  a  year,  exclusive  of 
$2,000  for  fuel  and  gas  and  $2,500  for  income-tax,  one  may  believe  not 
much  margin  remains  out  of  a  paltry  $50,000  a  year  income. 

And  one  wonders  why  men  run  after  such  jobs.  Does  tlie  honor  of 
being  treated  like  a  prince,  sitting  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  dispenf>ing 
a  large  amount  of  patronage,  form  such  an  overwhelming  attraction  that 
poor  clergymen  cannot  resist  it,  even  when  it  entails  a  loss  of  $25,000  a 
year?  Possibly.  But,  if  so,  one  wonders  how  it  is  that  the  Anglican 
bishops  and  archbishops  who  Itave  died  within  the  last  half-century  have 


12  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

left  estates  averaging  $200,000,  while  at  least  one  was  a  millionaire.   Do 
bishops  and  archbishops  know  how  to  lie  as  well  as  to  preach  ? 

From  Jesus  to  Ingram  and  Benson  i«  a  long  step,  in  morality  as  well 
as  in  time.  From  a  prophet  with  one  seamless  garment  riding  on  an  ass 
and  the  foal  of  an  ass,  to  a  gaitered  and  mitred  and  befrilled  prelate, 
riding  in  a  gilded  coach,  footmen  in  attendance,  and  stables  and  horses 
alone  costing  enough  to  keep  half  a  dozen  families  in  comfort !  If  Jesus 
taught  the  brotherhood  of  man,  what  does  Dr.  Ingram  teach  ?  God  only 
knows;  but  that  he  practices  "  graft"  of  the  m j.-jt  barefaced  sort,  what- 
ever his  teachings  may  be,  seems  to  be  our  only  justifiable  conclusion. 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  ADVANCE  IN  ONTARIO. 

Downeyville,  Ont.,  is  the  scene  of  the  latest  exploit  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic hierarchy  in  the  way  of  capturing  the  schools  of  Ontario.  For 
many  3^ears  a  public  school  has  existed  in  this  village,  the  ratepa^yers 
being  both  Protestants  and  Catholics  ;  but  recently  a  Separate  (Catholic) 
School  Board  was  organized,  and,  by  means  of  the  usual  pressure,  the 
school  building  w'as  secretly  sold  by  the  Catholic  officials  to  the  Separate 
School  Board  for  a  nominal  sum  ($5  it  is  said).  The  school,  of  course, 
is  now  under  the  direct  control  of  a  Catholic  priest. 

Naturally,  if  the  Government  of  Ontario  did  its  duty  in  the  premises, 
and  supported  the  Education  Departriient  in  insisting  upon  the  proper 
school  curriculum  being  pursued  in  every  school,  with  the  aid  of  the 
authorized  text-books  and  fully  qualified  and  certificated  teachers,  there 
might  not  be  a  vast  amount  of  damage  done  ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
in  all  these  cases,  not  only  are  totally  incompetent  teachers  employed, 
but  not  the  slightest  attempt  is  made  to  carry  out  the  system  of  educa- 
tion designed  for  the  public  schools. 

One  feature  of  the  present  case  shows  itself  in  the  fact  that,  while  the 
Protestants  are  afraid,  for  business  and  other  reasons,  to  do  much  kick- 
ing, some  of  the  Catholics  who  are  in  favor  of  the  public  school  system 
are  also  afraid  of  incurring  the  anathemas  of  the  church  by  expressing 
their  opinions.  The  cliurch  still  has  enormous  power,  through  excom- 
munication and  refusal  of  the  '*  sacraments,"  to  terrorize  recalcitrants. 

The  incident  is  another  evidence  of  the  big  strides  the  Catholic  church 
is  makinjr  in  Ontario ;  and  Downeyville  is  only  one  of  a  number  of  vil- 
lages in  its  neighborhood  that  seem  destined  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  same 
way.    Gradually  the  priests  are  wiping  out  education  in  Eastern  Ontario. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  13 


Co  «e,  or  mot  Zo  Be  ? 

:o: 

BV     WINNIPEG. 

:o: 

That  is  the  question  which  is  agitating  my  mind  at  the  present  moment.  Is 
there  to  be  a  controversy  in  Winnipeg  on  "  Evolution  versus  Christianity,"'  or  is 
there  not  to  be  one?  Much  I  fear  there  will  be  none.  I'his  is  how  it  started. 
A  few  days  ago  St.  Boniface  was  all  agog  over  the  great  Roman  Catholic  feast  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception.  Preaching  on  that  inconceivable  fact,  Rev.  Father 
Drummond,  S.J.,  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  Winnipeg,  alluded  incidentally  to  the 
theory  of  Evolution  and  spoke  sneeringly  of  the  "  men  who  pretended  to  great 
learning"  who  had  given  birth  to  that  doctrine.  Of  course  we  all  know  who  the 
men  are  "  who  pretended  to  great  learning  " — Darwin,  Huxley,  and  their  friends 
and  fellow-laborers  in  science.  To  speak  of  such  men  as  persons  "  pretending 
to  great  learning,"  siniply  reflects  upon  the  ability  of  the  Rev.  Father  himself,  and 
shows  at  once  what  kind  of  arguments  he  would  use. 

A  synopsis  of  the  sermon  appeared  in  the  Winnipeg  Free  Press  of  Dec.  6,  the 
chief  passages  of  which  were  the  following  : 

•'  Men  who  pretended  to  great  learning  had  given  to  the  world  the  theory  of 
evolution  and  had  supported  it  by  experiments  and  facts  concerning  the  lower 
order  of  animals.  But  it  still  remained  absolutely  impossible  to  prove  that  man 
had  risen  from  an  animal.  There  were  no  scientific  proofs  in  favor  of  the  theory 
and  strong  proofs  against  it  ;  and  besides  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  Christian 
faith.  Whatever  may  be  the  limits  of  evolution  established  by  science  in  the 
future  there  will  always   be  overwhelming  arguments   against   the  theory  of  the 

progress  of  man Apart  from  all    religious  considerations,  we  find  the 

proof  of  some  degeneracy.  We  aim  at  high  things  but  don't  reach  them  The 
Christian  says  this  degeneracy  is  due  to  original  sin,  and  it  is  the  most  satisfactory 

explanation  of  the  human  weakness It   has   been  proved  that  the  poor 

to-day  in  England  are  much  worse  off  than  they  were  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
Socialists,  seeing  this  inequality,  say  :  '  Let  us  divide  the  property  equally.'  But 
to  abolish  individual  right  in  property  is  an  error  and  consequently  it  can  lead  to 
no  good.  The  socialists'  mistake  is  that  they  do  not  take  into  account  original 
sin.  .  .  ,  Christianity's  object  was  to  mitigate  as  far  as  possible  the  effects  of 
original  sin,  and  he  claimed  that  through  the  influence  of  the  church  the  poor 
were  happier  in  Catholic  countries  than  anywhere  else." 

On  the*  loth  of  December,  in  the  same  paper,  was  published  a  letter  from 
""  Dr.  Biiller,  recently  appointed  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University  of 
Manitoba."  The  professor  took  up  the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  the  dead  scientists 
who  "pretended  to  great  learning."  I  cut  out  that  letter,  intending  to  inclose  it 
with  the  cuttings  I  now  send,  but,  unfortunately,  it  escaped  my  custody. 

On  Dec.  19,  the  Free  Press  published  a  letter  from  Father  Drummond,  in 
which,  as  I  understand  it,  he  expresses  a  desire  to  argue  the  question.  You  will 
see  for  yourself,  Mr.  Editor,  what  the  reverend  gentleman  says  ;  and  i)erhapsyou 
will  kindly  quote  as   much    as   yrrii  think   necessary  for  the  purpose  of  renderif  g 


14  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

my  meaning  clear.  Of  course,  if  Father  Drummond  can  prove  to  the  satisfaction 
of  present  *'  men  who  pretend  to  great  learning  "  the  virginity  of  Mary  after  she 
became  a  mother,  he  must  be  a  giant  in  debate.  Erasmus,  proving  that  the 
color  of  snow  is  black,  not  white,  is  a  mere  prattler  to  such  a  logician.  But 
Father  Drummond  did  prove  it  ;  and  I  can  picture  to  myself  the  look  of  amused 
satisfaction  that  fitted  across  the  countenance  of  that  distin.^u  shed  lady  as  she 
bent  her  pretty  head  over  a  bow  window  of  a  mansion  in  the  skies  to  listen  to 
what  an  unmarried  father  had  to  say  about  the  character  of  a  virgin  mother. 

"EVOLUIION    and    CHRISTIANITY. 

"  Editor  Free  Press. 

"Sir, — The  letter  which  you  published  last  Saturday  from  Dr.  BuUer,  recently 
appointed  professor  of  botany  in  the  University  of  Manitoba,  evidently  suggested 
a  reply.  Far  from  considering  that  letter  a  personal  attack,  I  am  rather 
pleased  at  the  opportunity  it  may  afford  for  a  fuller  explanation  of  my  argument 
on  evolution  and  the  supposedly  infinite  future  progress  of  the  human  race.  The 
report,  which  Dr.  Duller  quotes  from  your  columns,  though  substantially  correct 
so  far  as  it  goes,  is  very  incomplete,  since  it  does  not  represent  more  than  a  small 
fraction  of  what  I  said  on  this  subject  in  my  sermon  of  the  5th  inst. 

"  But,  before  entering  upon  any  argument,  I  wish  to  draw  attention  to  the 
most  striking  sentence  in  Dr.  Buller's  letter :  '  If  the  evolution  of  man,'  my 
learned  friend  wrote,  'is  "at  variance  with  Christianity,"  so  much  the  worse  for 
Christianity.'  Without  laying  undue  stress  on  a  phrase  thrown  off  under  the 
nerve-racking  influence  of  *  blank  astonishment '  and  *  sorrow  '  at  my  hardihood 
by  'one  of  the  liege  men  of  Natural'  (big  N,  please),  'science,'  I  beg  to  inforni 
Dr.  Duller  that  the  twentieth  section  of  the  University  Act  (Consolidated  Statutes, 
cap.  63)  contains  these  words  :  '  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  m  mber  of  the 
council  ...  to  do,  or  cause,  or  suffer  to  be  done,  anything  that  would  render  it 
necessary,  or  advisable,  with  a  view  to  academical  success  or  distinction,  that 
any  person  should  pursue  the  study  of  any  materialistic  or  sceptical  system  of 
logic,  or  mental  or  moral  philosophy.'  Now,  as  those  who  either  reject  Chris- 
tianity or  apologize  it  into  a  metaphor  generally  drift  into  materialism,  I  think  I 
am  justified  in  putting  to  Dr.  BuUer  a  question  which  will  serve,  so  to  speak,  to 
clear  the  decks  for  action.  My  question  is  simply  this  :  Does  Dr.  BuUer  hold 
the  spirituality  and  immortality  of  the  human  soul?  Upon  his  answer  to  this 
question  will  depend  my  line  of  argument. 

"As  I  have  been  obliged,  through  illness,  to  put  off  this  introductory  reply 
for  a  week,  perhaps  Dr.  Duller  might  do  likewise,  and  answer  my  question  next 
Saturday.  This  would  give  both  of  us  busy  men  more  time  to  do  justice  to  a 
very  important  subject.  "Lewis  Drummond,  S.J. 

"  St.  Boniface,  Dec.  16,  1904." 

It  appears  to  me  that  what  spurred  Father  Drummond  to  the  controversial 
point  was  a  sentence  in  the  professor's  letter  which  ran  thus  :  "  If  the  evolution 
of  man  is  at  variance  with  Christianity,  so  much  the  worse  for  Christianity.'^ 
This  expressiou  is  met  with  a  vicious  reminder  :  the  Reverend  Father  begs  to 
(|uote,  for  the  benefit  of  the  professor,  a  portion  of  the  University  Act,  which 
orbids  the  "  study  of  any  materialistic  or  sceptical  system  of  logic^  or  mental  or 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  15 

moral  philosophy."  With  such  a  proviso  in  a  debate  there  could  be  no  discussion 
of  a  sensible  nature.  If  any  doctrine  is  founded  on  truth,  the  foundation 
vouches  fur  the  doctrine.  It  is  the  false  and  the  evil  which  shun  investigation. 
The  above  was  written  a  little  after  midnight,  Dec.  22-23  5  since  then  the 
Free  f'ress  of  Dec.  23  has  been  published.  It  contains  a  letter  from  the  learned 
professor,  which  is  as  follows  : 

"  Editor  Free  Press. 

"Sir,  — In  answer  to  Father  Drummond,  let  me  begin  by  offering  him  my 
sympathy  in  his  illness,  which,  he  states,  put  off  his  reply  to  my  letter  for  a  week. 
In  accordance  with  his  request,  I  have  delayed  a  few  days  before  sending  you 
this  communication. 

*'  In  my  letter  of  Dec.  10,  I  asked  Father  Drummond  to  produce  his  '  strong 
proofs  '  that  man  has  not  descended  from  a  lower  animal,  and  dissented  em- 
phatically from  his  assertion  that  there  are  'overwhelming  arguments  against  the 
theory  of  the  progress  of  man.'  I  also  pointed  out  how  illogical  is  the  position 
of  those  who  admit  evolution  for  all  animals  except  man. 

"  In  replying,  Father  Drummond  has  avoided  these  points,  and  has  raised  a 
number  of  side  issues  which  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  facts  upon 
which  the  theory  of  evolution  is  based.  Quotations  from  Acts  of  Parliament  and 
an  expression  of  opinion  on  the  mysteries  of  man's  inner  life  are  quite  irrevelant 
in  this  connection. 

"The  main  issue  raised  in  your  columns,  and  justly  recognized  by  your  cor- 
respondent '  H  '  in  his  letter  on  '  The  Ancestry  of  Man,'  is  clear  enough.  Is 
man  descended  from  a  lower  animal,  or  is  he  not  ?  Biologsts  have  long  answered 
the  question  in  the  affirmative,  and  do  not  even  think  the  matter  open  for  further 
discussion  among  themselves.  The  conclusion  of  the  biologists,  one  of  the  most 
important  of  modern  science,  has,  if  one  may  judge  by  current  literature,  been 
also  accepted  by  most  educated  j)eople  who  have  thought  about  the  subject. 
Notwithstanding,  Father  Drummond  has  taken  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
stating  in  public  that  there  is  '  overwhelming  evidence  '  disproving  man's  evolution. 
Of  coursi.  Father  Drummond  may  be  right,  and  such  men  as  Darwin,  Wallace, 
Hux'ey,  Romanes,  Haeckel,  and  many  others,  who  have  spent  a  great  part  of 
their  lives  in  patiently  and  dispassionately  examining  at  first  hand  the  facts  upon 
which  the  theory  of  evolution  is  based,  may  all  be  wrong  Equally  wrong  may 
afso  be  the  present  teachers  of  biology  in  the  universities  of  the  world  and  the 
text-books  which  they  use.  But  until  Father  Drummond  produces  his  *  strong 
proofs 'and  his  '  overwhehning  evidence'  that  his  negations  were  justified,  I 
shall  be  content  to  express  my  entire  agreement  with  a  statement  made  by  Pro- 
fessor Huxley,  as  far  back  as  1876.  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  New  York  upon 
'  The  Demonstrable  Evidence  of  Evolution,'  namely  :  *  The  whole  evidence  is  in 
favor  of  evolution  and  there  is  none  against  it.'  The  collection  of  a  vast  mass  of 
further  data  during  the  last  thirty  years  has  only  served  to  give  additional  weight 
to  this  carefully  formed  conclusion. 

•'  When  I  reflect  how  long  the  half-way  evolution  theory,  such  as  Father 
Drummond  hoi's  has  been  discarded  in  the  world  of  biology  and  by  those  who 
have  kept  themselve-;  abreast  of  t^ir  time  in  scientific  matters,  I  am  reminded 
of  a  passage  from  a  celebrated  play  : 


16  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


"  '  What  may  this  mean, 
That  thou,  dead  corse,  again,  in  complete  steel, 
Revisit'st  thus  the  glimpses  of  the  moon, 
Making  night  hideous?' 

"  When  I  came  to  this  up-to-date  city  of  Winnipeg  a  few  months  ago,  I  little 
expected  to  meet  with  the  ghost  of  a  long-deceased  scientific  theory.  But  such 
has  been  the  case,  and  the  '  dead  corse  '  has  afforded  me  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable of  my  new  experiences. 

"  A.   H.  Reginald  Buller. 
*'  The  University  of  Manitoba, 

"The  Botanical  Department" 


IRcverence  for  ''Sacreb''  ZbiwQe. 


:o: 


BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

I. 

"  For  the  interest,  therefore,  of  truth  and  justice,  it  is  far  more  important  to 
restrain  this  [orthodox]  employment  of  vituperative  language  than  the  other 
[heretical]  ;  and,  for  example,  if  it  were  necessary  to  choose,  there  would  be 
much  more  need  to  discourage  offensive  attacks  on  infidelity  than  on  religion. 
— John  Stuart  Mill. 

A  FREQUENT  complaint  of  Christians  is  that  Freethinkers  do  not  show 
sufficient  *'  reverence  for  sacred  things."  It  is  contended  that  ridicuL' 
and  *'  scoffing  "  are  utterly  out  of  place  when  *'  divinity  "  is  under  con- 
sideration, and  that  indulgence  in  them  only  stamps  the  user  as  a  boor. 

What  is  a  sacred  thing?  Is  there  anything  sacred  in  all  the  earth  ? 
—anything  outside  of  it  ?  Look  at  the  mighty  processes  of  cosmic  evo- 
lution :  worlds  and  stars  and  universes  forming,  and  then  dissolving  into 
their  pristine  elements ;  life  evolving  from  planetary  slime,  and  reaching 
higher  levels  only  at  the  price  of  terrible  struggle  and  suffering  and  pro- 
digious slaughter.  A  furnace — a  charnel-house — an  iceberg  :  such  is  the 
history  of  worlds.  Nothing  can  be  found  anywhere  in  space  that  calls 
on  man  for  *'  reverence  " — nothing  so  sacred  as  to  require  genuflexions 
or  stultification.     We  see  only  a  remorseless  and  automatic  eternity. 

What  is  the  significance  of  sacred  things?  Let  us  probe  the  matter 
for  a  moment  and  find  out.  So  doing,  we  soon  shall  see  that  things  are 
considered  sacred  in  just  the  proportion  that  they  supposedly  minister 
in  ultimate  results  to  human  selfishness. 

Most  people  love  the  country  where  they  happened  to  be  born,  and 
solely  because  it  is  theirs.  How  sacred  war  is  held  to  be,  and  patriotism, 
and  the  ornate  trimmings  of  gory  nationalism  ;  and  with  what  punish- 
ment is  he  visited  who  fails  constantly  to  reverence  these  fetiches  !  The 
family,  home,  and  parenthood,  conducing  as  they  are  supposed  to  do 
more  than  aught  else  to  the  happiness  of  the  ego,  must  be  especially 
reverenced.     Whoever-  should  soberly  make  light  of  this  sexual-institu- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  17 


tion,  which  contributes  so  much  to  the  net  pleasure  of  man,  would  pass 
for  a  monster. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  self-regarding  ideas  and  cults  are  those  positing 
a  future  life  of  endless  bliss  as  a  reward  for  the  observance  in  the  present 
life  of  certain  formulas  and  bungling  obeisances.  The  intense  selfism  of 
such  cults  is  invariably  glozed  over  with  pretentiously  altruistic  triviali- 
ties and  hypocritical  incidentals  that  deceive  no  one.  The  reason  why 
religion  alone  demands  for  itself  more  reverence  than  everything  else 
combined  is,  that  in  it  are  involved  infinitely  more  of  the  self-regarding 
motives  than  inhere  in  all  other  things.  Let  a  man  conceive  of  you  as 
one  who  would  take  away  an  eternal  joy  prepared  for  himself —it  makes 
little  difference  to  his  befuddled  selfishness  whether  any  other  of  earth's 
billions  is  to  share  it  with  him  or  not — and  small  wonder  that  you  are 
immediately  put  under  the  ban  and  asked  in  imperative  tones  to  bend 
the  knee  before  his  talisman  admitting  to  the  Elysian  Fields.  Let  him 
believe  only  in  the  Nirvana  of  the  Buddhist,  however,  and,  there  being 
little  but  ultimate  extinction  in  that  concept  to  be  **  taken  away,"  he  will 
not  be  seriously  affected  by  even  the  harshest  of  ridicule.  This  largely 
accounts  for  the  well-known  tolerance  of  Buddhists. 

Although  nothing  is  sacred,  although  nothing  is  entitled  to  demand 
such  a  regard  as  is  generally  implied  by  reverence,  tact  must  be  used  as 
to  when  and  where  to  employ  ridicule.  The  lapse  of  the  term  "  sacred" 
from  our  vocabularies  does  not  empower  us  to  foist  scurrility  and  fecu- 
lence upon  every  one  who  may  be  encountered.  Wilfully  to  hurt  people's 
feelings  without  any  moral  purpose  in  view  is  simply  to  get  one's  self 
known  as  a  meddlesome,  repulsive  gargoyle,  better  dead  than  living. 

To  stalk  down  the  aisle  of  a  church  with  swinging  arms  and  defiant 
mien,  and  to  interrupt  the  services  by  challenging  the  worshippers  to 
debate ;  to  overturn  the  communion  wine  because  its  use  is  but  a  foolish 
superstition  ;  to  mock  the  superstitious  rites  of  a  father  burying  his 
child  ;  to  leap  and  dance  along  the  highway  at  the  funeral  of  a  clergy- 
man ; — all  this  and  more  would  be  uncalled-for,  not  to  say  extravagant 
and  imbecile. 

Whatever  is  absurd  may  be  a  fair  target  for  polite  and  tolerant  ridi- 
cule, particularly  when  the  colla[)se  of  the  absurdity  would  be  plainly 
for  human  welfare.  But  a  poor,  ignorant  church  communicant,  com- 
pelled to  work  hard  for  a  living,  and  who,  feeling  his  great  weakness,  is 
desirous  of  leaning  on  an  imagined  higher  power,  is  hardly  a  proper 
subject  for  levity  as  long  as  he  exhibits  any  tolerance  towards  mode- 
rately-worded argumentative  presentments  of  truth  by  the  Freethinker. 
Jonah  and  the  Whale,  however,  and  siiiilar  rubbish  with  which  the 
Bible  abounds,  are  always  in  season  as  butts  for  intelligent  derision. 

Usually,  Freethinkers  fall  back  upon  ridicule  only  as  a  last  resort — as 
a  sting,  80  to  speak — when  reason  and  common  sense  presented  with 
studied  courtesy  are  found  to  have  no  effect  other  than  to  excite  abhor- 
rence. It  is  a  natural  weaponjof  the  rebuffed.  At  the  start  it  is  rarely 
used.     Nobody  more  than  the  Freethinker  realizes  that  in  perhaps  the 


18  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


majorit}^  of  cases  it  is  a  sure  way  of  hardening  the  heart  against  truth, 
even  if  naturally  receptive  thereto.  When  one  contemplates,  however, 
the  greeting  which  in  all  ages  has  been  accorded  even  temperate  hints 
regarding  the  fallibility  of  the  Bible,  one  cannot  be  surprised  that  the 
outward  form  of  respect  for  it,  which  might  otherwise  remain  to  some 
slight  degree,  has  been  entirely  thrown  to  the  winds  by  persecuted  Intel- 
ligence, and  with  large  numbers  has  given  place  to  slurs  and  jests. 

But,  in  addition  to  this  function,  ridicule  has  a  more  exalted  one  in  the 
world's  economy.  Some  men  are  amenable  to  ridicule  who  would  smile 
stolidly  at  prosy  facts.  When  bigotry  and  stupidity  defy  argument,  their 
attention  sometimes  may  be  caught  by  the  mocker,  and  an  entrance  in- 
side their  armor  be  effected. 

Voltaire's  excoriation  of  Catholicism  and  the  foibles  of  mediaeval  faith 
will  live  ever  in  memory  as  a  priceless  service  to  mankind.  Buckle  says 
of  him  : 

"  His  irony,  his  wit,  his  pungent  and  telling  sarcasms,  produced  more  effect 
than  the  gravest  arguments  could  have  done  ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
he  was  fully  justified  in  using  those  great  resources  with  which  nature  had  en- 
dowed him,  since"  by  their  aid  he  advanced  the  interests  of  truth,  and  relieved 
men  from  some  of  their  most  inveterate  prejudices  " 

Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  about  Ingersoll.  In  America,  he  laughed 
hell  out  of  court,  so  that  to-day  it  is  outlawed,  and  to  mention  it  is  to 
invite  from  cultured  religious  people  a  smile  like  that  which  no  doubt 
played  on  the  countenance  of  Ingersoll  when  years  ago  he  began  his 
campaign  against  hell. 

Mrs.  Matilda  Moore,  step-sister  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  declares  that  as 
a  boy  he  was  accustomed  to  make  fun  of  religion  : 

"  When  father  and  mother  would  go  to  church,  Abe  would  take  down  the 
Bib'e,  read  a  verse,  give  out  a  hymn,  and  we  would  sing.  Abe  was  about  fifteen 
years  of  age.     He  preached,  and  we  would  do  the  crying." 

So,  too,  John  Hall,  son  of  Mrs.  Moore  : 

-"At  these  meetings,  my  mother  would  lead  in  the  singing,  while  Uncle  Abe 
would  lead  in  prayer.  Among  his  numerous  supplications,  he  prayed  God  to 
put  stockings  on  the  chickens'  feet  in  winter." 

{To  be  continued) 


God  is  immutable,  or,  in  other  words,  not  susceptible  to  change.  Nevertheless, 
we  find  among  his  letters  and  papers  that  he  has  frequently  changed  his  projects, 
his  friends,  and  even  his  religion.  All  these  changes  are,  of  course,  without 
prejudice  to  his  immutability,  or  to  that  of  his  immutable  priests,  who  are  un- 
changing and  steadfast  in  their  purpose  of  leading  laymen  by  the  nose  to  the  end 
of  all  time.  — Fo//rt/reJ. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  -19 


1904  an&  1905. 

:o: 

BY    F.    J.    GOULD. 

Where  are  the  Christian  achievements  of  the  past  year?  In  the  intellectual 
realm  orthodoxy  has  been  barren  —  I  was  going  to  say  astonishingly  barren  ;  but 
there  is  no  cause  for  astonishment  in  the  barrenness  of  the  Church.  The  foolish 
person  who  thinks  the  recent  Welsh  revival  is  a  mark  of  renewed  life  in  the 
ancient  faith  has  learned  very  little  of  the  art  of  religious  observation.  These 
animal  excitements  and  spiritual  debaucheries  are  periodically  demanded  by  the 
soul  and  the  physique  of  the  irrational  classes.  A  newspaper  correspondent  tells 
us  that,  as  a  lesuU  of  the  numerous  conversions  of  Welsh  colliers,  the  horses  in 
the  mines  are  **  dazed  "  at  the  unaccustomed  absence  of  oaths.  But  the  horses 
would  know  better  if  their  area  of  study  were  enlarged.  Ignorant  natures  call 
for  spasms  of  holiness  from  time  to  time,  as  drunkards  call  for  drams.  It  is  a 
crude  substitute  for  education.  The  real  test  of  the  triumph  of  Christianity 
would  consist  in  the  capture  of  the  world's  science,  art  and  politics.  There  is 
not  the  faintest  sign  of  any  such  retrogression.  I  have  heard  a  well-informed 
lecturer  remark  of  the  Danes  that  they  are  practically  Agnostics.  We  are  all 
aware  that  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  J.ipanese.  When  it  is  possible  to 
characterize  the  intellectual  position  of  two  such  widely  different  populations,  the 
Christian  must  be  singularly  sanguine  who  still  fancies  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  will  become  the  possession  of  "  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ." 

The  Christians  have  produced  no  book  with  a  living  message,  and  they  have 
produced  no  preachers.  Look  round  the  churches,  from  the  Catholic  to  the 
Primitive  Methodist.  Their  pulpits  give  no  prophecy,  and  they  yield  no  oracle 
to  the  inquiring  crowd.  Who  cares  what  any  bishop  says  on  the  problems  of 
human  destiny  ?  Is  there  a  single  dissenting  minister  who  has  equal  weight 
among  thoughtful  people  with  Mr.  John  Morley  or  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  ?  The 
public  sense  of  humor  has  been  exercised  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell's  quarrel 
with  the  working  men  of  England.  This  is  the  sublime  level  to  which  Noncon- 
formity has  managed  to  scramble — a  squabble  with  the  non-church-going  artisan  ! 
It  holds  a  similar  position  in  the  field  of  education.  There  also  it  is  engaged  in 
a  wrangle  ;  this  time  with  its  brother  believer,  the  Anglican  Church.  I  will  ven- 
ture to  repeat  here  what  I  have  said  for  the  last  two  years,  that  the  Education 
Act  of  1902  has  materially  assisted  progress.  From  close  view  of  its  effects  as 
revealed  in  the  machinery  of  a  provincial  Town  Council,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
affirming  that  it  is  raising  the  tone  and  efficiency  of  the  people's  schooling.  The 
whole  tendency  is  to  co-ordinate  primary  and  secondary  training,  with  increased 
facilities  for  the  development  of  talent  among  the  children  of  the  wage-earning 
masses.  It  is  true  that  the  Act  needs  amendment  in  the  direction  of  popular 
control  ;  but  that  will  follow   in^due  season.     In  the  meantime  the  futile  and 


20  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


contemptible  policy  of  the  Passive  Resisters  is  bound  to  collapse.  The  history 
of  rtligion  in  this  country  shows  no  more  wretched  spectacle  than  that  presented 
t)y  the  Nonconformist  critics  of  the  Education  Act.  While  they  protest  against 
certain  forms  of  theological  teaching  and  while  they  cry  out  against  the  imposition 
of  sectarian  Tests  upon  teachers,  they  will  not,  openly,  publicly,  and  as  a  body, 
-answer  the  plain  question,  Do  you  desire  to  retain  any  kind  of  theological  in- 
struction (ihatis,  lessons  about  God)  in  the  rate-supported  and  tax-aided  schools? 
The  controversy  entirely  turns  upqp  the  reply  to  this  question,  and  the  Noncon- 
formists will  not  honestly  give  one.  And  while  they  thus  remain  dumb,  their 
attitude  is  the  very  ideal  of  paltry  ineptitude. 

So  much  has  been  said  and  written  of  the  Freethought  Congress  at  Rome  that 
a  brief  record  of  one's  satisfaction  with  the  event  may  suffice.  Its  international 
character  admirably  eniphasized  the  fact  that,  in  the  modern  world,  the  intellec- 
tual movement  is  occidental  rather  than  national.  There  is  no  German  Free- 
thought,  or  French,  or  English  ;  there  is  a  Freethought  of  the  West,  including 
America  and  our  colonies.  And  this  new  Rationalism  is  preparing  to  absorb 
the  mind  of  entire  civilization.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  progressive  sections  of 
the  race  will  merely  adopt  Agnosticism  or  Atheism,  and  there  rest.  I  regard 
Agnosticism  or  Atheism  as  the  necessary  platforms  on  which  to  build  the  religion 
of  the  future,  with  spiritual  and  ceremonial  constructions  suited  to  the  varied 
temperaments  of  the  Western  and  the  Eastern  souls — of  Europe,  India,  China, 
Japan,  etc.  Indeed,  so  sure  may  we  be  of  the  victory  of  the  Raiionalisiic  policy, 
that  already  the  thoughts  of  the  more  far-seeing  thinkers  should  be  devoted  to 
the  double  problems  of  educating  the  masses  of  the  West  and  of  modifying  the 
religions  of  the  East.  At  home  (that  is  to  say,  in  Europe  and  America)  we  must 
not  only  clear  away  the  relics  of  clericalism  from  school  and  college  ;  we  must 
establish  a  system  of  teaching  superior  to  the  present.  And  abroad  we  must 
supersede  the  useless  and  injurious  work  of  the  Christian  missionary  by  a  sym- 
pathetic method  of  introducing  to  the  oriental  apprehension  the  scientific 
achievements  of  the  West.  We  may  enter  the  new  year  with  every  confidence 
that  these  dreams  will  be  ultimately  realized. — Literary  Guide. 

flDat)  fll>ur&ocft'6  Hnimal  StoriC0. 

THE     AUTOBIOGRArHY    OF    A     HORSE. 

WITH    SOME    MENTION    OF    HIS    FRIENDS. 

I  WAS  born  thirteen  long  summers  since.     My  mother  was  honest  and  my  father 
never  told  a  lie   in   his  life.     My  first  guardian  was  a  farmer,  with  whom  I  lived' 
till  I  was  eleven,  earning  my  oats  by  honest  toil.     By  that  time  I  learned  some 
fence  tricks,  and  got  some  oats  '.hat  were  not  meant  for  me.     The  farmer  got  rid 
of  me  by  trading  me  cfif  to  a  dealer  for  a  buirgy  and  set  of  harness.     Farmer  said 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  21 


I  was  past  six.  Trader  said  buggy  was  nearly  new  and  cost  $200.00.  Farmer 
sold  buggy  and  harness  for  $42.50.  Trader  sold  me  lo  a  horse  doclor  for  $45.00; 
said  he  wanted  a  hack.  I  got  some  hard  hacking.  The  Secretary  of  ihe  Humarle 
Society  had  a  dog — a  pug  Dog  got  sick  one  night  and  she  sent  by  telephone 
for  my  master.  Drive  was  four  miles  in  mud  and  some  ice.  Doctor  cut  me 
hard,  and  I  went  as  fast  as  I  could,  but  slipped  on  the  ice  and  got  hme.  When 
we  got  to  where  the  dog  was,  dog  was  dead,  and  lady,  in  torrent  of  tears,  wanted 
to  know  why  doctor  didn't  come  sooner.  Horse  was  hard  driven,  would  have 
been  killed  if  driven  baider.  She  didn't  care,  would  have  paid  for  ten  horses- 
being  killed  rather  than  that  poor,  dear  Dick  should  suffer  so.  Doctor  said  he 
was  sorry,  and  so  he  was,  afraid  he'd  lose  lady's  trade  Sold  me  to  a  carter. 
Carter  was  poor,  and  harness  was  bad.  Collar  chafed  my  shoulder  ;  he  put  some 
sugar  of  lead  on  it,  but  it  looked  bad.  Carter  had  little  girl  sick,  and  five  other 
little  ones  that  were  hungry.  Carter  had  to  hustle,  delivering  coal  at  25c.  a  load. 
Coal  man  was  Treasurer  of  Humane  Society  and  Vice-President  Y.M.C.A  ,  and 
made  $1  75  a  ton  on  coal  after  paying  for  carting,  but  then  he  said  to  my  boss, 
the  carter,  that  he  had  to  take  all  the  risk  and  chance— risk  was  that  people 
mightn't  want  coal. 

Well,  one  day  we  had  a  ton  to  deliver  on  Rotten  Block  Street.  Wheel  got 
stuck  in  a  hole — street  as  full  of  holes  as  the  lake  is  of  waves  on  a  rough  day. 
President  of  Humane  Society  owns  a  lot  of  hcTuses  on  street,  and  won't  have  it 
paved  because  it  would  raise  1  is  taxes.  Carter  got  off  to  1  ft  on  wheel,  and  told 
me  to  "get  up."  I  started.  Shoulder  hurt  a  bit,  and  I  let  the  cart  back  again. 
Carter  took  hold  of  spokes  and  lifted  hard,  and  shouted  to  me  to  '*  get  up."  I 
"  got  up,"  but  a  block  shifted  under  my  front  foot,  and  I  slipped.  Cart  wheel 
went  back  with  a  jerk  into  the  hole,  and  hit  carter  in  the  stomach,  and  skinned 
his  shin.  Carter  got  mad  and  gave  me  a  cut  with  the  whip.  I  gave  a  jump  and 
took  the  new  skin  off  my  shoulder  and  it  began  to  bleed.  Then  /  got  mad  and 
wouldn't  pull  at  all.  Carter  cut  me  again  and  swore  at  me.  Then  a  man  with 
a  cane  in  his  hand  came  along,  and  said  to  the  carter  that  he  should  take  half  of 
the  sacks  off  the  cart,  and  had  no  right  to  whip  a  horse  anyway.  Carter  evidently 
didn't  know  his  business,  or  hovf  to  drive  a  horse.  Carter  told  him  to  mind  his 
own  business.  Man  with  cane  went  and  called  a  policeman.  Policeman  came 
and  looked  on  and  said  that  that  wasn't  the  way  to  drive  a  horse.  Carter  said 
that  if  policeman  was  anything  but  a  big,  lazy  swine  he'd  help  shove  instead  of 

finding  fault.     Policeman    said    he   wouldn't   take  chat  like  that   from  no 

carter  that  ever  driv'  a  wagon.  Horse  was  galled,  and  the  Humane  Society 
would  trim  the  carter  on  account  of  the  sore  shoulder,  and  the  magistrate  woiild 
trim  him  for  sas-ing  the  police  on  duty.  Then  they  had  a  row,  and  two  more 
cops  came,  and  when  it  was  over,  one  policeman  had  a  black  eye,  another  had 
a  bad  kick  in  the  ribs,  and  my  boss  was  lying  on  the  sidewalk  with  a  club  cut  on 
his  head  that   took  seven  stitches,  and   I  was  unhitched  and  brought  home  by  a 


22  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


b:)y  who  knew  my  boss.  In  a  few  days  my  boss  was  able  to  appear,  and  got  six 
months  in  the  Central  for  cruelty  to  animals,  and  $20.00  and  costs  for  assaulting 
and  resisting  the  police.  I  was  sold  to  an  undertaker  to  pay  the  fine  and  costs, 
and  the  first  work  I  did  in  my  new  place  was  at  the  funeral  of  the  carter's  little 
girl,  who  died  for  want  of  medicine.  The  carter's  wife  couldn't  support  the 
children,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Neglected  Children  took  them  away  and  put 
them  out  with  kind  farmers,  who  will  treat  them  nearly  as  well  as  they  do  their 
hogs. 

Thus  do  all  things  work  together  for  good.  The  policeman  got  a  job,  the 
magistrate  and  the  Crown  Attorney  got  a  job  each  ;  the  Humane  Society  and 
the  Superintendent  of  Neglected  Children  were  given  a  chance  to  practise  their 
"good  works,"  and  the  undertaker  got  a  cheap  horse,  a  chance  to  look  sad,  and 
an  occasion  afforded  to  sing,  as  he  did  the  next  Sunday  :  "  Praise  God  from 
whom  all  blessings  flow." 

Moral  :  "  If  you  would  scatter  blessings  broadcast,  be  an  old  horse  with  a 
galled  shoulder." 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE  EDITOR'S  CHRISTMAS-BOX. 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir, — You  ask,  "  VVill«?you  help  ?  "  Yes,  indeed  !  We  will  help,  thousands 
strong.  I  hope.  That  much-desired  turkey  must  come.  Not  by  praying  super- 
natural powers  to  send  it,  as  the  old  darkey's  experience  warns  us  of  the  inutility 
and  uncertainty  of  all  such  appeals.  But  the  Business  Manager  will  go  and 
fetch  it,  after  paying  off  some  of  those  "  pressing  claims."  'I'hat  there  should 
be  "  pressing  claims  "  upon  the  only  voice  raised  against  religious  superstition 
among  the  six  millions  of  Canadians  inhabiting  such  a  magnificent  country  as 
ours,  stretching  from  Lake  St  Clair  in  the  south  to  Cape  Washington  in  the 
north,  and  from  Cape  St.  Charles  in  the  east  to  Port  Simpson  in  the  west,  and 
aggregating  3,745,574  square  miles,  is  difficult  to  contemplate  with  equanimity. 

Just  imagine  for  one  moment  the  only  voice  crying  aloud  for  rationalism  and 
religious  freedom  in  that  vast  wilderness  of  religious  superstition,  having  "  press- 
ing claims  "  against  it  from  landlord,  paper-dealer,  type-founder,  etc.,  endangering 
its  very  existence  !  Lest  some  of  the  friends  "  forget,"  I  send  four  times  the 
amount  asked — one  dollar. 

Is  it  not  time  for  the  religious  and  medical  reformers  to  combine  ?  Only  one 
•voice  of  protest,  from  the  religious  point  of  view,  throughout  our  broad  land, 
where  we  ought  to  have  a  dozen  ;  and  not  even  one  medical  journal  or  paper 
known  to  the  writer  in  the  interest  of  rational  medication,  to  lift  up  its  voice  in 
that  vast  wilderness  of  Pills  and  Powders  ! 

We  have  had  so  far  to  depend  entirely  upon  our  neighbors  to  the  south  for 
the  five  or  six  magazines  which  are  uttering  their  loud  protest  against  the  immi- 
nent danger  from  *'the  drug  that  corrodes."  They,  indeed,  are  doing  an  immense 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  2a 


and  much  needed  service  in  emancipating   the  human   mind    from   the  thraldom 
of  physiological  ignorance  which  everywhere  prevails  to  such  an  alarming  extent. 

"  Hot  burns  the  fire  where  wrongs  expire, 
Nor  spares  the  hand  that  from  the  land 
Uproots  the  ancient  evil." 

R.  J.  Moffat. 

THE  TELEO-MECHANICS  OF  NATURE. 
Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir, — Allow  me  to  interject  a  few  words  in  your  highly  interesting  controversy 
with  Professor  B.  F.  Underwood  on  the  subject  of  Materialism  You  say  in  your 
"  amended  definition  "  of  the  term,  in  your  issue  of  Oct  29th,  that  "  life  and 
intelligence  are  results  of  the  highest  known  forms  of  material  organization" 
How  do  you  reconcile  this  with  the  fact  that  life  and  intelligence  are  manifested 
in  the  lowest  known  forms  of  organic  matter  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as 
they  are  manifested  in  the  highest  orders  of  life,  including  man,  namely,  in  their 
movements,  their  various  emotions,  their  sensitiveness  and  purposive  activities, 
which  in  fecundated  cells  are  so  pronounced  that  Professor  T.  H.  Huxley  com- 
pared them  to  "  those  of  invisible  artists  who  with  their  plans  before  them  strive 
with  skilled  manipulation  to  perfect  their  work  "? 

That  a  psychic  element  is  resident  in  and  associated  with  the  psycho-dynamic 
properties  of  the  constituents  of  matter  is  recognized  by  Professor  Haeckel  in 
these  words  on  page  220  of  "The  Riddle  of  the  Universe"  :  "  As  to  my  own 
opinion — and  that  of  many  other  scientists — I  must  lay  down  the  following 
thesis  ....  as  indispensable  to  a  truly  monistic  view  of  substance,  and  one  that 
covers  the  whole  field  of  organic  and  inorganic  Nature  :  The  two  fundamental 
forms  of  substance,  ponderable  matter  and  ether,  are  not  dead  and  moved  only 
by  extrinsic  force,  but  they  are  endowed  with  sensation  and  will  (though,  natur- 
ally, of  the  lowest  grade)  ;  they  experience  an  inclination  for  condensation,  a 
d'slike  of  strain  ;  they  strive  after  the  one  and  struggle  against  the  other." 

It  so  happens,  you  will  notice,  that  Huxley  and  Haeckel  employ  the  same 
term  in  describing  or  defining  the  psychic  activities  of  atom  and  protist,  namely, 
"  strive,"— a  '"term  of  mind,"  both  atom  and  protist  ''striving''  to  attain  certain 
definite  ends  \n  the  way  of  condensation,  aggregation  or  amalgamation  (as  the 
case  may  be)  which  strivings  have  resulted  on  one  side  (the  atomic)  in  the  inor- 
ganic bodies  of  matter  or  force,  and  on  the  side  of  the  Protista  in  the  wondrous 
structures  of  the  organic  kingdom. 

Haeckel  qualifies  his  version  of  the  sensation  and  will  of  atoms  by  saying 
very  "considerately  "  that  these  psychic  properties  are,  naturally,  of  the  lowest 
grade.  It  strikes  me  very  forcibly  through  the  experiences  I  have  had  in  former 
controversies  on  this  subject  (extending  over  thirty-five  years)  that  my  opponents, 
in  their  desperate  "strivings  "  not  to  understand  the  true  nature  and  inferiority 
of  this  atomic  property,  "  naturally  "  persist  in  comparing  it  with,  or  viewing  it 
from,  their  own  standpoint,  which  must,  as  ''nntuially  "  make  the  atomic  mind- 
theory  look  quite  ridiculous  and  preposterous.  But  this  we  must  as  "  naturally  " 
attribute  to  the  perverseness  of  human  nature  !  One  consolation,  however,  is 
the  fact  that  despite  this  perverseness  the  said  indispensable  element  to  a  rational 
and  scientific  interpretation  of  all  nMural  phenomena,  has  at  last  been  recognized 
by  scientists,  as  might  have  naturally  been  expected  it  would  be  sooner  or  later. 


24  SECULAK  THOUGHT, 


If,  then,  intelligence  is  not  the  result  of  the  highest  known  forms  of  material 
organization — what  is  it  ?  Divested  of  all  buncombe  and  the  occultism  and 
mysticism  with  which  metaphysical  speculators  have,  in  their  ignorance,  invested 
it,  it  is  simply  intelligence,  just  as  light  is  light,  heat  is  heat  or  electricity  is 
electricity,  and  like  these  it  is  also  subject  to  constant  conversion  from  higher  to 
lower  forms,  and,  conversely,  from  the  highest  states,  as  manifested  in  cultivated 
human  intellects,  down  to  the  very  lowest  and  most  inferior  atomic  mind-principle 
again.  And  that  intelligence  is  an  entity  (though  naturally  an  impalpable  or  im- 
ponderable one  like  its  associate  dynamic  element  which  manifest  themselves 
in  the  physical  forms  of  force)  is  conceded  by  Professor  Haeckel  in  these  words 
on  page  221  :  "  Even  the  most  elaborate  and  most  perfect  forms  of  energy  that 
we  know — the  psychic  life  of  the  higher  animals,  the  thought  and  reason  of  man 
— depend  on  material  processes,  or  changes  in  the  neuroplasm  of  the  ganglionic 
cells  ;  they  are  inconceivable  apart  from  such  modifications." 

That  mind  in  its  ever-varying  phases,  forms  and  degrees  (of  intensity)  depends 
upon  the  physical  changes  of  the  material  substratum  (organic  or  inorganic)  with 
which  it  is  inalienably  associated,  I  have  never  disputed,  but  also  hold  that  the 
physical  (or  dynamic)and  the  psychical  elements  of  matter  mutually  or  reciprocally 
affect  each  other;  that  is  to  say,  the  psychic  element  governs  the  physical 
property  10  a  certain  extent,  and  this,  to  a  certain  degree  affects  or  controls  the 
psychical  property. 

Through  organization  of  the  atomic  and  molecular  constituents  of  material 
bodies  the  mind-element  finally  becomes  pre-potent  over  the  physico  dynamic 
substratum,  so  that  it  is  able  to  manifest  its  existence  in  the  emotional,  purposive, 
and  hence  intelligent  activities  of  the  organized  matter.  In  the  physical  forms 
of  force  the  dynamic  element  is  pre-potent  over  the  psychic  element,  though  this 
governs  it  in  a,  to  us,  imperceptible  degree,  unless  we  see  in  the  purposive 
movements  of  many  inorganic  bodies  of  matter  or  forces,  such  as  the  gyrations 
of  the  suns  and  planets,  sunlight,  heat,  electricity,  etc.,  all  of  which  hive  their 
certain  utilities  in  the  evolvement  of  life,  manifestations  of  the  lower  forms  of 
intelligence  in  matter. 

Even  in  the  various  forms  of  attraction  we  may  see  the  principle  of  love — the 
most  powerful  psychic  emotion  —revealed.  Or,  as  Haeckel  views  it  :  "  '  Attrac- 
tion'  and  '  repulsion'  seem  to  be  the  sources  of  will"  (p.  127).  But  volition  is 
only  one  of  the  phases  in  which  love  manifests  itself. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  a  psychic  element  is  clearly  operative  in  all  forms  of  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion,  though  only  manifest  in  its  desire  to  enter  into  more  or  less 
intimate  relations  with  all  atoms  (force-centres)  or  molecules  that  come  within 
range  of  its  infiaence  and  is  reciprocally  affected  by  a  cognate  psychic  element. 
This  mutual  psychic  attraction  or  affinity  resulted  in  the  formation  of  all  bodies 
of  matter.  Hence  in  this  sense  must  all  forms  of  matter  be  regarded  as  transient 
phenomena,  they  being  in  an  ultimate  analysis  reducible  to  viio-psychic  force — 
the  only  infinite  entity  pervading  space. 

Admitting,  then,  that  sensation  and  will — the  properties  of  the  fundamental 
forms  of  substance — ar^^of  a  psychic  nature,  then  all  Materialists  of  the  Haeckelian 
school  of  philosophy  will  concede  that  mind  is  a  property  of  matter,  which  you 
dispute  in  third  paragraph  on  page  467.  Also  that  mind  "  is  as  truly  a  property  of 
oxygen  gas  in  the  same  sense  as  that  in  which  we  say  it  is  a  property  of  brain 
substance." 

Mind  is  mind  wherever  we  fiixi  it,  though  it  is  of  an  infinite  variety,  forms  and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  25 

degrees,  even  as  we  find  this  to  be  true  in  the  various  forms  of  mind  that  come 
under  our  daily  observation,  it  being  sometimes  seemingly  impossible  for  one 
person  to  understand  the  other,  though  they  may  be  equally  intelligent. 

This  is  one  of  the  strange  and  inexplicable  characteristics  of  mind— its  great 
diversity  under  evtn  the  slightest  mod  fication  of  physiological  action  and  struc- 
ture. If,  then,  it  is  almost  impossible  for  one  human  mind  to  thoroughly  under- 
stand another  human  mind  just  because  there  may  be  but  the  slightest  variation 
in  the  molecular  or  cellular  structure  of  their  brains,  h  w  can  we  expect  to  under- 
stand the  nature  of  oxygen-mind,  or  hydrogen-mind,  or  a  molecule's  mind  or  an 
atom's  mind  ?  But  because  we  cannot  understand  them  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  deny  them  a  certain  commensurate  degree  of  sensation,  will  and  judg- 
ment, all  of  which  are  manifest  in  their  lowest  forms  in  attraction  and  repulsion, 
and  in  their  highest  developed  forms  in  the  love  and  hate  of  plants  and  animals. 

Wherever  purpose  of  any  kind  is  revea'ed  there  must,  necessarily,  be  some 
form  of  mind  operative,  since  we  cannot  dissociate  purpose  from  intelligence- 
one  implying  the  other.  Oxygen  gas  operates  to  a  purpose,  it  effects  (and 
affects)  certain  unions,  it  affiiiates  with  other  gases,  thus  forming  combinations 
quite  useful  to  all  organic  life,  and  in  this  purpose  its  own  inherent  mind-element 
becomes  manifest  to  us.  It  operates,  therefore,  in  the  same  purposive  sense  that 
a  chtmist  forms  certain  other  coalitions  of  elements,  but  the  oxygen-mind  being 
limited  in  its  entire  capacities  to  its  own  affiliations,  we  can  comprehend  the 
enormous  difference  that  obtains  between  this  extreme  low  form  i^f  inorganic 
mind  and  even  that  of  the  lowest  forms  of  organic  intelligences,  tho  e  of  the 
micro-organisms,  who,  as  Mons  Alfred  Binet,  the  eminent  French  biologist, 
asserted,  "  manifest  in  their  activities  the  majority  of  the  emotions  characteristic 
of  the  highest  orders  of  life." 

In  these  psychic  activities  of  the  lowest  orders  of  organic  life,  and,  inferentially, 
as  stated,  of  inorganic  matter  or  force,  may  the  true  final  causes  of  all  natural 
phenomena  be  found,  for  which  reason  the  term  "  teleo-mechanics  of  Nature  " 
would  not  be  an  inappropriate  appellation  for  the  fi  rces  operating  in  the  universe. 
Professor  Haeckel  admitting  on  page  263  that  "  the  principle  of  '  teleological 
mechanism  '  has  become  more  and  more  accepted  of  late  years  and  has  furnished 
a  mechanical  explanation  even  of  the  finest  and  most  recondite  processes  of 
organic  life."  Would  only  substitute  for  •'  mechanical"  the  term  "teleological," 
which  implies  "a  purposive,  hence  intelligent,  creative  force,  or  forces,"  (see 
page  260)  since  the  admission  of  a  psychic  element  in  the  mechanicisms  of 
matter  (i.e.,  their  atomic  and  molecular  processes)  furnishes  a  teleological  expla- 
nation of  all  natural  phenomena— the  former  mechanical  ones  having  been 
found  inadequate  to  their  interpretation. 

Thus  we  may  see  in  Nature  two  distinct  classes  of  teleo-mechanics  at  work — 
one  which  operates  in  inorganic  bodies  of  matter  and  force  (but  enter  also  in  the 
up-building  of  organic  structures),  and  the  other  which  dominates  exclusively  in 
the  organic  domain,  building  up  each  animal  or  vegetal  structure  in  accordance 
with  certain  psychic  impressions  received  from  their  genitors.  This  latter  more 
or  less  developed  class  is  identical  with  what  is  generally  known  as  the  sub- 
consciousness, that  is  to  say  :  this  our  diffused  meniality  consists  of  the  sum-total 
of  the  psychic  energy  of  the  teleo-mechanics  operating  within  our  bodies.  And 
to  what  are  these  (said  mechanics)  reducible?  Simply  to  what  Prof.  Haeckel  has 
alluded  to  in  various  parts  of  his  works  as  the  cell  '*  souls  "  of  each  plant  and 
animal.     That    these  cells,   or  theiY  souls,  rather,  operate  intelligently,  because 


26  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


purposively,  any  one  can  satisfy  himself  of  by  studying  their  movements  under 
a  microscope  strong  enough  to  reveal  them,  as  we  have  shown  from  the  quota- 
tions from  Prof.  Huxley's  and  Mons.  Binet's  works.  What  we  call  the  "  life"  of 
a  plant  or  an  animal  is  simply  these  teleo-mechanics  or  cell-souls  in  actual  ope- 
ration, and  is  identical  with  what  I  have  formerly  called  the  "  subconscious 
mind,"  but  which  for  the  vagueness  or  indefiniteness  of  the  term  I  have  changed 
to  the  more  specific  name  of  the  biologic  mind. 

In  the  purposive  physiological  processes  of  all  animate  beings  the  intelligence 
of  the  cell-souls  is  revealed  just  as  is  that  of  an  artizan  who  "  with  skilled  mani- 
pulations performs  his  work."  What  further  proof  or  evidence  of  his  intelligence 
is  needed  than  what  we  see  him  perform  ?  To  question  a  skilled  artist's  intelli- 
gence after  having  evidence  of  his  work  would  be  taken  as  a  sign  of  dementia. 
Why  would  not  this  rule  be  as  applicable  in  questioning  the  teleo-mechanics  of 
the  organic  kingdom  ?  Hermann  Wettstein. 

Fitzgerald,  Ga.,  U.  S.  A.,  Nov.  lo,  1904. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


THE  ONTARIO  ELECTIONS. 
We  are  within  the  mark,  we  think,  in  saying  that  nobody  was  more  surprised 
than  the  leaders  of  the  Liberal  party  itself  at  the  result  of  the  elections  for  the 
Dominion  Parliament,  which  gives  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  and  his  friends  a  secure 
hold  on  the  strings  of  the  public  purse  for  another  term  ;  and  after  such  an  ex- 
perience, nobody  should  be  surprised  if  the  Ross  Government  carried  ihe  Ontario 
elections  in  similar  style.  People  have  short  memories,  and  when  the  Liberal 
leader,  admitting  that  there  had  been  much  crooked  work  among  the  Liberals  in 
the  past,  advised  his  friends  to  ignore  it,  to  bury  it,  to  forget  it  entirely,  and  to 
start  afresh  with  a  clean  sheet,  determined  to  maintain  the  old  character  of  the 
Liberal  party  for  purity,  etc.,  he  struck  a  note  that  possibly  they  will  endeavor 
to  live  up  to— at  least  as  far  as  the  forgetting  is  concerned  "  But,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  we  must  not  forget  the  misdeeds  of  our  opponents."  Just  so,  and  his 
opponents  are  not  likely  to  forget  his  misdeeds  either.  So  that,  whichever  side 
wins  the  election,  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  "  debates  "  of  the  next  session 
wid  not  rise  above  the  level  of  a  parish  squabble  over  the  appointment  of  a  clerk 
or  a  pound-keeper. 


THE  TORONTO  EDUCATION  BOARD. 

The  results  of  the  Toronto  municipal  elections  were  on  the  whole  favorable 
to  decent  government,  but.  the  Education  Board  part  of  it  was  decidedly  disap- 
pointing. The  list  of  candidates  was  a  remarkably  poor  one,  and  it  was  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  the  first  meeting  of  the  new  Board  showed  log-rolling  and 
wire-pulling  to  be  in  full  force.  The  chairman,  Mr.  Brown,  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  one  over  the  late  chairman,  Mr.  Parkinson,  the  majority  including 
the  two  Separate  School  representatives  (whose  votes  were  objected  to  as  illegal 
in  tbis  case)  and  Miss  Martin  (who  voted  for  Brown  in  return   fur  a  promise  'of 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  27 


the  chairmanship  of  the  Management  Committee,  to  which  she  suhsequently  was 
elected).  This  was  a  bad  beginning  for  the  new  Board,  but  after  the  experience 
of  last  year's  Board,  we  should  not  expect  too  much. 

Miss  Martin  gives  us  the  one  gleam  of  hope  that  some  me nbers  of  the  Board 
of  Education  will  make  an  effort  to  improve  the  system  of  education  carried  on 
in  the  Toronto  schools.  She  jjroposes  that  for  the  first  three  *"  books,"  including 
children  up  to  about  nine  or  ten  years  of  age,  the  school  course  should  be  con- 
fined almost  eniirely  to  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
recently  introduced  "  nature  study,"  geography,  etc.  We  have  before  now  advo- 
cated a  simplification  of  the  pub  ic  school  curriculum,  but  such  a  drastic  measure 
as  that  now  suggested  we  think  would   be  an  unpardonable  mistake. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  present  instruction  in  our  public  schools  is 
very  defective,  many  of  the  teachers  being  but  poorly  equipped  for  their  work. 
Much  of  the  schor)l  work  consists  of  lenrning  by  rote  lessons  that  are  altogether 
misunderstood.  Instead  of  this,  what  is  wanted  is  that,  while  "the  three  r's  " 
should  be  carefully  and  intelligently  taught — and  a  sympathetic  teacher  could 
make  all  of  them  interesting  to  pupils  -geography,  hygiene,  and  nature  study  of 
a  simple  character  should  form  an  integral  part  of  the  school  course  of  all  the 
grades.  We  have  questioned  many  youths  who  have  passed  through  the  public 
schools,  having  left  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  sixteen  years,  and  have  in 
all  cases  found  them  possessed  of  but  the  faintest  ideas  upon  the  subjects  we 
have  mentioned.  We  laugh  at  the  Chinese  maps,  in  which  China  itself  occupies 
nearly  all  the  space,  the  other  countries  being  mere  specks  surrounding  it  ;  yet, 
though  our  maps  may  be  better,  the  general  effect  of  our  school  training  is  very 
much  the  same,  and  pupils  leave  school  with  the  same  false  notions  of  their 
own  country.  Their  own  bodies,  the  society  they  live  in,  the  world  and  the  uni 
verse  of  which  they  form  a  part,  are  all  subjects  upon  which  every  pupil  should 
receive  definite  instruction,  and  a  good  teacher  should  know  bow  to  impart  it 
and  to  make  it  interesting. 

We  sincerely  hope  the  new  Education  Board  will  thresh  out  this  subject,  and 
do  their  best  to  inaugurate  a  more  intelligent  system  of  school  teaching. 


AUSTRALIA    HARD  UP. 

It  is  an  unpleasant  sign  of  tie  times  that  the  British  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies  is  dunning  the  Australian  Commonwealth  for  the  ^^25,000  it  promised 
as  a  subscription  towards  the  Queen  Victoria  Memorial.  The  Commonwealth 
must  be  in  straightened  circumstances  indeed  when  it  finds  the  payment  of  such 
a  small  debt  at  all  difficult.  There  must  be  something  wrong  with  its  manage- 
ment, one  would  think.  Is  it  a  bigger  Paradise  for  Boodlers  than  Canada  or 
Yankee   Land  ? 


IN  MEMORY  OF  HUGH  PRICE  HUGHES. 
A  week  or  two  ago  a  memorial  window  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Methodist 
chief  bummer,  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  was  unveiled  in  the  Wesley  Chapel,  City 
Road,  London.  Of  co  rse,  if  the  Methodists  choose  to  honor  the  memory  of  a 
man  like  Hugh  Price  Hnghis,  we  can't  kick.  But  why  they  should  make  the 
memorial  take  the  shape  of  *'  a  life-sized  figure  ef  Jesu.s,  copied  from  Leonardo 
da  Vinci's  '  Last  Supper,'  "  seems  to  us  an  inscrutable  mystery.  What  had  Mr. 
Hughes  to  do  with  Jesus?  Hughes  certainly  was  not  one  of  Mr.  Morley's  four 
absolutely  truthful  men  ;  nor  had  jje  the  honor  to  acknowledge  his   error  when 


28  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


it  was  proved  conclusively  that  he  had  retailed  a  false  story  about  a  **  converted 
atheist  shoemaker."  He  was  simply  a  commonplace  Christian  preacher,  for  whom 
a  lie  was  better  than  the  truth  if  it  appeared  to  spell  profit  to  his  church. 


GOOD  FOR  LOS  ANGELES. 

Sunday  night,  October  9th,  T.  W.  Williams  lectured  at  the  Liberal  Club  on 
the  subject  of  the  Bible  in  the  schools.  In  the  five-minutt  criticisms  following, 
the  County  Superintendent  said  that  he  would  favor  keeping  a  copy  of  the  Bible 
in  the  library  for  reference,  but  that  he  would  not  want  a  Jew  or  Catholic  teacher 
to  give  and  teach  their  ideas  of  it  to  his  child,  and  that  it  should  not  be  forced 
i«to  the  public  schools.  Then  the  preachers  and  school  marms  sneaked  home. 
— Higher  Science^  Los  A  ngeles,  Cal. 


BIBLE  SELLING  IN  TURKEY. 
Although  the  Turkish  Government  has  removed  the  restriction  imposed  upon 
the  sale  of  Bibles,  some  of  the  colporteurs  of  the  Bible  Society  have  been  ar- 
rested and  fined  at  Trebizond,  and  their  Bibles  confiscated  The  Porte  sent  a 
note  to  the  Powers  formulating  its  objections  to  the  selling  of  Bibles  in  Turkey; 
and  one  would  think,  if  the  Bible  Society  were  actuated  by  any  just  regard  for 
rights  of  the  Turks  in  their  own  country,  they  would  refrain  from  this  persistent 
disregard  of  the  laws  of  a  friendly  nation.  It  is  now  reported  that,  through  the 
intervention  of  the  American  Legation,  the  confiscated  books  have  been  restored. 


BRICKLAYERS  AGIN  CEMENT. 
At  the  Provincial  Conference  of  the  International  Bricklayers'  Union,  held  in 
Toronto  on  Dec.  6th,  the  President  advised  that  a  resolution  be  passed  condemn- 
ing the  use  of  cement  instead  of  stone  and  brick  for  house  foundations,  on  the 
ground  that  the  use  of  cement  would  deprive  bricklayers  and  stonemasons  of  a 
job.  This  is  one  of  those  items  that  show  what  false  notions  of  right  and  wrong 
obtain  among  the  trade  unionists,  and  what  little  good  we  may  expect  from  such 
organizations  until  better  notions  prevail.  Although  it  has  been  shown  that  the 
houses  built  of  cement  are  better  and  cheaper  than  those  built  of  brick,  this 
Brotherhood  of  Bricklayers  would  prevent  a  man  building  a  house  for  himself  if 
he  could  not  pay  the  top  price  for  bricks  and  the  highest  wages  for  bricklayers. 
This  is  not  tyranny.     It  is  only  working  man's  justice. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 
A  Sunday  School  Convention  was  held  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Montreal,  about 
the  middle  of  December,  and  one  or  two  items  in  the  proceedings  struck  us  as 
containing  some  food  for  thought.  The  field  secretary  stated  that  there  was  one 
congregation  wherj  95  per  cent  were  connj.:ted  with  the  Sunday  school,  iS^ 
per  cent,  was  the  average  for  Amsrici,  and  26  per  cent,  in  Montreal.  From  this 
it  would  siem  that  a  large  portion  of  the  congregations  take  very  little  interest 
at  all  in  the  Sunday-school.  Perhaps  this  accounts  for— or  perhaps  is  accounted 
for  by— another  statement,  made  by  Rev.  Mackenzie,  when  s[)eaking  in  favor  of 
specially  training  teachers  for  Sunday-school  work.  We  agree  with  Mr.  Macken- 
zie that,  if  there  must  be  teachers  of  Sunday-schools,  they  should  be  properly 
equipped  for  their  work  ;  but  whether  such  a  training  would  give  the  teacher  a 
"higher  estimate  of  the   peculiar  quality   and  sacrediusa  q{  his  office,"  we  are 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  29 


inclined  to  doubt.  And  we  agree  that,  "  to  teach  successfully,  one  must  possei-s- 
a  kno.vljdge  of  the  subject  matter  to  be  taught."  This  seems  to  need  no  reve- 
lation ;  i)vr,  in  view  of  it,  the  conclusion  we  arrive  at  is  that  the  present  staff  of 
Sunday-school  teachers  is  deficient  in  a  knowledge  of  what  tht  y  pretend  to  teach. 
Which  is  very  likely  to  be  tr.ie.  and,  if  so,  will  account  for  a  good  deal  that  is 
noticeable  in  Sunday-school  affairs.  If  the  teachers  are  ignorant  hypocrites  — ihe 
meaning  we  attach  to  Rev.  Mackenzie's  words — thtre  need  be  no  surprise  that 
so  many  of  them  turn  out  to  be  frauds  when  ihey  get  out  into  the  business  world. 


AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  "J  H  V  H." 
We'have  received  a  copy  of  a  24-page  pamphlet  by  Mr.  D.  K.  Tcnney,  con^^ 
taining  an  account  of  his  ascent  to  heaven  and  his  interview  with  its  proprietor. 
There  is  no  price  marked  on  it,  but  copies  can  doubtless  be  obtained  by  address- 
ing Mr.  Tenney  at  Madison,  Wis.  Mr.  Tenney  traverses  the  Biblical  story  of 
the  divine  dealings  with  the  Jews  and  some  other  people,  and  his  interview  will 
he  found  to  contain  much  laughter  and  tnought-provoking  matter.  On  page  22, 
HVHJ  remarks,  in  answer  to  the  interviewer's  solacing  suggestion  (in  regard  to 
the  coney,  which  the  Bible  tells  us  "  cheweth  the  cud,  but  divideth  not  the  huol  "), 
that  "  No  one  could  expect  you  to  carry  always  in  mind  the  exact  character  of 
the  feet  and  stomachs  of  all  the  animals  you  created.  Nobody  but  a  naturalist 
could  do  that  "  :  "  Young  man,  you  do  not  comprehend  the  true  nature  of  the 
offence.  Listen  to  me.  One  of  the  first  principles  of  cosmic  philosophy  is  that 
things  may  be  theologically  true,  yet  actually  false.  The  action  of  the  Presbytery 
strikes  at  the  very  root  of  this  principle.  It  is  the  very  marrow  in  the  backbone 
of  all  theology.  People  who  only  believe  what  they  know  to  be  true,  and  which, 
therefore,  they  are  obliged  to  believe,  confer  no  favor  on  me,  for  no  favor  is  in- 
volved. It  is  only  those  who  believe,  for  my  sake,  what  they  know  to  be  false, 
who  commend  themselves  to  my  grace.  This  is  theology  pure  and  simple.  If 
you  will  but  reflect  a  moment,  you  will  perceive  that  all  things  required  in  my 
written  word  to  be  believed  by  men,  as  conditions  of  their  salvation,  are  matters 
which  they  either  know  or  suspect  to  be  false.  True  faith  alone  can  achieve  this- 
exalted  credulity,  and  thus  make  me  happy.  What  jjy  can  there  be  i.i  heaven 
over  faith  which  only  confides  in  what  it  perceives  to  be  true  ?  That  is  altogether 
too  easy." 


From  Huntingdon,  W.Va.,  we  hear  of  a  row  which  occurred  among  some  of 
the  congregation  who  had  just  left  a  little  church  near  Mill  Creek,  on  Big  Sandy 
River,  in  which  one  man  was  killed  outright  and  two  others  fatally  wounded. 
The  row  was  about  politics,  and  it  is  clear  that  the  influence  of  religion  in  this 
case  did  not  last  ten  seconds  after  the  benediction. 

At  Opelonsas,  I^  ,  Mrs.  Donald  Guillory,  an  old  lady  aged  100  years,  was 
burnt  to  death  at  the  altar  in  the  Catholic  church,  Oct.  24lh.  As  she  stood  up 
after  praying  and  turned  to  leave,  her  dress  caught  fire  from  the  lighted  candles, 
arfd  she  was  so  badly  burned  that  she  died  in  a  few  minutes.  Possibly  she  had 
neglected  to  pray  for  protection  against  fire. 

The  Bishop  of  Peterborough  (England),  we  are  told,  has  authorized  a  form  of 
prayer  to  be  used  in  his  diocese  asking  God  for  the  termination  of  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war.  The  bishop  and  his  clergy  might  have  sent  their  petition  direct 
to  the  Emperors  of  Japan  and  Russia.  If  they  thought  this  plan  would  not  be 
successful,  how  can  they  expect  better  results  from  a  second-hand  message  ? 


w 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


ONLY  ONE  WAY. 
However  the  battle  is  ended, 

Though  proudly  the  victor  comes, 
With  fluttering  flags  and  prancing  nags 

And  echoing  roll  of  drums, 
Still  truth  proclaims  this  motto 

In  letters  of  living  light : 
No  question  is  ever  settled 

Until  it  is  settled  right. 

Though  the    heel    of    the    strong  op- 
pressor 

May  grind  the  weak  in  the  dus^, 
And  the  voices  of  fame  with  one  acclaim 

May  call  him  great  and  just, 
Let  those  who  applaud  take  warning 

And  keep  this  motto  in  sight : 
No  question  is  ever  settled 

Until  it  is  settled  right. 

Let  those  who  have  failed  take  courage. 

Though  the  enemy  seemed  to  have 
won, 
Though  his  ranks  are  strong,  if  in  the 
wrong, 

The  battle  is  not  yet  done  ; 
For  sure  as  the  morning  follows 

The  darkest  hour  of  the  night, 
No  question  is  ever  settled 

Until  it  is  settled  right, 
— y.  Frantz  in  Albany  Sunday  Sun. 


Here  is  a  barber's  card   from  a  town 
in  Iowa  : 


If  you  want  your  Soup-strainers 
Pruned,  we  will   block   them 
out    in  any  pattern  : — Lip 
Ticklers,  Fantails,  Billy- 
goats,  or  Preacherinos. 


Hair  Cuts  of  all  kinds,  from 

Woolly  Willies   to  Ring- 

Around-Roseys. 


Jager's  Whiskerarium, 
Telephone  Building  -  -  Eddyville. 


In  the  public  schools  of  Japan,  the 
English  language  is  required  to  be 
taught  by  law. 


A  DISRAELIISM. 

One  of  the  smartist  things  ever  said 
by  Disraeli  was  uttered  at  the  moment 
of  his  entry  into  public  life  at  High 
Wycombe.  At  the  election,  Disraeli's 
opponent,  a  county  man  of  influence, 
proclaimed  that  he  was  *'  standing  for 
the  seat  upon  the  Constitution  of  the 
country,  upon  the  broad  acres  of  his 
fathers,  upon  law,  property  and  order." 

"  And  what  does  Mr  Disraeli  stand 
upon  ?  "  cried  a  farmer  in  the  crowd. 

Disraeli  sprang  to  his  feet  instanter, 
"  I  stand,"  said  he,  "  upon  my  head  !  " 


Mrs.  de  Vere  Neat — It  seems  to  me 
that,  for  a  man  who  claims  to  deserve 
charity,  you  have  a  very  red  nose." 

Muddy  Mike — Yes,  mum  ;  the  cheap 
soaps  that  us  poor  people  uses,  mum.  is 
very  hard  on  the  complexion,  mum." 


The  old  man  paused  at  the  parlor 
door  on  his  way  upstairs,  and  said  : 

"  Don't  forget,  young  man,  that  the 
lights  in  this  house  are  all  put  out  at  lo 
o'clock." 

"  Thanks,"  rejoined  the  young  man 
who  was  helping  the  fair  maid  to  hold 
the  sofa  down,  "  but— er — couldn't  you 
make  an  exception  to-night  and  put  'em 
out  an  hour  earlier  ?  " 


SECRETS. 

The  secrets  you  whiswer  to  Stella 

Will  travel  a  wide-spreading  ground  ; 
The  confidence  given  to  Smithers 

Will  shortly  be  bruited  around. 
So  Corn  on  the  Cob  we  are  hailing, 

Give  praise  from   the   North  to  the 
South  !— 
The  only  safe  ear  in  existence 

To  which  you  can  open  your  mouth. 


Student— What  do  you  regard  as  the 
chief  end  of  man,  professor  ? 

Professor — Well,  it  depends  upon 
what  you  want  the  man  for.  If  you 
want  him  to  do  brain  work,  it's  his 
head ;  but  if  you  want  him  to  run 
errands,  it's  his  feet. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


31 


PRAYER. 

Pray  if  you  can,  but  prayer  never  can 

Produce  one  useful  thought  in  mind  of 
man. 

Kneel  to  the  great  unknown,  but  learn 
to  know 

Th.it   man   is  never  raised    by  bending 
low. 

Ask  God  to  give,  but  learn  that  useful 
hands 

Are  ever  valued  more  than  God's  com- 
mands. 

That  one   poor  cot  on  earth  is  valued 
high 

Above  the  greatest  mansion  in  the  sky. 

Sing  !  sing,    ye    host !    your  God  per- 
chance may  hear. 

Your  long  sought  Christ  on  earth  may 
yet  appear  ; 

Your  God   may   speak  ;  Christ   conde- 
scend to  give 

To  ignorance  the  pow'r  to  think  and  live. 

Faith   in    a   dream    produces    nothing 
good, 

Religions  die  when  they  are  understood. 

As  nations   rise  and  fall,  creeds  come 
and  go — 

Each  church  is  but  a  monument  of  woe. 

The  fear  of  God  will  damn  the  truest 
heart 

Which   bends   to   think   and    play  the 
manly  part  ; 

But   love  of  truth  will  raise  the  living 
head 

Above  the  creeds  and  fai'ures  of  the 
dead. 
— Sylvanus  in  Agnostic  jfournal. 


At  the  close  of  the  service  one  Sun- 
day morning  the  pastor  of  a  city  church 
went  down  the  aisle,  as  was  his  custom, 
to  greet  strangers   in  the  congregation. 

*'You  are  not  a  member  of  our 
church,"  he  remarked  to  one. 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  the  stranger. 

*'  Do  you  belong  to  any  denomina- 
tion, may  I  ask  ?  " 

••  Well,"  was  the  hesitating  reply,  '•  I 
might  perhaps  be  called  a  submerged 
Presbyterian."  ^ 


"  How's  that  ?  " 

•'  Why,  I  was  brought  up  a  Presby- 
terian, my  wife  is  a  Methodist,  my 
eldest  daughter  is  a  Baptist,  my  son  is 
organist  at  a  Unive  salist  church,  my 
second  daughter  sings  in  an  Episcopal 
choir,  and  my  youngest  goes  to  a  Con- 
gregational Sunday-school." 

"  But  you  contribute,  doubtless,  to 
some  one  church." 

"Yes,  I  contribute  to  all  of  them. 
That  is  partly  why  I  am  submerged." — 
Youth^s  Companion. 


A    "CHIC  "    RETORT. 

Mr.  Choate,  the  American  ambassa- 
dor to  England,  is  quick  at  repartee. 
He  was  at  a  country  house  during  a 
"  week-end,  "  when  at  breakfast  one 
morning  his  neighbor,  a  pretty  Ameri- 
can, came  to  grief  in  trying  to  manipu- 
late her  egg  English  fashion.  With  a 
face  full  of  dismay  she  turned  to  him  : 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Choate,  I've  dropped  an 
egg.    What  shall  I  do  ?  " 

"  Cackle,  madam,  cackle  !  "  was  the 
quick  retort. 


Curate  (at  the  end  of  a  successful 
Jumble  Sale) — Ladies,  in  the  name  of 
Almighty  God,  I  thank  you  for  the 
many  articles  of  value  which  you  have 
devoted  to  the  service  of  the  church  in 
this  sale  ;  and  I  would  ask  you  not  to 
forget  that  all  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  have  left  off  wearing  apparel  are 
earnestly  requested  to  give  it  to  the 
poor  !  "  (Ladies  blush^  gentlemen 
snicker ^  curate  collapses.) 

A  well-known  preacher  at  a  dinner 
propounded  this  conundrum  :  *'  Why 
was  Noah  the  greatest  financier  of  his 
time  ?  "  There  being  no  reply,  he  gave 
this  answer  :  *'  Noah  was  able  to  float 
a  stock  company  at  a  time  when  all  his 
contemporaries  were  forced  into  invo- 
luntary liquidation." 


Paganism — Christianity  before  Christ. 
Christianity — Paganism  after  Christ. 


S2 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


LITTLE  JOHNNY  WRITES 
ABOUT  THE  HOG. 

Missus  Dyppy,  which  has  got  the 
red  hed,  she  had  a  pet  pig  wich  wuld 
come  in  the  house  and  eat  evry  thing 
wich  it  cud  lay  its  hans  on,  and  one 
time  she  come  in  har  own  self  jest  in 
time  to  see  the  pci  pig  swoller  a  marble 
wich  her  little  Sammy  roled  tord  it  on 
the  flore.  So  she  sed,  Missus  Doppy 
did,  Why,  Sammy,  now  you  have  lost 
yure  marble!  But  Sammy  he  sed  it 
dident  matter  much,  cos  it  was  the  only 
one  wich  was  left  and  he  culdent  play 
a  game  with  only  but  jest  one. 

Then  she  ast  what  had  become  of 
the  others,  cos  he  had  more  than  a 
hunderd.  Sammy  he  sed  he  gest  mebby 
thay  had  flew  up  the  chimny,  but  the 
pig  it  wank  its  i,  much  as  to  say  Sammy 
was  a  good  one  But  prety  soon  the 
pig  it  was  took  bad  in  the  stummuck 
and  died  in  a  minite,  for  it  had  et  all 
the  marbles  wich  Samm>y  had. 

One  time  wen  Uncle  Ned  was  a  news- 
paper man  the  editor  tole  him  for  to 
write  a  stunner  on  the  Amercan  hog, 
wich  was  a  live  ishue  and  a  burnin 
question.  So  Uncle  Ned  he  opened 
his  desk  and  put  out  his  pen  and  his 
paper  and  his  tung,  and  made  his  legs 
curly,  and  rwote  as  follows,  wich  he 
remembers  like  it  was  yestday  : 

The  Amercan  hog,  wich  is  begining 
for  to  absorp  the  ateushion  of  the  sci- 
entificle,  is  a  quoderped,  but  fish  is  eels, 
and  the  giraft  roars  like  distent  thunder. 
The  Amercan  hog  is  distinguisht  from 
the  yuman  race  by  its  grunt,  wich  makes 
it  woller  in  the  mud  like  it  cudent  get 
up,  but  thay  can  wen  thare  is  anything 
in  it. 

The  hop  tode  is  worty  and  sheeps 
has  wool,  and  the  pecox  it  has  got  eys 
in  its  tail,  and  the  rhi  nosey  rose  it 
carrys  a  sticker  on  its  nose,  but  the 
Hog  of  our  Union  he  roots  with  hissen 
and  nashes  his  teeths  offle  !  He  has 
got  a  button  on  his  snowt,  but  no 
buttonhole  for  to  put  it  in,  and  a  note 


of  intergatoin  for  a  tail,  wich  proofs 
that  altho  he  was  created  up  rite  his 
purpus  is  involved  in  dout. 

The  he  one  is  a  buck,  but  the  lady 
hog  is  pork,  and  wen  the  whicked 
devvles  is  drove  out  of  yumans  thay  go 
into  hogs  and  the  hogs  run  down  a  hil 
into  the  lake  wich  burneth  with  fier  and 
broomstone  and  the  devvles  is  all 
drownded. 

It  is  wicked  for  to  take  soop  twice, 
but  the  Amercan  hog  he  put  his  fore 
feets  in  the  trof  and  rises  up  his  voice 
for  to  ask  for  more,  cos  he  is  the  king 
of  beests  and  the  levver  wich  moves  the 
werld  ! 

Wen  the  editor  see  wot  Uncle  Ned 
had  rwote  he  sed  he  wudent  put  it  in 
the  paper  and  I  think  so  too,  as  I  have 
never  did  see  sech  rot  in  my  life  and 
Bildad  never  did  in  hisen,  but  the  lo 
commandments  say  thow  shall  not  eat 
pork,  for  it  biteth  like  a  adder. 

But  a  pigs  tail  nice  roasted  is  the 
sum  of  yuman  hapness.  —  Ambrose 
Bierce  in  the  American. 


The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  says  the 
Scots  are  clean  golfers  and  clean  curlers, 
but  as  religious  disputants  they  stand 
easily  first  among  the  peoples  of  the 
earth. 

It  is  calculated  that  Spain  spends 
$500,000  on  candles  and  incense  for 
churches.  But  there  were  four  hundred 
Freethinkers  from  one  Spanish  city, 
Barcelono,  at  the  great  Roman  Con- 
gress. 

Under  the  weight  of  a  crowd  of  wor- 
shippers, the  floor  of  a  new  Catholic 
church  at  Adams,  Mass.,  collapsed  and 
nearly  150  people  fell  into  the  cellar. 
It  seems  a  pity  the  Almighty  did  not 
inspire  the  architect  of  his  own  house 
with  enough  knowledge  to  build  the 
church  securely  ;  though,  as  one  bishop 
and  several  priests  were  among  those 
who  •'  fell  from  grace"  on  this  oecasion, 
it  miy  be  that  the  arch-enemy  had 
something  to  do  with  the  job. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bu5.  Mjrr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  2. 

TORONTO,  JAN.  28,   1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

3mmoraliti2  of  •ReUoion* 

:o: 

Religion  is  merely  loyalty.  When  a  Christian  sins  as  a  man, 
he  makes  compensation  as  a  courtier.  When  he  has  injured 
a  fellow  creature  he  goes  to  church  with  more  regularity,  and 
believes  that  he  has  cleared  off  the  sins  that  are  laid  to  his 
account.  This,  then,  is  the  immorality  of  religion  as  it  now 
exists.  It  creates  artificial  virtues,  and  sets  them  off  against 
actual  vices. — Winwood  Reade. 

EDITORIALS. 

THE  ONTARIO  ELECTIONS. 
The  result  of  the  Ontario  elections  appears  to  have  been  a  complete  sur- 
prise to  both  of  the  political  parties.  The  Rossites,  while  talking  some- 
what apolop;etically,  had  made  preparations  for  a  *'  great  fight" — which, 
interpreted  in  the  words  of  some  of  their  opponents,  means  that  money 
was  by  no  means  stinted — but  were  not  unprepared  for  defeat ;  and  the 
Whitneyites,  though  confident  of  victory,  only  reckoned  upon  securing 
a  moderate  working  majority.  The  announcement,  therefore,  that  the 
Conservatives  hud  secured  70  seats  out  of  98,  giving  them  a  majority  of 
42,  came  to  them  almost  as  startlingly  as  to  their  opponents.  The  talk 
of  a  possible  Coalition  Government  naturally  ceased  as  soon  as  the  elec- 
tion returns  showed  a  decided  majority. 

The  Conservative  party  will  now  have  an  opiX)rtunity  of  putting  theh- 
pledges  in  favor  of  honest  government  to  the  test  of  practice  ;  though 
it  is  more  than  likely,  when  they  have  settled  down  to  work,  that,  like 
the  victorious  Liberals  at  Ottawa,  they  will  find  j)lausible  excuses  for 
outdoing  the  extravagance  of  their  predecessors.     Still,  let  us  hope  that 


34  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

tlieir  thirty-two  years  of  exclusion  from  the  sweets  of  office  may  have 
chastened  their  spirits,  and  taken  the  edge  off  their  appetite  for  power 
and  pelf. 

Goldwin  Smith  thinks  the  overwhelming  defeat  of  the  Liberals  carries 
with  it  a  strong  declaration  of  the  Ontario  people  in  favor  of  honest 
government.  There  are,  of -course,  some  citizens — possibly  a  majority 
of  them — who  are  in  favor  of  honest  government,  but  there  has  been 
no  recent  eviden-ce  forthcoming  to  show  that  there  has  been  any  prick- 
ing of  the  public  conscience  in  this  matter.  Bribery  and  corruption 
have  been  the  staple  cries  of  both  parties  of  Canadian  politicians  ever 
since  Confederation.  It  seems  likely  that  the  "outs," — the  Conserva- 
tives— who  are  actually  in  a  numerical  majority,  and  have  nearly  car- 
ried the  last  two  elections,  have  so  perfected  their  machine,  that  the 
defection  of  a  number  of  Prohibition  voters,  disgusted  with  the  vacilla- 
tion and  deception  of  the  Ross  Government  on  the  Prohibition  question, 
and  of  a  few  voters  disgusted  with  the  many  recent  election  scandals, 
has  been  sufficient  to  give  a  majority  in  many  constituencies. 

It  would  certainly  be  a  pk'asing  thought  that  the  Ontario  citizens  had 
condemned  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  a  government  the  members  of 
which  can  only  defend  themselves  from  the  charge  of  gross  corruption 
and  bribery  by  an  admission  of  incapacity  and  neglect  of  plain  duty. 
But  both  sides  have  managed  the  election  by  means  of  *' machines  " 
that  are  a  menace  to  decent  government.  During  the  thirty-two  years 
of  "Liberal  "  government  in  Ontario,  berths  have  been  filled  time  and 
again  by  all  sorts  of  party  hangers-on,  without  any  consideration  as  to 
their  qualifications  for  the  duties  undertaken,  and  new  berths  have  been 
created  for  many  more,  until  nepotism  and  bureaucracy  has  undermined 
any  chance  of  honest  government  and  has  become  a  powerful  element 
in  debauching  the  people.  Only  a  couple  of  weeks  ago  a  man  who  was 
vice-president  of  one  of  the  party  societies  was  rewarded  for  his  partisan 
work  by  being  appointed  a  license  inspector  at  $1,500  per  annum.  Other 
members  of  the  same  society  had  previously  been  similarly  rewarded. 

Naturally  enough,  the  supporters  of  the  new  Conservative  Government 
will  look  for  their  reward  in  the  same  fashion,  and  unless  the  Ministers 
are  abnormally  honest  and  firm,  they  will  get  it.  The  doctrine  that  "  to 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils  "  has  taken  such  a  firm  hold  of  the  minds 
of  both  politicians  and  people,  that  we  doubt  if  the  Conservative  leaders 
could  resist  their  demands,  even  if  inclined  to  do  so. 

Nor  do  we  look  for  reforms  or  decent  government  to  come  from  the 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  85 


initiative  of  the  party  leaders.  In  our  view,  reforms  can  only  result 
from  an  increased  sense  of  responsibility  in  the  mass  of  the  people. 
While  the  people  continue  to  maintain  party  associations,  the  object  of 
which  is  to  keep  the  party  in  power  and  to  secure  berths  for  the  active 
members,  we  can  only  regard  those  who  join  such  associations  as  deli- 
berate supporters  of  the  "  machine  "  and  active  participants  in  corrupt 
methods.  For  the  purpose  of  keeping  their  party  in  power,  and  for  their 
own  and  their  friends'  pecuniary  advantage,  they  voluntarily  forego  tneir 
rights  and  duties  and  privileges  as  free-born  citizens  of  a  democratic 
country,  and  stamp  themselves  as  the  tools  and  minions  of  a  system 
that  must  inevitably  destroy  clean  and  honest  government. 

SOME  COMMON  CLERICAL  FALLACIES. 

It  has  been  often  observed,  that  when  a  preacher  begins  to  preach  he 
generally  manages  to  say  something.  With  equal  truth  it  may  be  ob- 
served, that  when  a  preacher  does  say  something,  he  more  frequently 
says  something  foolish  than  something  sensible.  This,  indeed,  is  what 
might  be  naturally  expected  on  a  priori  grounds;  for  it  is  certain  that 
the  whole  training  of  the  preaching  fraternity  is  of  a  nature  to  unfit 
them  for  taking  a  sensible  view  of  mundane  affairs  or  for  dealing  witli 
them  in  a  rational  or  logical  fashion.  Everything  is  judged  from  the 
i^tandpoint  of  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  and  is  condemned  or  approved 
according  to  its  supposed  agreement  with  or  opposition  to  the  alleged 
commands  of  a  *'  god  " — in  other  words,  the  standards  of  the  church. 

A  striking  instance  of  this  was  seen  at  a  celebration  of  the  diamond 
jubilee  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  when  the  sermon  was  preached  by 
Archbishop  Glennon.  Mr.  Glennon  took  the  opportunity  to  denounce  a 
proposed  constitutional  amendment  authorizing  the  issue  of  free  text- 
books to  pupils  in  the  public  schools,  and  especially  what  he  said  was  a 
**  popular  belief  that  education  is  a  solution  of  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is 
heir  to,"  and  went  on  : 

**  Why  is  it  necessary  to  have  school  text-books  free  ?  If  the  books  were  so 
distributed,  equity  demands  liiat  the  distribution  should  be  as  wide  as  the  scope 
of  the  soil,  but  by  the  amendment  it  is  limited  lo  children  wlio  go  only  to  cerlain 
schools.  I  cite  this  proposed  law  as  a  step  towards  socialism,  because  if  it  is 
adopted  the  ordinance  in  time  will  be  also  for  the  adoption  of  free  clothes  and 
free  food  for  all  the  children. 

"  This,  I  hold,  is  not  becoming^nor  esstnli:il  in  llie  dcvclop-nent  of  a  tree  and 


36  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

independent  people.  It  might  suit  the  penitentiary,  but  where  years  have  been 
spent  and  the  best  thought  given  to  the  development  of  healthy  mdividualism, 
such  a  law  would  be  hurtful  to  the  country's  best  interests.  It,  furthermore, 
would  react  on  those  people  who  inaugurate  it,  for  that  which  is  received  for 
nothing  is  generally  regarded  as  worth  nothing.  As  in  life,  emulation,  anbition, 
incentive  are  necessary,  so  also  in  education  these  things  are  essential.  Conse- 
quently, I  believe  and  say  without  hesitation  that  this  amendment  ought  not  to 
be  carried.  And  I  cite  it  as  an  evidence  of  the  extravagant  notion  that  some 
have  of  the  helpfulness  of  education." 

For  an  Archbishop,  Mr.  Glennon's  logic  is  of  a  peculiarly  weak  cha- 
racter. Because  free  text-books  are  to  be  provided  suited  to  the  course 
of  studies  pursued  in  the  public  schools  that  are  open  to  all,  therefore 
they  should  also  be  given  to  schools  where  an  opposing  system  is  carried 
on,  and  even  to  children  not  attending  school  at  all. 

It  is  manifestly  wrong  to  class  sectarian  schools  as  on  a  par  with  the 
public  schools,  and  entitled  to  the  same  advantages.  It  is  evident  that 
they  must  rather  be  regarded  as  an  opposing  institution,  and  one  which 
voluntarily  puts  itself  beyond  the  pale  of  public  institutions  and  forfeits 
their  advantages  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  teach  its  special  creeds  and 
dogmas  by  its  own  often  incompetent  agents. 

Then  Mr.  Glennon  decides  that  free  text-books  are  *'  a  step  towards 
Socialism,"  and,  if  adopted,  must  lead  to  "  free  clothes  and  free  food  for 
all  the  children."  Apart  from  any  consideration  as  to  whether  such  an 
outcome  might  not  be  far  better  than  the  present  system,  it  is  clear  that 
the  rev.  gentleman's  assumption  is  a  totally  gratuitous  one,  and  would 
be  equally  valid  against  a  change  in  any  direction.  A  demand  to  reduce 
excessive  railway  fares  or  city  taxes — heavy  for  the  poor  if  not  for  the 
rich — would  by  the  same  logic  be  interpreted  as  involving  an  ultimate 
demand  for  free  railway  travel  and  the  abolition  of  all  taxes. 

As  to  the  tendency  '*  towards  Socialism,"  the  same  argument  might 
be  used  in  regard  to  every  step  in  the  improvement  of  the  machinery  of 
social  life ;  but  certainly  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove  that  the  men  wlio 
desire  the  children  to  be  educated  in  the  most  efficient  manner  would 
sanction  the  supply  to  them  of  free  clothing.  Rather  the  reverse.  Their 
object,  indeed,  is  to  make  the  children  into  independent  citizens.  But, 
even  if  it  did  lead  to  such  a  result,  does  Mr.  Glennon  think  it  would  be 
better  to  allow  the  children  to  starve  or  freeze  to  death,  or  to  become 
physically  degenerate,  rather  than  to  help  them  with  the  necessaries  for 
physical  health  ? 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  37 

THE  DEMORALIZING  EFjbECT  OF  "  CHARITY." 

The  question  of  the  moral  effect  of  "  charity  "  is  a  very  debatable 
one.  Some  people,  like  Archbishop  Glennon,  profess  to  think  that,  even 
in  the  shape  of  a  good  education,  any  assistance  given  to  the  young  will 
have  a  demoralizing  tendency,  and  a  similar  result  is  predicted  of  giving 
material  assistance.  The  point  appears  to  be  commonly  overlooked  that 
in  the  social  organism,  while  it  is  impossible  that  all  should  be  rich,  and 
while  neither  rich  nor  poor  can  be  said  to  owe  their  condition  entirely  to 
their  own  efforts  or  failures,  to  save  the  masses  from  either  ignorance  or 
starvation  is  not  a  question  of  charity,  so  much  as  a  matter  of  impera- 
tive duty,  which  the  well-to-do  classes  owe,  not  only  to  the  State,  but  to 
(what  should  be)  their  own  sense  of  honesty  and  patriotism. 

The  church  appears  anxious  to  keep  control  of  all  agencies  which  can 
be  classed  as  "  charity  "  in  its  own  hands,  for  she  knows  that,  as  charity 
is  administered  by  her  agents,  it  is  a  great  power  in  favor  of  the  church  ; 
but  it  may  be  reasonably  contended  that,  in  all  the  shapes  it  has  been 
proposed  to  give  it  in  connection  with  education,  the  advantage  resulting 
to  the  State  would  far  outweigh  any  imaginable  disadvantages,  for  the 
common  idea  of  charity  would  be  eliminated. 

If  some  parents  are  unable  to  provide  for  their  children  properly,  ac- 
cording to  the  standard  demanded  by  the  public  authorities,  the  assist- 
ance given  to  such  children  in  order  to  fit  them  for  their  life-struggle 
should  be  looked  upon  as  conferring  a  benefit  on  the  State  as  well  as  on 
the  individuals,  and  need  entail  no  feeling  of  degradation  on  the  latter. 

Let  us  ask,  when  the  promoters  of  a  new  industry,  struggling  for 
existence,  find  themselves  compelled  to  ask  for  a  public  bonus  or  exemp- 
tion from  taxation,  or  both,  with  other  privileges,  in  order  to  keep  their 
business  from  bankruptcy,  is  there  a  howl  from  preachers  or  aristocrats 
against  the  degrading  influences  of  such  charitable  assistance  ?  Not  a 
bit  of  it.  And  why?  Because,  while  these  things  are  done  in  order  to 
help  the  businesses  favored  as  well  as  society  at  large,  the  preachers 
know  that  they  increase  the  value  of  tluiir  "  j/raft." 

EDUCATION  THE  SOLE  REMEDY  FOR  SOCIAL  ILLS. 
In  the  educational  matter^   the  secret  of  their  opposition  lies  in  the 
manifest  fact  that,  while  public  education  tends  towards  socialistic  im- 
provements and  individual  independence,  it  rather  tends  towards  upset- 
ting the  ** graft"  of  the  churckvand  the  politicians. 


38  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


The  Archbishop  repeats  the  worn-out  taunt  against  the  "  popular 
belief  that  education  is  a  solution  of  all  ills."  Taking  him  at  his  own 
valuation,  his  taunt  tells  equally  against  the  church  as  against  the  public 
schools.  The  difference  is,  that  the  church's  teachings,  being  according 
to  him  the  true  ones,  are  the  sole  solution  ;  whereas  the  education  given 
in  the  public  schools  is  mostly  false  and  consequently  injurious.  That  is 
to  say,  education  is  good^f  you  only  go  to  the  Catholic  Church  for  it. 

For  ourselves,  as  we  have  often  contended,  education  is  manifestly  the 
only  means  that  exists  for  securing  any  measure  of  social  improvement. 
If  men  have  to  learn  by  exparience,  the  experience  must  come  to  them 
through  some  medium,  and  that  experience  will  be  the  basis  of  their 
education.  It  needs  no  prophet  to  tell  that,  if  each  man  depended  upon 
his  own  direct  experience,  he  could  make  little  if  any  advance ;  and  it 
is  equally  certain  that,  while  the  ordinary  secular  education  is  very  de- 
fective, and  produces  but  a  tithe  of  the  good  it  should  produce,  the  edu- 
cation provided  by  the  church  produces  little  good  and  a  vast  amount  of 
harm. 

It  may  be  admitted  that  much  of  the  common  school  education  is 
both  ill  adapted  for  its  purpose  and  taught  in  a  perfunctory  manner ; 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  whole  system  is  yet  in  its  infancy, 
though  it  has  dune  more  in  the  past  half  century  than  had  been  accom- 
plished by  the  church  in  the  preceding  nineteen  centuries.  The  training 
given  in  the  separate  and  sectarian  schools,  however,  is  largely  both 
useless  and  brain-distorting,  and  is  carried  on  in  a  routine  and  stereo- 
typed fashion  that  would  ruin  the  value  of  the  best  instruction  that  could 
be  given.  Of  what  earthly  value  is  it  to  children  that  they  should  learn 
by  heart  the  mythical  history  of  Moses,  the  stories  of  Jesus  and  his 
miracles,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  or  the  Church  Catechism  ? 

But  one  thing  is  .manifest,  and  that  is — that,  when  left  to  the  church, 
education  has  been  grossly  neglected,  and  for  the  masses  almost  entirely 
abandoned.  And  whether  for  its  priests  or  for  the  laity,  it  has  been  so 
overladen  with  sacerdotal  gibberish  and  superstition  as  to  be  useful  for 
nothing  but  to  confirm  the  power  of  the  church. 

PROTESTANT  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  UNION. 
The  spectacle  of  a  great  church  with  one  omnipotent  god   and  one 
infallible   revelation,  but  with  hundreds  of  disputing  sects,  is  one  that 
must  cause  some  of  its  members  a  deep  sense  of  humiliation  when  they 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  39 

begin  to  reflect  upon  it,  as  they  surely  must  do  sometimes.  Evidently 
there  must  be  something  wrong  either  with  the  revelation  or  with  the 
minds  of  its  interpreters.  And  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  every 
now  and  again,  a  wave  of  enthusiasm  should  spread  over  the  Protestant 
world  in  favor  of  putting  an  end  to  such  a  ridiculous  exhibition. 

As  might  be  expected,  however,  little  substantial  progress  is  ever  moide. 
Personal  compliments  are  passed,  committees  are  appointed — and  then 
more  pressing  matters  are  attended  to  until  the  next  union  wave  is  felt. 
A  good  instance  has  just  occurred.  A  meeting  was  held  in  Toronto  by 
a  large  number  of  delegates  from  the  leading  denominations  to  discuss 
the  question  of  organic  union,  and  after  the  most  friendly  sentiments 
had  been  expressed,  special  committees  were  appointed  to  consider  the 
matter  in  its  varied  devotional,  disciplinary,  and, financial  aspects,  many 
of  the  delegates  aflfirming  both  the  possibility  and  the  probability  of  the 
union  being  accomplished  in  the  near  future. 

To  one  who  has  not  heard  much  of  the  subject  daring  the  last  half- 
century,  it  might  seem  that  a  new  spirit  of  Christian  love  had  seized  the 
clerical  fraternity,  and  that  the  day  of  Protestant  unity  had  dawned  at 
last.  We  can  afiford  to  possess  ourselves  in  patience,  however.  Yahve 
took  a  six-day  week  to  tire  himself  out  in  manufacturing  '*  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  and  all  that  in  them  is,"  (including,  we  suppose,  "  Our 
father  which  art  in  heaven" — himself),  though  his  "  say  so  "  was  all  that 
was  needed ;  and  we  can  easily  understand  that  the  Langtrys  and  the 
Sheratons,  the  Sparlings  and  the  Frizzels,  the  Blacks  and  the  Gilroys, 
powerful  as  they  may  be  in  their  small  way,  cannot  be  expected  to  rival 
Yahve,  or  even  Jove,  in  the  lightning  artist  business. 

Of  course,  in  making  the  universe,  though  the  actual  scraping  of  the 
mud  together  to  form  land,  putting  in  a  big  dam(n) — or  firmament — to 
keep  the  water  from  flooding  the  dry  land,  and  other  mechanical  work, 
may  have  only  taken  six  short  days,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  long  it 
took  to  make  the  Design.  There  must  have  been  a  Design,  else  how 
could  there  have  been  a  Designer  ?  It  may  have  taken  millions  of  eons. 
Who  knows  ? 

And  so  the  Protestant  Christian  Church  Unionists — like  the  British 
Empire  Unionists — may  find  their  greatest  difficulty  in  elaborating  their 
Design.  Will  the  new  Church  Unionists  be  all  bishops,  and  strike  for  a 
palace  and  $50,000  a  year  salary,  or  all  curates,  and  be  satisfied  with  a 
salary  of  $500  a  year?  Will  they  believe  in  the  Athanasian  Creed,  in 
the  Westminster  Confession,  orin  no  creed  at  all  ?     Will  they  abolish 


40  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

heaven  and  hell,  or  still  continue  to  blow  hot  and  cold  on  the  subject,  as 
well  as  on  others,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  salary  call  ? 

Then,  in  making  the  universe,  Yahve  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any 
opposition — there  were  apparently  no  vested  interests  to  be  bought  out 
and  provided  for.  The  Devil,  we  presume,  had  not  }et  been  created  or 
disgraced.  Universal  mind  had  not  yet  been  developed,  and  had  nothing 
to  say  for  itself.  Like  an  infant,  all  it  had  to  do  was  to  obey,  just  like 
the  clods  of  mud — in  fact,  simply  to  be  blown  into  a  clod  of  mud  to  turn 
it  into  a  living  soul.  But  in  the  union  of  the  Protestant  sects  there  are 
some  peculiar  features,  both  of  doctrine  and  of  practice,  that  may  be 
more  difficult  to  overcome  and  harmonize  than  any  Yahve  had  to  deal 
with  in  creation. 

"  BACK  TO  THE  BIBLE  !  "-AND  START  AFRESH. 

At  Winnipeg,  on  December  29th,  Principal  Sparling,  just  home  from 
the  Toronto  conference,  spoke  in  this  strain  of  its  proceedings  : 

"  The  question  was  discussed  from  the  standpoints  of  doctrine,  policy,  and 
training  of  the  ministiy.  With  regard  to  doctrine,  the  question  was,  'Could  the 
dJfferc  nces  of  doctrine  be  harmonized  ?  '  Dr.  Carman  expressed  himself  em- 
phaiically  that  there  must  be  a  basis  of  belief.  There  can  be  no  creedless 
church.  He  did  not  want  to  live  in  any  church  without  creed  or  without  govern- 
ment any  more  than  he  did  in  a  country  without  laws  or  government. 

"  Dr  Potts  then  came  forward  in  his  own  emphatic  style,  and,  with  voice  vibrat- 
ing with  emotion,  confessed  that  he  had  approached  the  subject  from  the  point 
of  difficulty.  Doctrine  was  the  hard  point.  He  could  not  see  how  Calvinism 
at  u  Arminianism  could  be  reconciled.  He  wished  to  preach  a  doctrine  free 
and  generous  as  the  sunlight,  but  if  these  two  creeds  could  not  be  harmonized, 
then  there  could  be  no  union. 

*'  Dr.  Duval  then  gave  an  excellent  address.  He  was  glad  to  hear  Dr.  Potts 
say  what  he  had  said.  This  was  the  place  for  frankness,  where  face  to  face  they 
should  state  their  difficulties  freely.  He,  too,  could  not  harmonize  Calvinism 
and  Arminianism,  but,  said  he,  we  do  not  need  to.  Go  back  to  the  Bible,  to 
the  pure  untainted  source,  and  there  lay  broad  the  foundations." 

This  seems  to  be  pretty  much  like  asking  Yahve  to  go  back  to  Chaos. 
*'  Back  to  the  Bible  !  "  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  cry  of  the  Burning 
Bush  Dancing  Kellyites  at  Camberwell  Baths.  It  is  something  like  the 
cry  of  some  Socialists — "  Divvy  up  and  begin  afresh,  so  that  all  may 
have  an  equal  chance  !  "  Of  course,  it  only  means.  Back  to  our  reading 
of  the  Bible,  for  they  all  profess  to  have  gone  back  to  the  Bible  already. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  41 

Suppose,  however,  we  could  wipe  out  the  history  of  Protestantism  and 
get  back  once  more  to  its  starting-point,  with  nothing  hut  the  Bible  as 
our  guide,  and  all  agreeing  to  accept  it  as  the  one  infallible  foundation 
of  religion,  what  reason  is  there  to  suppose  that  we  should  avoid  the 
pitfalls  that  have  caused  so  many  pious  Bible-worshippers  to  lose  what 
little  brains  nature  endowed  them  with  at  birth  ? 

It  does  not  seem  to  strike  these  "Back  to  the  Bible  "  people — the 
Methodists  and  Baptists  and  Episcopalians  any  more  than  the  Burning 
Bush  and  Pentecostal  Dancers — that  going  back  to  the  Bible  has  really 
been  the  cause  of  all  their  sectarianism.  To  go  back  to  the  Bible — to 
*' the  pure,  untainted  aource,"  as  Dr.  Duval  described  it — to  cure  the 
dissensions  of  Christendom,  is  just  like  taking  a  treatment  of  whisky 
to  cure  delirium  tremens.  All  the  sects  profess  to  have  gone  back  to 
the  Bible  already,  and  that  is  the  very  reason  why  there  are  so  many 
sects  and  so  many  creeds — and  so  much  religious  lunacy. 

We  83'mpathize  with  Dr.  Carman  in  his  hankering  after  a  creed.  We 
cannot  imagine  what  a  religion  would  look  like  without  a  creed.  There 
could  be  no  religion — that  is,  in  the  accepted  sense — unless  a  man  could 
come  up  to  you  with  a  club  and  demand  that  you  believe  as  he  believes, 
on  pain  of  being  smashed  or  roasted  to  all  eternity.  Of  course,  the  pious 
people  are  to-day  a  little  more  chary  of  doing  the  smashing  or  burning 
business,  but  these  things,  in  one  form  or  another,  are  of  the  essence  of 
all  our  Western  religions. 

And  in  this  religion  is  not  very  different  from  politics.  If  you  do  not 
repeat  the  party  shibboleth,  attend  the  party  meetings,  applaud  the  party 
speakers,  and  vote  the  party  ticket,  you  are  anathema,  and  may  as  well 
put  up  your  shop-window  shutters.  '*  Back  to  the  Bible  !  "  is  aery  that 
shows  how  faintly  the  preachers  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  the  task 
they  have  undertaken  or  the  causes  that  have  led  to  the  present  condi- 
tion of  things.     They  are  like  bats — lost  in  the  daylight. 

REV.  HINCKS  ON  THE  DECLINE  OF  METHODISM. 
On  Sunday,  January  15th,  in  Trinity  Methodist  Church,  Toronto,  the 
preacher,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Hincks,  gave  his  ideas  as  to  the  causes  of  the 
decline  in  Methodism.  Of  course,  all  Methodist  preachers  do  not  admit 
that  Methodism  is  declining,  but  Mr.  Hincks  appears  to  be  one  of  the 
honest  and  intelligent  ones,  and  sees  not  only  the  actual  fact,  but  how 
it  has  come  about.     He  assigin?  two  causes  for  the  decline,  (1)  the  Evo- 


42  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


lutionary  Hypothesis,  and  (2)  the  Higher  Criticism.     Of  the  latter  he 
says : 

'•  During  thirty  years  not  the  Methodist  public  only,  for  all  the  churches  were 
under  the  same  influences,  but  the  general  public,  had  been  reading  magazines, 
books,  sermons,  and  college  lectures  on  this  method  of  interpretation.  The  result 
had  been  a  steady  honeycombing  of  belief  in  the  Bible  as  their  fathers  had  under- 
stood it.  He  wondered  if  the  new  method  of  criticism  would  awaken  the  old 
enthusiasm  for  evangelism  The  College,  which  had  done  so  much  to  bring 
about  the  change,  owed  it  to  the  Church  to  teach  it  how  to  evangelize  under  the 
new  conditions.  Thirty  years  ago  they  believed  in  a  literal  Garden  of  Eden, 
that  Methuselah  lived  969  years,  that  God  told  Abraham  to  offer  Isaac,  that  God 
wrote  at  Sinai  with  his  finger  on  stone,  that  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  by  miracle, 
that  Elijah  ascended  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  that  a  whale  swallowed  Jonah.  The 
statements  that  their  fathers  took  literally  were  now  styled  figurative  Orientalisms. 
How  could  revivals  be  expected  when  such  changes  as  these  were  being  made  ? 
The  church  was  not  now  assailed  from  the  outside,  but  by  extremists  from  within. 
The  net  result  of  the  Higher  Criticism  had  been  agreed  to  be  that  revivals  were 
not  so  frequent,  religious  excitement  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  religious 
activity  was  h  ss  intense,  prayer  meetings  were  smaller  and  fewer,  and  the  religious 
life  was  less  emotional  " 

Mr.  Hiijcks  is  in  our  opinion  both  right  and  wrong.  There  cannot  be 
the  slightest  doubt  that  many  intelligent  men  in  the  churches  have  had 
their  opinions  entirely  revolutionized  by  the  modern  development  both 
of  theological  criticism  and  of  scientific  investigation ;  but  we  may  say 
with  equal  truth  that  the  masses  of  the  people  have  had  their  religious 
notions  largely  undermined  by  those  practical  improvements  in  the  arts 
and  industries  the  wonders  of  which  have  eclipsed  spookdom. 

Though  comparatively  few  of  the  masses,  we  think,  have  any  clear 
ideas  of  either  the  Higher  Criticism  or  the  Evolution  Hypothesis,  they 
have  begun  to  appreciate  something  of  the  dependence  of  all  mundane 
affairs  upon  the  reign  of  universal  and  immutable  law,  and  are  getting 
tired  of  listening  to  the  twaddle  of  preachers  who  have  nothing  to  tell 
them  beyond  the  story  of  "Christ  and  him  crucified,"  and  homilies  about 
the  sin  of  unbelief  and  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding. 

With  all  of  its  defects,  the  modern  novel,  like  the  modern  theatre  and 
the  modern  newspaper  and  magazine,  has  opened  up  new  worlds  of  sen- 
timent and  emotion,  with  new  ideals  of  duty  and  devotion,  which  have 
practically  displaced  the  old  theological  and  ecclesiastical  ideals  ;  and  it 
is  a  one-sided  and  professional  view  to  attribute  the  religious  decline  to 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  48 

the  two  causes  mentioned.  Loyalty  to  truth  and  virtue,  the  duty  of  all 
intelligent  people  to  spend  their  best  resources  and  efforts  to  ameliorate 
the  diseases  of  the  body  politic,  and  an  ideal  of  social  and  family  life 
undreamt  of  by  the  old  school,  are  rapidly  replacin<T;  the  religious  creeds, 
leading  to  efforts  to  make  a  heaven  on  earth  instead  of  one  in  the  skies. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  the  church  is  more  strenuously  assailed  by  extre- 
mists from  the  inside  than  by  outside  opponents.  Were  this  true,  there 
would  be  no  sense  in  the  constant  attacks  made  bj^  the  pulpiteers  upon 
**  infidels  "  and  unbelievers..  It  is  recognized  that  Haeckel  only  voices 
the  sentiments  of  practically  the  whole  scientific  world  in  his  powerful 
attack  on  the  church,  and  that  is  why  he  is  so  viciously  denounced. 

And  it  is  pleasing  to  hear  Mr.  Hincks'  testimony  to  the  decline  of 
religious  emotionalism  and  ''revivals,"  though  some  specimens  there 
have  been  recently  which  are  as  erratic  and  degrading  as  any  that  have 
ever  been  seen.  They  are  simply  signs  of  untrained  and  uninstructed 
mentalities,  worked  upon  by  designing  fakers,  and  are  rightly  regarded 
as  "  suspicious."  But  there  need  be  no  question  that  "  new  occasions 
will  bring  new  duties,"  and  opportunity  and  incentive  for  new^  revivals 
will  surely  come  when  men  have  begun  to  appreciate  the  full  value  and 
me^  ing  of  the  new  propagandism. 

l?everence  for  ''Sacreb''  Zhinge. 

:o: 


BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    W^HITE. 

:o: 

II. 


In  the  intellectual  realm,  truth  can  stand  ridicule,  while  falsehood  cowers 
before  it.  The  proposition  that  two  and  two  make  four  does  not  need  to 
he  reverenced,  and  cannot  be  ridiculed — it  is  a  fact.  That  summer  is 
warmer  than  winter  is  a  proposition  that  stands  on  its  own  feet,  and  no 
law  is  required  to  enforce  respect  for  it.  New  York  is  the  largest  city  in 
the  western  hemisphere,  and  ridicule  of  that  statement  is  free  to  ii\\,sans 
favor  and  sans  ostracism.  It  is  a  fact;  and  ridicule  of  facts  comes  out 
at  the  little  end  of  the  horn. 

Both  sides  of  political,  social,  and  economic  disputes — and,  in  short, 
questions  of  ever}'  description — are  compelled  to  stand  ridicule;  and 
especially  when  a  respectable  following  is  led  by  a  theory,  it  is  conceded 
the  right  to  ridicule  the  opposition  as  much  as  it  pleases.  Free  Trade 
and  Protection,  Bi-metallism  and  No-metallism,  Imperialism  and  Anti- 
Imperialism — relative  to  these  and  numerous  other  qiiestions  no  protest 
is  heard  against  even  the  harsliest  methods  of  propagandism.     They  all 


44  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


assume  to  Imve  reason  as  a  basis,  and  are  ready  for  the  worst,  as  ridi- 
cule cannot  rout  reason  in  the  last  analysis. 

It  is  chiefly  the  absurd  that  is  ridiculed.  What  iconoclast  flouts  the 
naked  idea  of  immortaHty,  selfish  and  untenable  though  it  be  ?  Absur- 
dities attaching  to  elucidation  of  it,  such  as  spook-appearances  at  the 
behest  of  female  "  mediums  "  in  dark  rooms,  are  shown  no  mercy  ;  but 
the  dream  of  immortality  itself  not  being  absurd,  is  not  ridiculed.  Is 
marriage  ridiculed  ?  No,  not  the  kernel ;  only  the  fripperies  and  cere- 
monials transmitted  by  barbarous  ancestors,  such  as  those  of  rings  and 
rice. 

Christianity  is  a  fit  subject  for  the  satirist,  because  it  is  both  unrea- 
sonable and  absurd.  Its  fundamental  hypotheses  pronounce  faith,  not 
reason,  to  be  the  essential.  When  faith  is  elevated  at  the  expense  of 
reason,  the  natural  implication  is  that  the  faith  in  question  cannot  stand 
the  test  of  rational  investigation.  This  is  undoubtedly  correct  in  the 
case  of  Christianit3\  It  is  so  unreasonable  as  to  be  absurd  ;  and  hence,, 
utterly  unable  to  enter  the  arena  like  other  moot  doctrines,  it  insists  upon 
unquestioning  obedience  in  its  devotees,  and  at  least  formal  reverence 
on  the  part  of  a  silenced  opposition.  No  questioning,  no  argument. 
Believe  or  be  condemned  ;  and,  in  any  event,  say  nothing.  Christianity 
is  a  sacrosanct  coward,  slinking  from  the  light. 

.  In  place  of  gross  fables  and  ridiculous  anachronisms,  fastening  them- 
selves upon  us  through  inheritance,  why  not  inculcate  reverence  for 
Truth  ? — using  the  word  reverence  in  its  milder  meaning.  Where  is  the 
heretical  disturber  who  has  ever  ridiculed  Truth  ?  Wh}^  not  teach  reve- 
rence for  Right,  for  Brains  and  Intelligence,  for  Tolerance,  for  the  Right 
of  Private  Judgment,  for  Morality  ?  Can  any  Freethinker  be  named  in 
the  history  of  the  world  whose  sword  has  been  aimed  at  these  things  ? 
If  so,  who  is  he?  Give  us  his  name.  Far  from  ridiculing,  the  Free- 
thinker has  not  even  opposed,  he  has  favored.  And  not  only  has  he 
favored  :  he  has  died,  he  has  hanged  by  the  neck,  he  has  writhed  in  the 
dungeon  and  the  torture-chamber,  he  has  burned  at  the  stake — all  for 
what  in  rational  moments  men  admit  to  be  glorious  ideals  of  human 
life  !  While  the  bigot  was  chaining  the  mind  of  man  with  forced  reve- 
rence for  that  quintessence  of  selfishness,  everlasting  bliss  for  the  bigot, 
his  victim  was  sublimely  gasping  oat  his  last  breath  in  the  interest  of 
the  grand  and  true — and  curses  have  clustered  about  his  memory  for  it. 
The  Christian  does  not  reverence  these  desiderata.  On  the  contrary,  his. 
existence  is,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  a  perpetual  effort  to  dethrone 
them,  to  vitiate  them. 

Prentice  Mulford  says,  in  his  ''  Ichabod  Crane  Papers  :'* 

"  Fifteen  years  ago,  when  we  heard  our  first  infidel  dispute  the  existence  of  a  per- 
sonal god,  we  could  barely  treat  him  with  common  civility.  He  had,  as  we  held  it, 
insulted  the  'God  of  our  Fathers.'  Yet  at  that  very  time  we  were  leading  a  reckless 
life,  disobeying  most  of  the  laws  reputed  to  have  been  made  by  him,  and  ready  to 
disobey  more  as  soon  as  they  were  made." 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  46 


Although  religion,  wherever  found,  is  the  principal  cult  demanding 
reverence,  it  is  not  absolutely  alone.  Heverence  for  whatever  is  old  and 
established  is  attempted  to  be  enforced  on  all  dissenters.  You  must  not 
give  umbiags  to  people,  even  to  the  smallest  extent,  by  failing  in  respect 
for  the  forms  common  to  the  community. 

William  Henry  Flower  has  illustrated  this  tendency  in  his  essay  on 
**  Manners  and  Fashion,"  wherein,  speaking  of  justifying  the  iconoclast, 
he  remarks : 

"  Some,  indeed,  argue  that  his  conduct  is  unjust  and  ungenerous.  They  say  that 
he  has  no  right  to  annoy  other  people  by  his  whims  ;  that  the  gentleman  to  whom  his 
letter  comes  with  no  '  Esq.'  appended  to  the  address,  and  the  lady  whose  evening 
party  he  enters  with  gloveless  hands,  are  vexed  at  what  they  consider  his  want  of 
respect  or  want  of  breeding  ;  that  thus  his  eccentricities  cannot  be  indulged  save  at 
the  expense  of  his  neighbor's  feelings  ;  and  that  hence  his  nonconformity  is  in  plain 
terms  selfishness." 

The  Christian,  it  may  be  added,  is  little  more  pleased  at  hostile  argu- 
ment than  at  irreverence  itself.  In  short,  his  desire  is  that  nothing 
whatever  shall  oppose  the  sect  to  which  he  belongs  or  the  beliefs  he  has 
embraced.  Lack  of  reverence,  therefore,  occupies  virtually  the  same 
ground  as  controversial  opposition  ;  but  as  now-a-days  hardly  anyone 
dares  to  assail  freedom  to  argue,  the  "  argument  "  for  unargued  reve- 
rence falls  earthward  with  pronounced  impact. 

If  anything  is  false,  it  certainly  cannot  merit  reverence.  Truth  is  of 
more  importance  than  the  temporarily  agitated  feelings  of  a  selfish  bigot. 
Let  us  glance  backward.  Sun- gods,  wind-gods,  cloud-gods,  river-gods, 
and  other  gods  of  nature  have  disappeared.  Progress  has  swept  them 
away.  Were  such  fictitious  objects  of  adoration  ever  entitled  to  the 
reverence  of  an  intelligent  person  ? 

In  our  ancestral  evolution,  Fetichism  came  and  went,  and  Animism 
had  its  day.  The  mythical  creations  of  the  ancient  Chaldean  religion 
have  faded  from  memory.  Egyptian  superstition,  with  its  Osiris,  Isis, 
and  Bubastis,  is  no  more.  The  Assyrian  Asshur  and  Bel  have  ceased  to 
reign.  In  Greece  the  old  Oracles  are  silent — they  have  nothing  to  say 
on  topics  of  interest.  Ashtaroth  and  Moloch,  the  Phtenician  deities,  are 
asleep  and  are  forgotten,  along  with  the  peoples  who  summoned  them 
into  being.  The  Roman  Jove  and  accompanying  deities  have  given  up 
the  ghost.     Druidism  is  blotted  out,  and  no  one  reverences  it  more. 

It  is  related  that,  in  marching  against  Babylon,  Cyrus  encountered 
serious  opposition  in  one  place  ;  but,  discovering  that  dogs  were  consi- 
dered sacred  by  the  natives,  he  caused  his  soldiers  to  collect  all  the  dogs 
they  could  and  carry  the  brutes  in  front  of  them  when  the  next  attack 
was  sounded.  In  this  way  he  succeeded  in  winning  a  decisive  victory 
and  subjugating  the  j>eople  to  slavery. 

Now,  the  question  is,  what  reverence  did  any  of  these  absurdities  and 
ephemeral  inventions  really  deserve  from  the  more  intelligent  minds  of 
antiquity  who  recognized  tiiemr  for  what  they  were  *.^     And   if  these  sys- 


46  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

terns  of  faith,  based  as  they  must  have  been  upon  falsehood,  were  justly 
open  to  attack,  what  shall  be  said  for  the  Christianity  of  our  day,  which, 
deferring  to  faith,  is  not  a  whit  more  defensible  by  reason  than  the  old 
systems  ?  Formerly,  world-faiths  sought  to  enforce  an  even  more  rigor- 
ous reverence  than  does  the  popular  religion  now ;  and  as  we  condemn 
that  enforcement  of  bygone  days,  logically  the  condemnation  must  be 
extended  to  the  presert  time. 

(To  be  continued.) 


Zhc  1Flee&  of  IfntcUectual  Sinccriti?^ 


:o: 

BY    GEOFFREY    MORTIMER. 

:o: 


RoAMfNG  one  day  in  autumn  upon  a  narrow  strip  of  shingle  between  the  wave 
worn  cliffs  and  the  foam-crested  breakers  of  the  wild  northern  sea,  on  the  coast 
of  Banffshire,  I  met  a  sturdy  fisherman  carrying  a  rod  and  a  string  of  fish.  Our 
way  lay  towards  the  grey  fishing-village  on  the  windy  bluff,  and  as  we  bore  one 
another  company  the  fisherman  discoursed  upon  his  calling  and  spoke  of  the 
better  days  which  he  had  known.  Perhaps  a  remark  of  mine  inclined  him  to 
unburden  his  mind,  for,  as  we  walked  on,  he  related  the  story  of  his  misfortune. 
From  early  boyhood  Jock  had  foflowed  the  business  of  fisherman.  He  had 
made  many  voyages  to  the  deep-sea  fisheries,  and  spent  weeks  afloat  on  restless 
waters.  Scottish  fisherman  are  pious  and  superstitious.  Jock  was  nurtured 
upon  Calvinism,  and  grew  to  manhood  in  the  comforting  assurance  of  '*  election.'' 
In  every  event  of  his  life  he  saw  the  controlling  hand  of  God.  He  prayed  for 
success  at  his  setting  out  upon  the  treacherous  waves,  and  he  thanked  Providence 
for  his  safe  return  to  the  little  haven  below  the  bluff. 

One  day  Jock  chanced  to  meet  a  stranger  and  a  landsman,  who  talked  of 
"  deep  things,"  and  set  the  fisherman  thinking.  The  stranger  was  one  of  those 
whom  the  ignorant  term  "infidels."  He  was  an  earnest,  well-read  schoolmaster. 
At  first  Jock  defended  his  faith  with  a  great  array  of  texts  and  authorities,  for  he 
knew  his  Bible  and  had  never  failed  to  attend  the  kirk  ;  but  the  schoolmaster's 
fervor,  no  less  than  his  logic,  impelled  Jock  to  review  his  dogmas  in  a  wholly 
fresh  spirit  of  inquiry. 

"  At  first,"  said  Jock,  "  I  thought  the  mon  verra  clever,  but  verra  wrong  in 
opinion.  Still,  there  seemed  a  sort  o'  gudeness  in  the  way  that  he  sought  for 
truth  above  all  things,  and  when  I  had  passed  an  hour  or  two  with  him,  I  couldna 
deny  that  he  was  a  mon  who  wished  well  towards  his  fellow  creatures.  Wee), 
bit  by  bit,  as  I  lay  o'  nights  on  the  watter,  I  cam'  to  the  conclusion  that  I  could 
nae  langer  believe  in  maist  o'  the  doctrines.  One  after  anither  they  slipped  away 
from  me  till  I  couldna  go  to  kirk  without  feeling  myself  a  hypocrite.  Then  I 
bought  book?  written  by  men  o'  the  schoolmaster's  way  o'  thinking,  and  just  set 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  47 


myself  to  inquire.  The  meenister  cam'  to  see  me  and  said  I  was  *  puffed  up  wi' 
spiritual  pride  to  question  what  maist  folk  believed.'  But  I  couldna  turn  back, 
and  I  had  no  mind  to,  for  the  world  and  life  and  mankind  were  like  a  big  book 
opened  to  me,  and  I  kenned  that  I  had  deceived  myself  in  the  past  about  maist 
things." 

"  Sometimes,"  continued  Jock,  "  I  was  tempted  to  talk  to  my  mates  on  their 
religion.  They  wouldna  listen,  for  the  maist  part ;  and  they  began  to  speak  of 
me  as  an  Atheist.  One  day  the  skipper  of  a  smack  cam'  to  me  and  said  :  '  Jock, 
the  men  refuse  to  go  out  with  you  aboard.  They  say  that  God  will  bring  his 
judgment  upon  a  vessel  that  has  an  unbeliever  in  the  crew.' " 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  Jock  to  me,  "  I  couldna  deny  my  opinions,  though  I  was  to 
be  killed  for  them.  The  meenister  cam'  to  argue,  but  I  stood  out.  Folk  said  I 
would  starve.  'Then,' said  I,  'I  must  starve.'  Some  called  me  fule,  and 
others  called  me  worse  ;  still  I  couldna  be  a  hypocrite.  So  now  I  have  to  live 
as  best  I  can  by  fishing  from  the  rocks,  or  alone  in  my  boat,  and  tending  my 
wee  bit  garden  and  fowls.  They  pity  me,  but  I  should  more  need  their  pity  if  I 
lied  to  them  about  my  opinions.   Still,  it's  a  hard  struggle  that  I  have  for  bread." 

A  few  months  after  my  meeting  with  the  Banffshire  fisherman,  1  went  to  stay 
in  the  house  of  a  prosperous  country  solicitor.  My  friend  is  an  Agnostic.  He 
maintains  that  there  is  no  other  position  for  a  cultivated  mind.  On  Sunday 
morning  he  appeared  in  the  customary  black  garments,  to  escort  his  wife  and 
family  to  the  parish  church.  Perhaps  he  noted  an  expression  of  faint 'surprise 
upon  my  face,  for  in  the  evening  he  began  a  defence  of  opportunism  on  the  plea 
of  sheer  necessity.  "  You  see,"  said  he,  "  I  am  forced  to  play  the  humbug  or 
lose  my  income.  No  one  in  this  town  would  employ  an  avowed  Agnostic  lawyer. 
I  have  a  wife",  I  have  children  to  support,  educate,  and  place  in  life.  I  must 
dissemble  or  go  to  the  wall." 

It  is  not  for  me  to  judge  this  man  hardly  ;  but  I  could  not  help  thinking  of 
the  resolute  Jock,  the  fisherman,  who  cared  more  for  his  opinions  than  for 
worldly  comfort.  The  case  of  the  solicitor  confronts  us  everywhere  in  society. 
If  we  examine  the  mass  of  dissimulation  which  makes  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
ostensible  piety  of  the  educated  classes,  we  shall  find  that  intellectual  sincerity  is 
exceedingly  scarce. 

Orthodoxy  is  reduced  to  the  condition  of  an  army  numerically  strong  on  paper, 
but  composed  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  sheer  "  inefficients  "  and  physical 
incapables.  It  is  sometimes  argued  that  "opinions  matter  much  less  than  con- 
duct." Without  closely  discussing  that  view,  we  may  ask  whether  there  cah  be 
any  general  tendency  towards  the  higliest  conduct  of  life  while  the  dissembling 
of  opinion  is  regarded  as  an  essential  of  tolerable  existence  in  the  community. 

When  the  Galilean  teacher  announced  that  the  rich  can  hardly  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  he  reckoned   with   that  force  of  cautious  and  worldly-wise 


48     -  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


self-interest  which  txists  in  every  nation.  Our  prophets  of  to-day  point  to  the 
great  host  of  toilers  as  the  impellers  of  the  upward  movement.  Whitman  tells 
us  that  cur  hope  is  in  the  pioletarian.  Ibsen  foresees  an  aristocracy  of  workers 
and  women,  Tolstoy  bids  us  trust  in  the  power  and  tenacity  of  the  lower  classes. 
It  is  often  said,  by  way  of  sneer  or  reproach,  that  organized  Freethought  in  this 
country  owes  its  inception  and  conduct  chiefly  to  poor  and  lowly  men.  And  yet 
it  was  from  such  source  that  the  mighty  creed  of  Christianity  arose.  It  is  the 
men  of  the  sterling  fibre  of  Jock  who  help  to  save  the  race  from  gross  materialism 
and  moral  decay.  In  its  early  flush  of  triumj.h,  and  on  to  the  day  of  its  decline, 
religion  is  vitally  connected  with  the  market.  From  purity  of  motive  and  the 
aspiration  for  right  living,  piety  merges  at  length  into  something  akin  to  a  com- 
mercial asset,  until  it  assumes  a  guise  in  which  it  would  be  utterly  unrecognizable 
to  the  founder  of  its  creeds.  Religion  in  its  last  stage  is  a  badge  of  popular 
respect,  which  men  and  women  put  on  upon  Sundays — an  empty  fa'^hion  of  the 
worldly  and  a  means  of  securing  a  "  business  connection."  To  this  pass  must 
come  every  faith  and  every  systematized  code  of  morals,  so  long  as  commercial- 
ism is  exalted  as  the  most  excellent  manifestation  of  a  nation's  might. 

As  one  who  has  known  and  seen  something  fif  the  repressive  methods  exercised 
by  majorities  upon  those  minorities  of  the  population,  which  are  deemed  danger- 
ous and  harmful  by  reason  of  op  nion,  perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  advise  the 
timorous  that  they  are  sometimes  apt  to  cry  "  Wolf"  when  there  is  no  wolf  to  be 
feared.  *  If  we  were  mostly  in  Jock's  situation,  there  would  be  some  measure  of 
extenuation  for  taking  the  Ime  of  dissimulation.  Here  and  there,  no  doubt,  it 
may  be  considered  commercially  disastrous  for  a  small  tradesman  to  declare  his 
Freethinking  principles  to  his  "  connection  "  of  narrow-minded  chapel-goers.  But 
the  oi^portunism  of  thousands  of  well  to-do  persons  is  hard  to  excuse.  It  is  a 
form  of  cunning  that  one  associates  with  l>ing  and  fraud.  Let  a  man  choose 
whether  he  will  be  a  slave  or  free. — Literary  Guide. 


Ibuman  llmprovement  bi?  ''Selection/' 

BY    B.    F.    UNDERWOOD. 

GivKN  knowledge  of  heredity  sufficient  to  make  it  possible  to  use  conscious 
selection  in  combining  the  qualities  necessary  to  insure  intellectual  and  moral  as 
well  as  physical  improvement,  the  higher  stirpicullure  would  be  practicable  to  at> 
indefinite  extent. 

Do  we  possess  such  knowledge  ?  We  can  improve  the  animals  below  man  so 
as  to  make  them  fitted  to  serve  our  purposes.  Having  fellow  human  beings 
subject  to  our  will,  we  could  by  breeding  improve  the  stock  and  strain,  increase 
the  descendants'  strength,  power  of  endurance^  amiability  and  submissiveness. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  49 


But  when  we  attempt  to  use  the  reproductive  element  to  change  the  charac- 
teristics of  living  beings  so  as  to  make  them  better,  higher  and  more  capable  of 
self-support  and  self  government,  without  reference  to  their  service  to  us,  we  are 
up  against  a  difTerent  proposition.  In  so  far  as  we  can  instruct  persons  to  form 
wise  unions  for  themselves,  we  can  undoubtedly  help  them.  But  how  far  can 
we  do  this?  We  can  advise  consumptives  and  paralytics  not  to  marry  ;  we  can 
advise  the  weak  and  feeble  to  remain  single  ;  we  can  urge  the  importance  of 
selecting  for  partners  persons  who  are  essentially  sound  in  body  and  mind.  But 
do  we  know  enough  to  inform  the  rising  generation  how  to  marry  so  as  to  insure 
offspring  of  the  best  quality,  mentally  and  morally,  as  well  as  physically  ?  D) 
we  know  what  the  combinations  were  that  gave  to  the  world  Socrates,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  Rogtr  Bacon,  Bruno,  Servetus,  Luther,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Kant, 
Gibbon,  Humboldt,  Washington,  Jefferson,  Webster,  Lincoln,  George  Eliot  and 
Florence  Nightingale  ? 

A  large  amount  of  vitality  and  muscular  development  do  not  imply  intellec- 
tuality or  a  fine  moral  nature.  What  strong  and  symmetrical  men  were  the 
South  Sea  Islanders  seen  at  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago  !  Yet,  mentally,  they 
were  children. 

One  of  the  conditions  of  a  high  degree  of  mental  development  in  a  people  is 
sensitiveness  and  susceptibility  to  the  nervous  maladies.  Lombroso  and  other 
psychiatrists  and  alienists  have  shown  that  most  of  the  noted  characters  of  history 
from  Pericles  to  Peel,  fro«n  Socrates  to  Spencer,  were  victims  of  neuropathic 
troubles  of  some  kind.  Nesbit  gives  sketches  of  nearly  three  hundred  authors, 
artists,  statesmen,  generals,  philosophers,  philanthropists,  etc,  including  the  most 
famous  men  and  women  of  the  past,  and  shows  that  they  inherited  diseases  or 
neuropathic  tendencies  which  developed  into  physical  or  mental  disorders.  The 
world  cannot,  in  its  desire  for  physical  strength  and  soundness,  afford  to  lose 
men  and  women  of  genius  such  as  have  helped  to  make  the  race  progressive  and 
the  world  brighter  and  better. 

Some  writers  maintain  that  genius  is  a  result  of  the  concentration  of  mental 
force  in  some  portions  of  the  brain  at  the  expense  of  other  portions,  whereas  in 
ordinary  persons  the  distribution  is  general.  Hence,  the  eccentricities,  the 
erraticisms,  the  weaknesses,  as  well  as  the  brilliancy  of  painters,  poets,  orators, 
inventors  and  discoverers  of  genius. 

Does  anybody  know  how  to  teach  the  young  how  to  make  selections  of  com- 
panions that  will  add  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  worth  of  the  world  ? 

It  is  vain  that  theoretical  stirpiculturists  point  to  the  results  of  men's  experi- 
ments which  have  resulted  in  improved  domestic  animals,  fruit  and  grain.  It  is 
evident  enough  that  man  can  improve  members  of  his  own  race  under  similar 
conditions  and  for  similar  purposes,  by  the  same  methods 

The  question  is,  how  can  the  human  race  be  improved  mentally,  morally  and 


50  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

physically  so  that  self-sovereignty  shall  not  be  lost  in  servitude,  so  that  subjects 
of  the  experiments  may  be  their  own  masters,  able  to  order  their  awn  lives  and 
not  be  like  "  dumb  driven  cattle,"  under  the  domination  and  existing  for  the 
profit  and  pleasure  of  others  ? 

The  animals  which' have  been  domesticated  and,  under  the  supervision  and 
selection  of  man,  have  been  improved  for  his  use,  restored  to  a  state  of  nature, 
would  either  perish  or  in  time  revert  back  to  their  original  condition.  In  the 
struggle  for  life  there  have  survived  those  physical  and  mental  qualities  in 
different  environments  which  have  been  the  best  for  the  animals,  those  which 
have  fitted  them  to  compete  successfully,  to  overcome  the  obstacles  in  their 
surroundings,  and  to  adjust  themselves  to  apparently  unfavorable  conditions 
which  could  not  be  escaped. 

Every  deviation  from  the  type  which  Nature  has  produced  in  the  struggle  for 
life  is  a  departure  from  the  natural  conditions  which  are  favorable  to  the 
**  survival  of  the  fittest"  where  the  hand  of  man  does  not  come  in  to  protect  and 
enslave  for  his  own  purpose.  If  a  group  of  men  should  attempt  to  modify  family 
stock,  to  change  by  selection  a  number  of  human  beings  so  as  to  make  them 
pre-eminently  virtuous  and  good,  such  efforts  might  result  in  unfitting  the  subjects 
of  such  experiments  for  a  self-supporting  career  in  an  environment  requiring 
them  to  compete  with  their  fellow-men  and  to  achieve  success,  if  at  all,  by  their 
own  efforts.  To  succeed  in  this  world,  where  competition  is  keen,  men  must  be 
capable  of  attrition  with  their  fellows  and  of  benefitting  thereby.  They  must 
possess  combativeness  and  aggressiveness  as  well  as  knowledge.  Mere  amiability, 
kindness  and  concessiveness  will  not  do. 

In  trying  to  breed  a  variety  free  from  vicious  inclinations,  free  from  strong 
tewdencies  to  coarseness  of  life,  the  danger  might  be  in  eliminating  that  animal 
strength,  that  natural  vigor,  without  which  virtue  is  mere  weakness,  negativeness, 
—  nothing.  To  have  great  strength  of  character,  to  have  great  moral  qualities, 
there  must  be  capacity  for  wrong-doing,  with  liability  of  abuse  of  those  strong 
<}ualities  which,  unperverted  and  wisely  directed  and  controlled,  give  us  the 
highest  type  of  manhood  and  vfomsinhood.^ Progressive  Thinker. 


H  Cbrtetmae  Sermon. 

:o: 

BY    THE    REV.    JEREMIAH    WARNER. 

:o: 


There  are  two  very  solemn  occasions  in  the  Christian  year  ;  Good  Friday,  on 
which  God  Almighty  was  executed,  and  Chri^mas  Day,  on  which  he  was  born. 
Every  sincere  believer  regards  them  with  peculiar  awe,  and  from  morn  to  eve 
ponders  the  transcendent  mysteries  connected  with  them.  Eating  and  drinking, 
all  the  pleasures  aud  pastimes  of  life,  are  out  of  place  at  such  fcimes.    Who  could. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  51 

pamper  the  flesh  while  thinking  of  his  bleeding  God,  agonizing  on  the  terrible 
cross?  Who  could  dawdle  over  savory  dishes  and  sparkling  wines  while  remem- 
bering the  Incarnation  of  God  in  the  form  of  a  child  for  the  purpose  of  walking 
through  this  miserable  vale  of  tears,  in  order  to  save  his  ungrateful  children  from 
everlasting  hell  ?  Who  could'dance  and  sing  on  the  day  when  his  Savior  began 
his  sorrowful  career  on  earth,  where  he  was  born  in  a  stable,  lived  on  the  high 
road,  and  died  on  the  gallows  ? 

Yet,  alas,  the  number  of  sincere  believers  is  small.  They  are  only  a  remnant, 
a  little  band  of  saints  in  the  midst  of  a  sinful  world,  oases  of  piety  in  a  wide 
desert  of  ungodliness.  While  they  macerate  themselves  the  rest  of  mankind 
revel  in  all  kinds  of  delight.  Yes,  on  Good  Friday,  on  the  very  anniversary  of 
their  Redeemer's  passion,  these  light-hearted  sinners  play  at  cricket  and  football, 
go  on  picnics,  and  make  excursions  to  the  seaside  ;  eating  roast  mutton  instead 
of  worshipping  the  Lamb,  and  swilling  beer  instead  of  mourning  over  the 
precious  streams  that  flowed  from  their  Savior's  veins.  And  on  Christmas  Day, 
the  anniversary  of  his  entrance  into  this  scene  of  woe,  when  he  forsook  his 
glorious  palace  in  heaven  for  a  paltry  stable  on  earth,  taking  upon  himself  the 
burden  of  teething,  measles,  whooping-cough,  and  all  the  ills  that  baby  flesh  is 
heir  to,  they  go  not  to  the  House  of  God  and  bend  their  knees  in  humble  praise 
of  his  ineffable  condescension,  but  stay  at  home,  eating  all  manner  of  gross 
viands,  drinking  all  manner  of  pleasant  liquors,  dancing,  singing,  playing  cards, 
telling  stories  round  the  fire,  and  kissing  each  other  under  the  misletoe. 
Thoughtless  wretches  !  They  are  treading  the  primrose  path  to  the  everlasting 
bonfire.  How  will  they  face  the  offended  majesty  of  Heaven  on  that  great  Day 
of  Judgment,  when  every  smile  of  theirs  on  such  solemn  occasions  will  be 
treated  as  an  unpardonable  affront  ?  Brethren,  be  not  deceived  :  God  is  not 
mocked. 

Still  worse  than  these  sinners,  if  that  be  possible,  there  are  nriserable  sceptics 
who  would  have  us  believe  that  God  Almighty  was  neither  crucified  on  Good 
Friday  nor  born  on  Christmas  Day.  These  presumptuous  infidels  pretend  that 
both  those  holy  festivals  are  derived  from  ancient  sun-worship.  They  dare  to 
ask  us  why  the  anniversary  of  the  Crucifixion,  instead  of  falling  on  the  same 
day  in  every  year,  depends  on  astronomical  signs  ;  and  they  mockingly  remind 
us  that  the  birthday  of  our  Savior  is  the  same  as  that  of  Mithra  and  all  the  sun- 
gods  of  antiquity.  True,  the  heathen  celebrated  the  new  birth  of  the  sun  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  December,  from  the  fiery  east  to  the  frozen  north,  from  Persia  to 
Scandinavia. ^  But  what  of  that  ?  Their  celebration  was  invented  by  the  Devil,. 
who  lorded  it  over  this  world  until  our  Savior  cam€  to  bruise  tbe  old  serpent's 
head.  He  prompted  the  heathen  to  commemorate  the  twenty-fifth  of  December, 
for  the  plausible  reason  that  the  Sun  had  then  decisively  begun  to  emerge  from 
his    winter  cave,  giving  a   fresh   promise   of  gentle  spring,  lusty  summer   and 


52  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


fruitful  autumn.  I  call  it  a  plausible  reason,  because  the  Sun  is  never  born,  any 
more  than  it  rises  and  sets.  These  phenomena  are  all  illusions,  caused  by  the 
movement  of  our  own  earth.  But  the  cunning  Devil  took  advantage  of  men's 
ignorance  to  deceive  them  ;  a;id  having  appropriated  our  Savior's  birthday  for 
another  purpose,  he  calculated  that  it  never  would  be  restored  'o  its  rightful  use. 
But,  Ood  be  thanked,  he  was  mistaken.  Our  Holy  Church  fought  him  for  three 
car  turies,  and  at  last,  having  enlisted  Constantine  and  his  successors  on  her  side, 
she  exterminated  the  Pagan  idolatry,  and  established  the  religion  of  Christ.  Then 
were  all  the  Dtvil's  subtle  inventions  destroyed,  and  among  them  the  sun-worship 
which  disgraced  the  close  of  every  year.  Happily,  howtver,  the  task  was  not  so 
hard  as  it  might  have  been,  for  the  Devil  had  outwitted  himself.  He  had  accus- 
tomed the  heathen  to  celebrate  the  day  on  which  Christ  was  to  be  born,  and  so 
our  holy  Church  had  little  else  to  do  than  to  substitute  one  name  for  another, 
and  to  devote  that  day  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God  instead  of  a  false  one. 

Since  then,  alas,  owing  to  the  native  depravity  of  the  humm  heart,  Satan  has 
recovered  some  of  his  lost  power  ;  for  he  is  a  restless,  intriguing,  malignant 
creature,  whose  mischief  will  never  be  terminated  until  he  is  chained  up  In  the 
bottomless  pit.  Defeated  by  our  holy  Church  in  the  east,  he  planned  a  fresh 
attack  from  the  north,  find  carried  it  out  with  considerable  success.  He  contrived 
to  mix  up  our  orthodox  Christmas  celebration  with  fantastic  nonsense  from  the 
Norse  mythology.  Those  who  decorate  Christmas  trees  and  burn  Yule-tide  logs 
are  heathens  without  knowing  it,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  their  ignorance  will 
not  excuse  them  in  the  sight  of  God.  Away  with  such  things,  brethren  !  They 
are  snares  of  the  P2vil  One,  traps  for  your  perdition,  gins  for  your  immortal 
souls.  Even  the  evergreens  with  which  you  deck  your  houses  are  a  pitfall  of  the 
same  old  enemy.  They  are  relics  of  nature-worship,  diverting  your  minds  from 
the  Creator  to  the  creature  ;  and  well  does  Satan  know,  as  ye  glance  at  the 
white  and  red  berries  and  then  at  the  fair  fact  s  and  pouting  lips  of  the  daughters 
of  Eve,  that  your  thoughts  must  be  earthly,  sensual  and  devilish.  I  mean  not 
that  you  will  necessarily  rush  into  illicit  pleasures,  and  drink  of  the  cup  of  sin  ; 
but  the  carnal  mind  is  always  at  enioity  with  (iod,  and  at  such  a  time  as  the 
birthday  of  our  Lord  we  shall  incur  his  wrath  if  we  do  not  keep  out  attention 
fixed  on  things  above. 

There  is  another  lesson,  brethren,  which  you  should  lay  to  heart.  Christ  gave 
up  all  for  you  ;  what  will  you  give  up  for  him  ?  His  (ijspel  is  still  unj-reached 
in  many  benighted  parts  of  this  globe.  Millions  of  souls  in  Asia,  Afiica,  and 
America  go  annually  to  Hell  for  want  of  the  saving  words  of  grace  ;  and  even  at 
home,  in  our  very  midst  there  are  millions  outside  the  Church,  who  live  in  pagan 
darkness,  and  whose  doom  is  frightful  to  contemplate.  Deny  yourselves  then 
for  your  Savior,  and  if  you  cannot  be  as  solenm  as  you  should  at  this  season,  at 
least  restrict  your  pleasures,  and  give  the  cost  of  what  you  forego  to  the  Church, 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  53 


who  will  spend  the  money  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  A  single  bottle  of  wine  or 
whisky,  a  single  turkey  or  plum-pudding  less  on  your  tables  this  Christmas,  may 
mean  a  soul  less  in  fiell,  and  another  saint  around  the  great  white  throne  in 
Heaven.  Do  not  waste  your  wealth  on  the  perishal)le  bodies  of  the  poor,  or  if 
you  must  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked,  let  your  charity  go  through  the 
hands  of  God's  ministers  ;  but  rather  seek  the  immortal  welfare  of  dying  sinners, 
and  give,  yea  ever  give,  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  them  from  the  wrath  to 
come.  Oh,  brethren,  neglect  not  this  all  important  duty.—  The  choir  will  now 
sing  the  twenty-fifth  hymn,  after  which  we  shall  take  the  collection. 

—  The  Freethinker.  G.   W.   Foote. 


TKIlbcre  Hre  ^beu  Ht? 

:o: 


BY    AVALON. 

:o: 


In  Draper's  "  Searching  For  Truth  "  occurs  the  following  passage  :  "  On  our 
elegant  centre  table,  covered  with  dust,  the  Bible  still  challenges  the  intelligence 
of  the  human  race."  The  truth  of  this  passage  will  be  admitted,  by  any  candid 
observer.  Some  time  ago  the  writer  spent  Sunday  with  a  friend,  and  as  his 
friend  was  a  Kader  in  the  local  Sunday  school  he  accompanied  him  to  the  church 
to  see  what  sort  of  spiritual  teaching  was  dealt  out  to  the  young  people.  The 
lesson  of  the  day  was  "  The  Healing  of  Naaman."  The  pastor  was  present  (by 
the  way,  he  is  a  Doctor  of  Philosophy),  and  gave  a  short  discourse  on  the 
"  miracles,"  dwelling  especially  on  the  fact  that  the  Jewish  captive  girl  was  able 
to  tell  Naaman  where  to  go  for  relief,  the  result  of  good  religious  training,  said 
our  Ph.D.,  for  observe,  said  he,  the  king  did  not  know  that  Elisha  could  cure  the 
Syrian,  but  the  child  did.  Now  our  Ph.D.  should  have  known  *' that  in  the 
days  of  FJisha  none  was  cured  of  leprosy  save  Naaman  the  Syrian."  He  did  not 
explain  why  the  Sjrian  took  two  mule  loads  of  earth  home  with  him.  Nor  did 
he  tell  why  all  these  miracles  had  happened  several  thousand  years  ago,  but  now 
of  miracles  there  were  none,  unless  we  accept  the  statements  of  our  Catholic 
friends.  An  English  "monk,"  it  appears,  however,  has  performed  severaf 
miracles  without  being  found  out.  The  fact  remains,  however,  that  Christians 
do  not  study  their  book,  much  less  read  it.  If  they  did,  what  must  they  think 
when  they  find  that  one  portion  of  it  contradicts  another  ?  In  the  33rd  chapter 
of  Exodus  is  one  instance  of  this.  In  the  nth  verse  we  are  told  that  Moses 
spoke  to  "  Yahwe  "  face  to  face,  but  in  the  20th  verse  we  have  the  contrary 
statement,  that  Yawhe  very  obligingly  gives  Moses  a  peep  at  his  back  parts.  In 
one  part  of  the  book  we  are  told  that  sacrifices  of  animals  were  commanded  by 


54  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

Yawhe  and  in  another  that  they  are  not.  The  descendant  of  a  Moabite,  unto 
the  tenth  generation,  was  not  to  enter  into  the  temple  ;  yet  we  tind  Solomon, 
the  fifth  in  descent  of  the  Moabitish  woman,  giving  the  dedicatory  prayer  at  the 
opening  of  the  temple.  Higher  critics  tell  us  that  the  various  books  passed 
through  a  series  of  revisions,  and  give  many  instances  to  bear  out  their  state- 
ments. A  D.D.,  writing  of  the  "word  of  God,"  says  this:  *'The  word  of  God, 
as  we  have  it  in  the  Bible,  has  passed  through  human  minds,  and  has  been  limited 
by  their  capacity  and  their  language.  The  Bible  bears  the  obvious  traces  of  the 
Ihuman  limitations  of  every  author  and  every  age."  Our  D.D.  admits  that  much 
of  its  hi'^tory  is  n>erely  legend,  its  tale  of  the  Creation  merely  an  improved  form 
of  a  Babylonran  myth.  He  admits  many  errors,  but,  on  the  principle,  probably, 
that  we  must  have  some  sort  of  a  religion,  he  still  stays  by  the  book.  The  latter 
part  of  his  essay  is  ^'  rich."  He  says  (page  20) :  "  Now  I  have  only  one  word 
more  to  say  to  you  as  Christian  men  and  women.  Consider  most  carefully  how 
you  ought  to  feel  towards  skeptics  and  unbelievers.  Learn  to  see  in  them  much 
that  is  good.  There  is  generally  a  keen  desire  for  truth  and  a  hatred  of  shams  ; 
they  rebuke  ignorance  and  hypocrisy,  and  there  is  always  a  keener  sense  than  we 
possess  of  the  awful  shortcomings  of  Christian  people  and  of  Christian  churches. 
They  cannot  honor  Christ  if  we  are  his  representatives.  .  .  .  How  shall  we  con- 
vict and  convert  them  ?  Never  by  arguments  to  prove  that  they  are  wrong ; 
never  by  contempt  to  prove  that  they  are  fools  ;  never  by  denunciation  to  prove 
that  they  are  wicked."  Our  "  reverend "  proposes  to  do  it  by  Christians 
practising  what  they  profess  to  l>elieve  by  living  up  to  the  Golden  Rule.  Reading 
t)etween  the  lines  one  would  think  that  our  D.I),  was  himself  next  door  to 
"  Agnosticism."  As  a  matter  of  fact  to-day  the  Agnostic  and  the  really  educated 
theologian  are  nearer  together  in  their  thought  and  belief  than  the  laity  and 
poorly  educated  preachers  are  with  the  better  educated. 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  delivered  a  sermon  that  is  mainly  an  exposition  of  *'  Pan- 
theism," and  it  is  hailed  with  delight  by  one  part  (  f  the  clergy  and  denounced 
by  the  other.  A  certain  clergyman  in  the  United  States  is  said  to  have  given 
expression  to  very  heretical  views  at  a  meeting  of  the  brethren  ;  there  was  a  pause 
after  he  had  spoken,  broken  by  one  of  the  reverends,  who   proposed   that  they 

take  *'  Brother  B out  at  four  o'clock  and   burn  him."     And  then  they  all 

laughed.  A  year  or  more  ago  I  met  a  young  divinity  s''udent,  and  in  the  course 
of  conversation  the  remark  was  made  that  the  evidence  for  the  historical  existence 
of  such  a  person  as  Jesus  was  very  slim  He  admitted  it  and  said  that  apparently 
the  Gospels  gave  an  idealized  sketch  of  some  religious  teacher  among  the  Jews. 
ApoUonius  of  Tyana  was  given  as  an  illustration  of  the  deification  of  a  man 
after  death  A  rational  examination  of  the  Gospels  would  seem  to  show  a  like 
example  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  Teacher.  In  no  other  way  can  we  explain  the 
many  contradictory  statements  to  be  found  in  the  nariatives. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  55 


fIDat)  flDur&ocft'e  Hnimal  Storica. 


THE     CAT. 

My  name  is  Thomas,  and  I  lived  at  a  big  house  with  a  semi-circular  drive  in 
front  of  it.  I  didn't  own  the  house.  Jones  was  the  owner,  and  Mrs.  Jones  took 
care  of  me  and  called  me  her  "dear  boy."  She  put  a  blue  ribbon  round  my 
neck,  and  let  me  sit  on  a  dining  chair  next  her  at  dinner.  I  wished  she  would 
not  bother,  for  I  really  preferred  taking  cold  turkey  on  the  floor  under  the  parlor 
sofa  to  taking  it  off  her  fork.  I  was  pretty  comfortable,  and  had  a  nice  bed  in  a 
basket  beside  Mrs.  Jones's  bed,  but  for  some  reasons  I'd  rather  be  a  dog.  Dogs 
have  recognized  rights  and  are  treated  like  gentlemen.  Mrs,  Jones  had  no  dog, 
because  I  was  the  favorite  and  dogs  didn't  get  on  very  well  with  me,  but  she  was 
a  member  of  some  soi.iety  that  locked  after  dogs,  and  she  had  an  iron  box  put 
on  the  street  w;th  a  sign  on  it  inviting  all  dogs  to  have  a  drink.  There  was  gene- 
rally no  water  in  the  box,  but  the  principle  of  equal  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  o  her  dogs  was  recognized — on  paper,  which  is  the  main  thing. 

But  as  I  am  not  a  dog,  T  don't  think  I  care  much  for  dogs.  One  came  into 
our  grounds  once.  He  was  not  a  very  big  dog,  but  he  had  a  large-sized  opinion 
of  himself,  and  as  his  mistress  was  pajing  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Jones,  he  proceeded  to 
make  free  with  things.  He  first  ran  and  chased  a  very  nice  friend  of  mine,  and 
he  nearly  scared  her  to  death  ;  and  then  he  saw  me.  I  wouldn't  have  minded 
if  he  hadn't  chased  my  friend  out  of  the  lot.  He  was  in  a  great  rage  at  missing 
her,  and  he  yelled  at  me  and  said  he  could  make  Hamburg  steak  out  of  me 
quicker  than  Deacon  Perkins  could  lie  about  the  value  of  his  property  before  the 
Court  of  Assessment  1  decided  to  take  that,  for  if  I  could  stay  fifteen  seconds 
I  would  take  the  long  end  of  the  purse,  for  the  deacon  held  the  record  for  quick 
work.  I'he  dog  rushed,  and  I  side-stepped,  and  landed  him  seven  on  one  ear 
and  eght  on  the  other.  I  gave  him  twenty-two  on  the  nose  and  seventeen  in 
the  eyes.  As  it  wasn't  Queensbury  rules,  and  I  was  referee,  one  eye  came  out 
and  the  other  looked  like  what  203  Metre  Hill  would  look  like  when  the  Japs 
got  busy.  Doggy  cried  '*  Enough  !  "  but  I  wasn't  through,  and  then  he  yelled  for 
the  police.  The  ladies  were  in  the  hall  and  Mrs.  Jones  was  saying,  **  We  are 
going  to  have  a  five  o'clock  tea  and  perhaps  a  little  progressive  euchre.  You 
must  really  come,  the  whole  affair  would  be  so  dull  without  you." 

Mrs.  Smithson  Smythe  replied  that  she  seldom  attended  functions,  but  she 
would  be  only^  too  happy  to  attend  this  one,  as  it  was  well  known  that  Mrs. 
Jones  gave  the  most  delightful  and  exclusive  parties  in  the  town. 

I  had  found"  my  voice  by  this  time  and  was  asking  doggy  if  he  thought  that  all 
his  father's  family  and  their  cousins  could  do  me  up,  and  he  was  protesting  that 
he  didn't    mean   to,  but   next  lime  he  would   be  in  training  and  then  I'd  feel 


56  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

something  drop.  I  was  emphasizing  my  remarks  with  the  kind  of  words  Jones 
used  when  he  couldn't  find  the  ke>hole  at  3  a  m  ;  and  the  ladies  heard  us  and 
ran  out  to  the  lawn.  Mrs.  Smithson  Smythe  said  :  "  Oh,  my  precious  dear  Gyp, 
what  did  the  nasty  btast  do  to  you  ?  "  "  My  poor  boy  Clarence,  cid  the  wretch 
worry  you  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Jones  ;  and  then  she  took  me  up  and  Mrs.  Smythe  took 
up  Gyp,  and  they  parted  somewhat  icily.  As  my  guardian  stroked  my  coat  she  said : 

"  Nasty  hateful  cat  !  I  hope  she  won't  come,  that  is,  I  hoj  e  she  will,  so  that 
Jones,  the  hateful  beast,  may  make  a  fool  of  himstlf  over  her,  and  I  will  get  my 
excuse."     But  I  knew  she  didn't  mean  me. 

When  the  day  for  the  5  o'clock  tea  came  Mrs.  Smithson  vSmythe  also  came 
and  I  heard  her  tell  Mr.  Jones  that  she  would  never  have  come  but  in  the  hope 
of  pleasing  him.  He  kissed  her  hand  then  and  sighed  and  said  that  he  was 
weary  of  life  in  its  present  round  of  toil  and  want  of  sympathy.  Then  some 
other  people  came  up  and  I  had  to  leave,  or  be  stepped  on.  Jones  went  out  for 
a  drive  later  with  Mrs.  Smjthe;  he  was  going  to  take  a  long  drive  and  asked 
Mrs.  Jones  if  she  would  care  to  go.  Mrs.  Jones  wouldn't  care  to  go,  as  she  had 
a  headache.  She  always  had  a  headache  when  there  was  deviltry  doing  When 
the  horses  came  to  the  door  Jones  went  out  to  take  a  look  at  them,  and  said  to 
himself :  "  ['11  make  love  to  this  one,  and  make  the  old  lady  jealous.  I  do 
believe  she  cares  more  for  that  cursed  cat  than  for  me."  When  they  were  gone, 
my  guardian  danced  a  jig  in  the  hall  and  said  : 

*' I  wish  to  heaven  the  horses  would  run  away  and  break  both  their  necks." 
Then  she  telephoned  somebody  and  a  big  man  with  fine  legs  and  a  slim  waist 
came,  and  she  kissed  him  and  cried  and  then  laughed.  Then  they  took  a  car 
for  somewhere.  She  did  not  say  goodbye  to  me  and  I  never  saw  her  again. 
That  night  Jones  came  back  and,  finding  her  gone,  went  away  and  got  drunk,  and 
I  got  only  abuse  from  him  when  he  was  able  to  give  me  anything.  I  left  the  big 
place  in  about  a  week  and  picked  up  a  sort  of  living  around  the  back  doors  of 
houses,  but  I  was  not  happy  for  I  had  no  friends.  One  Sunday  I  was  crossing  a 
vacant  lot  and  some  boys  who  had  just  come  out  of  Sunday  school  saw  me  and 
said,  "  Gee  !  look  at  the  big  cat ;  let's  go  for  him,"  and  they  started  to  throw 
stones.  One  stone  took  me  in  the  shoulder  as  I  was  climbing  a  fence,  and 
knocked  me  down.  The  boys  yelled  like  Indians  and  one  of  them  was  just 
taking  me  by  the  tail  when  I  got  up  and  away  and  they  started  the  stones  again. 

"  Plug  him  !  "  "  Bust  the  beggar  ! "  "  Give  'im  hell  ! "  "  Dam  good  shot  !  " 
''  Hit  'im  again  !  "  were  the  sounds  J  heard.  I  got  on  the  fence  and  was  going 
to  jump  into  the  next  lot  where  a  big  white  bulldog  with  pink  eyes  was  waiting 
for  me  to  get  down.  Just  then,  I  didn't  like  his  face,  and  so  stuck  to  the  fence 
till  I  came  to  the  next  lot,  when  another  stone  took  me  in  the  ear  and  knocked 
me  over  into  a  barrel  of  rain  water.  Half  drowned,  I  managed  to  climb  out 
and  dropped  to  the  grass.     It  was  a  small  lot,  with  flowers  all  rojnd  the  sides 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  67 

and  an  old  apple  tree  with  a  swing  from  one  of  its  limbs  in  the  centre  of  the  lot. 
In  the  front  of  the  lot  there  was  a  small  frame  house  with  the  front  fitted  up  as 
a  repair  shop  for  boots.  There  was  a  little  girl  in  the  swing  when  I  fell  in  the 
rain  barrel,  and  she  got  up  and  came  towards  me  and  said,  "  Poor  pussy  !"  She 
had  a  little  crutch  and  limped.  I  was  too  tired  and  hurt  to  run  any  more,  and 
the  little  girl  came  and  touched  me  on  the  head  and  said  again,  **  Poor  pussy^ 
did  bad  people  hurt  you  ?  "  She  looked  so  small  and  spoke  so  nicely  that  I 
crawled  to  her  feet  and  rubbed  my  head  on  her  leg.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were 
quite  friendly,  and  she  coaxed  me  to  the  door  of  the  kitchen  and  I  went  in. 

"  Mamma,"  slie  said  to  a  big  woman,  "  here  is  a  poor  cat  that's  been  wan- 
dered and  don't  belong  to  anybody  ;  I'm  going  to  keep  it,  can't  1  ?  " 

•'  Well,  child,  don't  forget  that  milk  is  four  cents  a  pint." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  need  much  now,  I'm  getting  better,  and  I  have  nobody  to  play 
with.     Aw  do,  mamma." 

So  it  was  settled,  and  when  the  shop  is  closed  and  supper  over  I  sit  by  an 
open  hearth,  and  the  little  girl  sits  by  me  between  father  and  mother  and  strokes 
my  hair,  while  the  parents  stroke  her  hair.  There  are  no  bitter  words  and  all 
seem  contented,  and  I  am  glad  I  left  the  big  house. 


/IDaD  /iDur^ocft  on  a  IRew  JSool^. 

:o: 

Time  was  when  you  could  not  tell  how  good  a  book  was  till  you  read  it  Some- 
times it  worked  the  other  way,  and  then  the  only  way  to  find  out  how  far  a  writer 
of  words  could  fall  from  literary  grace  would  be  to  wade  through  the  stuff. 

A    Canadian   who   has    been   much  advertized  is    "  Rev."   Gordon,  of 

Witmipeg  way.  His  pen  name  is  "  Ralph  Connor."  He  is  a  man  of  such 
sterling  stuff  that  he  can,  and  does,  face  a  camera  with  even  less  fear  or  doubt 
as  to  the  result,  than  a  Jap  would  evince  when  storming  a  Russian  hill.  It  is 
evident  that  he  is  a  self-made  man,  and  that  he  has  also  created  his  god  after  his 
own  image  and,  after  inspection  of  the  work,  he  "  saw  that  it  was  good." 

In  Gordon's  yarns  his  hero  is  always  a  preacher,  is  nearly  always  Highland 
Scotch,  and  is  always  a  physical  giant.  "The  Prospector,"  a  series  of  yarns 
about  the  North  West,  lamely  connected  by  means  of  a  preacher  hero,  is  in  line 
with  his  former  efforts. 

Shock  Macgregor  is  Canadian  Scotch,  is  a  preacher,  is  nearer  seven  feet  than 
six  in  height.^and  when  he  shakes  the  hand  of  the  unwary  stranger  he  makes  the 
blood  exude  from  'neath  the  victim's  finger-nails,  just  to  show  his  Christ-like 
heartiness.  Shock  is  humble,  is  meek,  is  a  veritable  Christ.  He  is  ever 
smiling,  cheerful,  benevolent,  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  the  souls  of  the  cow- 
boys who  say  ••  damn,"  which  the  author  is  too  pure  in  thought,  word  and  deed 
to  write  down  in  plain  Saxon.     He  renders  it  "  blank,"  while  not  hesitating  to 


58  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


write  '*  damnable  "  and  "  cursed  "  in  the  mother-tongue.  We  tried  counting  how 
often  the  word  "  blank  "  appeared,  but  quit  the  task  at  1170  in  despair.  Evidently 
the  author  enjoys  profanity  but  lacks  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  '*  Shock,' 
being  Scotch  in  the  second  degree,  can  vanquish  any  mere  Irish  or  French  man 
without  reference  to  the  victim's  length  or  breadth.  But  he  won't  fight  or  get 
mad,  this  giant  Jesus,  even  if  you  spit  in  his  face  and  tweak  his  nose  ;  but,  when 
you  do  that  to  another  man,  or  abuse  a  horse,  hog  or  dog  in  his  presence  and  he 
does  get  mad,  your  friends  will  send  a  hurry  call  for  the  nearest  surgeon  if  you 
are  still  breathing  after  one  buffet. 

We  have  waded  through  *'  The  Prospector,"  not  as  a  matter  of  duty,  but  with 
a  certain  sense  of  enjoyment,  as  we  believe  that  when  a  book  is  infernally  bad  i; 
becomes  pretty  good.  Rev.  Shock  Macgregor  is  an  impossibility  and  "  The 
Prospector  "  is  worthless,  not  because  the  literary  style  and  grammatical  con- 
struction are  faulty,  as  years  of  practice  and  reading  might  correct  that  somewhat  ; 
hut  because  the  author  is  a  literary  potboiler  without  a  soul. 


ITbe  IRatural  TUnlversc. 

:o: 


BY    A.    ELVINS 

:o: 

In  previous  letters  I  have  dealt  with  the  material  universe  only  ;  and  I  have  tried 
to  trace  the  effect  which  Atoms  and  Masses  of  "  moving  matter  "  will  have  on 
other  Atoms  and  Masses,  but  I  have  spoken  of  dead  matter  only. 

I  have  not,  however,  overlooked  an  important  factor  which  certainly  exists  in 
connection  with  some  masses.  There  are  many  things  which  not  only  exist  and 
move,  but  live. 

LIVING    MATTER. 

What  constitutes  the  difference  between  living  and  dead  bodies?  There  must 
be  a  difference.  Dead  bodies  always  obey  the  "laws  of  motion  ;"  living  bodies 
frequently  act  in  what  seems  to  be  a  violation  of  those  laws.  The  first  law  says : 
"  Bodies  in  motion  tend  to  move  in  a  straight  line  and  at  an  equable  rate,  unless 
acted  on  by  some  external  force."  This  a  dead  body  does.  An  arrow  from  a 
bow,  or  a  shot  from  a  cannon,  moves  in  a  straight  line,  except  that  its  path  is 
curved  by  the  action  of  gravity,  and  its  rate  of  motion  is  retarded  by  the  friction 
of  the  atmosphere.  The  inertia  of  matter  causes  bodies  to  continue  in  the  state 
of  rest  or  motion  in  which  they  exist.  These  laws  are  not  applicable  to  living 
bodies. 

I  have  often  watched  birds  chasing  insects.  They  dart  swiftly  after  the  fly, 
and  turn  at  sharp  angles  after  it  at  every  turn  the  insect  makes.  This  contra- 
dicts the  ftrst  law  of  motion.     We  see  life  and  intelligence.     With  these  factors 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  69^ 


supplied,  the  bird  and  the  fly  are  able  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  matter  and  the 
laws  of  motion. 

But  what  is  Life  ?  How  does  intelligent  life  act  on  matter  to  produce  the 
changes  we  see  ?  1  must  remain  an  Agnostic  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  :  / 
donH  know. 

Is  there  intelligence  in  the  matter?  or  is  it  outside  of  the  atoms  and  masses 
or  between  them  ?  If  the  forces  which  change  the  direction  of  moving  living 
bodies  existed  in  the  matter  forming  the  body,  the  laws  of  motion  and  inertia 
are  not — cannot  be — correct.  A  sleeping  dog  may  be  motionless,  but  when 
awake  he  runs,  barks,  eats,  etc.  He  is  motionless  no  longer  :  inertia  does  not 
act,  the  laws  of  motion  are  not  preserved. 

When  awake,  the  factors  of  mind  and  will  are  active.  How  can  we  account 
for  their  existence?  Again^/  don't  know.  Who  among  your  readers  will  throw 
some  light  on  this  question  ? 


Cbristian  Cbartt^  in  a  Catbolic  IRunner^* 


The  Paris  Matin  prints  some  startling  revelations  concerning  the  Providence 
Orphanage  at  Aix  en  Provence.  The  nuns  who  run  it  do  a  big  trade  in  fine 
linen,  lace,  and  general  fancy  underwear  for  women ;  and  increase  their  profits 
by  having  the  work  done  for  them  by  orphans  and  the  children  of  poor  parents, 
who  are  glad  to  get  rid  of  their  offspring. 

These  unfortunate  girls  are  not  only  "  sweated  "  but  starved  and  otherwise 
treated  with  great  cruelty.  Here  is  a  sample  of  what  went  on,  taken  from  a  Paris 
letter  in  the  Daily  Telegraph  : 

"  One  young  woman,  who  has  left  the  place,  a  Mdlle.  Dye,  said  that  when 
she  was  five  years  old  her  mother,  a  poor  widow,  had  to  send  her  to  the  Providence 
Convent  with  her  two  sisters.  The  mother  paid  down  £"16  for  the  three  girls  to 
the  nuns'  notary,  and  they  were  to  remain  in  the  convent  until  they  were  of  age. 
The  girls  were  handed  over  to  a  nun.  Sister  Monica,  who  put  needles  into  their 
hands  and  started  them  to  hem  pocket-handkerchiefs.  The  nun  went  round  the 
work  room  every  half-hour,  whacking  on  the  head  with  a  box-wood  stick  the  girls 
who  looked  up  from  their  work,  yawned,  or  showed  any  signs  of  indolence. 
Sometimes  this  remarkable  Monica,  who,  if  the  correspondent's  statements  be 
true,  had  nothing  in  common  with  her  holy  patroness,  the  mother  of  Saint 
Augustine  of  Hippo,  represented  in  Ary  Scheffer's  picture  in  the  Louvre,  ])lucked 
hairs  out  of  the  girls'  heads,  and  put  them  into  a  bag  in  the  corner  of  the  work- 
room. The  hairs  were  subsequently  sold  to  coiffeurs  of  the  district,  the  nuns 
being  evidently  determined  to  make  the  most  out  of  their  victims.  Girls  also  had 
their  hair  cut  when  they  happened  to  possess  a  fine  crop.  Monica  was  assisted 
by  a  sister  named  Clara,  who  was  equally  tyrannical,  and  knocked  the  children 
about  at  a  fearful  rate.  As  in  the  Tours  Convent,  refractory  girls,  or  those  sup- 
posed to  be  so,  had  to  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross  with  their  tongues  on  the 
floor  of  the  refectory  or  eating-room.  Worse  and  more  disgusting  punishments 
were  also  inflicted. 


60  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


"As  to  the  food  given  at  the  institution  the  informant  of  the  newspaper 
correspondent  says  that  it  barely  cost  thirty-five  centimes  daily  for  each  girl.  The 
meat  was  often  uneatable,  and  when  it  was  refused  the  tyrants,  Monica  and 
Clara,  rammed  it  down  the  children's  throats,  using  towels  to  keep  their  hands 
clean.  In  winter  there  was  no  fire  in  the  workroom,  and  when  the  girls  blew  on 
their  hands  to  warm  them  they  were  beaten  by  Monica  or  Clara.  Once  a  month 
those  of  the  inmates  who  had  friends  were  all<iwed  to  see  them  in  the  parlor,  but 
Monica  was  always  present  like  a  turnkey  watching  over  prisoners.  In  this  strange 
institution  of  the  picturesque  and  historic  town  of  Aix  enProverice  illness  did  not 
count.  Sick  girls  were  haled  and  dragged  to  work  by  Monica  and  Clara,  and 
those  who  fainted  were  beaten,  and  even  kicked,  back  to  consciousness.  It  was 
only  when  they  were  at  the  last  extremity  that  ailing  children  were  sent  to 
hospital,  vhere  nearly  all  inevitably  died." 

Is  it  not  sickening  ?    And  all  in  the  name  of  religion,  too  ! — Freethinker. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


SUNDAY  IN  ENGLAND  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 
Speaking  of  rural  life  in  England  at  the  end  of  the  13th  century,  Prof.  E.  P, 
Cheyney,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  an  article  in  Lippincott's  of  Sep- 
tember, 1 90 1,  says  : 

"Villains  as  the  bulk  of  the  population  were,  in  a  certain  sense,  each  village 
or  manor  was  a  little  self-governing  community.  Their  life  was  so  much  centred 
within  itself,  there  was  so  little  interference  from  the  outside,  that  they  seemed 
to  be  left  to  settle  their  own  affairs  in  much  their  own  way,  or  at  least  in  such  a 
way  as  could  be  reached  by  compromise  between  the  people  and  the  lord  of  the 
manor.  The  little  assembly  in  which  this  local  self-government  was  carried  on 
was  known  as  the  manor  court.  It  met  usually  on  one  day  in  every  three  weeks. 
All  the  tenants  were  bound  to  attend — at  least,  all  the  men  and  such  of  the 
women  as  were  landholders  or  were  separately  summoned.  The  meeting  was  as 
apt  to  be  on  a  Sunday  as  on  any  other  day.  The  idea  that  the  whole  of  Sunday 
should  be  kept  for  strictly  sacred  used  seems  to  have  been  unknown  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  Sunday  was  often  appointed  for  the  opening  day  of  Parliament,  for  sittings 
of  the  King's  courts,  for  the  gathering  for  a  military  campaign.  The  objections 
to  its  use  for  such  purposes  arose  at  a  later  date." 


"vGOING  !    GOING  !  GONE  !  " 

'Down  in  a  Virginia  town,  not  long  ago,  the  aged  pastor  of  one  of  the  churches 
fell  ill.  He  was  beloved  by  all  the  neighborhood,  and  a  constant  stream  of  visi- 
tors rang  the  bell  to  make  inquiries.  The  nurse  in  charge  was  an  intelligent 
negro  woman,  and  she  decided  to  issue  bulletins  at  frequent  intervals.  She  wrote 
them  herself  and  pinned  them  to  the  front  door,  and  this  is  the  way  they  read 
as  they  appeared  successively:  "Rev.  Blank  am  very  sick."  "i^ter— Rev. 
Blank  am  worse."  "  Night — Rev.  Blank  am  sinking."  "  Morning  — Rev.  Blank 
have  sunk." 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  61 


THE  HAPPY  ISLES. 

Where  are  the  Happy  Isles  we  dream  about, 

Bright  with  the  beauty  of.  unfading  flowers, 
And  lulled  in  peace  through  the  long  summer  hours, 

Where  no  one  knows  a  sorrow  or  a  doubt  ? 

Sometimes,  when  winds  of  fancy  blow  away 
The  mists  that  gather  on  the  grey  world's  rim, 
I  catch  brief  glimpses,  mystically  dim, 

Of  lovely  shores,  fair  with  perpetual  May, 

And  hills  that  bask  in  sunshine  all  day  long. 

And  hear,  across  the  leagues  that  lie  between, — 
The  long,  long  leagues  that  always  lie  between, — 

Strange  smging,  with  no  minor  in  the  song. 

And  then  the  vision  fades — the  music  dies — 
But  I  have  had  my  glimpse  of  Paradise  ! . 
■LippincotVs.  Eben  E.  Rexford. 


TO  BE  KILLED— OR  WORSHIPPED? 
As  it  was  the  policy  of  the  church  to  keep  the  masses  in  ignorance,  the  scanty 
and  general  information  to  be  derived  from  that  source  was  restricted  to  mem- 
bers of  the  privileged  classes.  The  general  and  incredible  abasement  of  the 
people  in  those  times  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  so  late  as  1590,  when  a 
mouse  had  devoured  the  sacramental  wafer  in  one  of  the  churches  of  Italy,  it 
was  gravely  discussed  by  an  ecclesiastical  council  convoked  for  that  pur|)o^e,  in 
the  presence  of  a  pious  and  wondering  audience,  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
entered  the  animal  or  not,  and  if  the  demands  of  religion  required  that  it  should 
be  killed  or  be  made  an  object  of  worship! — Scott,  ''History  of  the  Moorish 
Empire  in  Europe^ 


GOOD   HEALTH,  MORALS,  MANNERS— AND   SUCCESS. 
In  an  address  to  the  undergraduates  of  Rochester  University,  its  former  pre- 
sident, Hon.  David  Jayne  Hill,   now  Minister  to  Switzerland,  gave  this  recipe  to 
college  giaduates  striving  for  success  : 

*'  Good  health,  good  morals,  good  manners." 

Good  health  is  usually  necessary,  and  morals  must  at  least  not  be  bad  enough 
to  attract  unfavorable  notice,  before  success  is  attained.  An  engaging  and  a 
plausible  address  must  be  a  great  help  to  the  struggler.  But  are  successful  men 
especially  distinguished  by  the  superior  charm  of  their  manners  ?  In  playing 
the  Survival  of  the  Fittest,  does  politeness  have  a  leading  part  ? 

We  hope  so.  We  ask  on  account  of  a  sociological  interest  in  the  subject. 
Indeed,  we  trust  that  good  manners  are  a  mark  and  condition  precedent  of  the 
successful.  Then  good  manners  may  come  to  be  cultivated  for  a  sound  econo- 
mic reason.  At  present,  we  might  not  be  justified  in  asserting  that  the  most 
successful  college  graduates  are  the  most  urbane.  To  be  agreeable  is  a  sufficient 
art,  as  important,  ptrhaps,  as  success. — N.  Y.  Sun. 


G2  SECULAR  THOUGHT, 


''THE  LORD"  NOT  A  GOOD  LEGAL  SURETY. 

Jucige  Warren  W.  Foster  tells  this  story  of  a  London  magistrate  who  had  a  crazy 
street  preacher  up  before  him  charged  with  causing  a  street  obstruction. 

''  While  in  London  i  dropped  into  the  Row  Strtet  police-court  one  morning. 
I  sat  for  a  while  and  watched  the  proceedings.  Presently  a  stret-t  preacher  was 
brought  in  for  trial.  The  case  against  him  was  for  making  a  public  nuisance  of 
himself  by  obstructing  street  traffic.  The  magistrate  saw  that  the  prisoner  was  a 
harmless  lunatic,  and,  being  a  little  tender-hearted,  I  suppose,  did  not  feel  like 
inflicting  a  penalty  on  him. 

"  '  You  must  understand,  my  man,'  said  the  magistrate,  '  that  we  can't  permit 
the  streets  to  be  obstructed  in  this  way.  However,  I  don't  wish  to  be  hard  with 
you.  If  ^ou  can  give  me,  therefore,  the  name  of  a  friend  who  will  stand  as 
surety  that  >ou  will  not  commit  this  nuisance  again,   I'll  discharge  you.' 

"  '  I  have  no  friend,  sir,'  said  the  man,  '  except  the  Lord.' 

*^'  '  That  may  be  so,'  said  the  magistrate,  '  but  what  I  mean  is,  have  you  a 
friend  who  is  a  householder  in  London  !  ' 

"  '  I  have  the  Lord,'  said  the  prisoner  ;  *  he  is  omnipresent.' 

"  '  Quite  so,  quite  so,'  replied  the  magistrate,  a  little  nonplussed  ;  '  but  what  I 
tnust  have  is  a  tangible  surety — that  is,  a  surety  of-well — er — of  more  fixed 
residence,  you  understand.' 

''  The  prisoner  couldn't  produce  that  kind  of  surely,  so  he  was  let  off  with  a 
$2  fine  and  a  warning." 


An  English  resident  of  Shanghai,  having  made  an  excellent  dinner  from  a 
tasty  but  unrecognized  dish,  called   his  cook  to  congratulate  him  on  his  cookery. 

"  I  hope  you  didn't  kill  one  of  those  street  dogs  to  provide  the  soup,'  jest- 
ingly remarked  his  daughter. 

Wun  Hoo  made  a  solemn  gesture  of  dissent.  "  No  killee  dawg,  missie,"  he 
explained.     "  Him  alleady  dead  when  I  pickee  up  !  " 


"  Hello,  Simms,  old   man  !     I  hear  your  editress  friend  has  rejected  you  ?  '' 
"  She  has.     I  proposed  to  her  in  a  letter,  and   she   returned  it  to  me  with  a 
note   reading  :  '  We  have  read  the  enclosed  M.S.  with  much  interest,  and  thank 
you  for  your  courtesy  in  sending  it.      It   is  rejected,  however,  as  we  have  already 
accepted  the  offer  of  a  contributor  who  wrote  us  upon  a  similar  theme.'  " 


Little  Willie — What's  a  cannibal,  pa  ? 

Pa  — One  who  loves  his  fellow  men,'  my'son. 


Prof.  George  Kirch wey.  Dean  of  Columbia  Law  School,  New  York,  besides 
being  a  lawyer  of  renown,  has  a  keen  and  incisive  wit.  At  one  of  his  recent  lec- 
tures the  students  were  uneasy.  There  was  something  wrong  in  the  air.  Books 
were  dropped,  chairs  were  pushed  along  the  floor,  there  were  various  interrup- 
tions, and  the  fierves  of  aU  were  evidently  on  edge.  The  members  of  the  class 
kept  their  eyes  on  the  clock  and  awaited  the  conclusion  of  the  lecture-h(nir.  The 
•clock  beat  the  professor'  by  perhaps  a  minute,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  sche- 
dule time  the  students  started  to  their  feet  and  prepared  to  leave.  But  Professor 
Kirchwcy  objected  "  VVait  a  minute,"  he  said.  "  Don't  go  just  yet.  I  have  a 
few  more  pearls  to  cast." 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  63 


LIITLE  JOHNNIE  ON  CREATION. 

I  SED  wnld  Uncle  Ned  tell  me  a  oiht  r  story  about  Addam  and  the  anmals,  and 
Uncle  Ned  he  thot  a  wile  and  bun.  b)  he  sed,  Uncle  Ned  did,  Johnny,  wen  o)" 
the  anmals  and  the  herds  and  the  fishes  and  the  crepin  things  and  the  kangaroon- 
appeared  be  fore  Addam  for  to  be  give  names  a  nice  wit^-hcdded  herd  it  come 
With  the  uthers.  It  looked  at  Addam  and  sed,  Mister,  wot  are  you  agoin  for  ta 
call  me  ? 

Addam  he  sed,  wot  are  yure  babbits  ? 

The  herd  sed,  Mity  reglar  ;  I  arise  with  the  sun  and  go  to  bed  wen  it  is  dark, 
and  Ijdon't  eat  nothin  only  but  jest  seeds. 

Jest  as  it  sed  it  it  see  a  long  red  werm  and  jumpt  on  to  it  and  et  it  up  in  a 
min)t  !     Then  Addam,  he  sed,  I  gess  He  call  you  a  Licr. 

'I'hat  made  the  herd  so  unhapy  that  it  tritd  for  to  beat  its  brains  out  aginst  a 
tre  till  its  head  was  covered  with  bleed,  and  it  keeps  up  the  pformance  to  this  da. 
'I'hat  herd  is  now  called  the  woodpecker,  cos  the  name  wich  Addam  give  it 
dident  distinguish  it  from  -a  yumin  being.  And  now,  Johnny,  h  iving  gave  you 
the  scientifficle  xplanation  of  how  the  woodpecker  come-*  to  have  a  red  hed,  like 
Missis  Doppy,  He  tell  you  about  the  dove,  wich  is  the  emblem  of  peece. 

One  day  Addam  he  was  wolkin  in  the  gardin  and  he  see  the  dove  a  sittin  on  a 
tre,  and  it  was  cooin  real  moarnfle,  like  its  hart  was  broke.  Thare  was  lots  of 
fethersunder  the  tre  and  Addam  knew  it  had  et  its  mate.  Addam,  he  said.  Poor 
little  feller,  whare  does  it  hurt  you  ? 

The  dove  it  sed,  I  have  lost  my  wife,  that's  whare  it  hurts  me. 

Addam  he  shuke  his  hed  real  mad  and  past  on,  but  ab(jut  a  hour  later  he 
come  that  way  agin  and  seen  the  dove.  It  was  all  dubbled  up  and  had  its 
wings  crost  on  the  stummick  of  its  belly  mity  sick,  cos  its  dinner  dident  agree 
with  it,  and  it  a  makin  doleful  sownds,  jest  like  it  did  before.  .Adam  he  sed. 
Wot  are  you  a  greefing  about  now  ?     Have  you  lost  yure  wife  agin  ? 

The  dove  i-t  sed,  Nosir,  it's  cos  I  have  found  her. 

Then  Addam  he  sed,  Vou  cantankerus  little  cus,  you  shal  groan  with  coUick 
for  ever,  and  evry  boddy  shall  bleeve  its  nuthing  only  but  jjst  cos  you.  have  lost 
yure  wife,  jest  as  you  sed.     So  yule  get  no  simpthy.  .  ' 

But  wen  Franky,  thats  the  baby,  has  got  it  mother  she  gives  him  cat  nip  te 
and  ginjer  and  pepmint  and  tabasko  sos  and  pain  kiler  and  perry  gorick  and 
mustard  and  burnt  brandy.  Then  the  dockter  he  comes  and  gives  him  a  emetick 
real  quick  and  ses,  Maddem,  you  saved  yure  chile's  life. 

I  sed  did  Uncle  Ned  kno  wot  makes  the  giraft  sech  a  long  necker,  and  he  sed, 
Yes,  I  doo.  The  giraft  is  jest  like  uther  anmals  wen  it  is  little,  but  it  is  mity  fond 
of  dates,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  weened  it  begins  for  to  eat  them  off  of  sech  yung 
trees  as  he  can  reatch  the  frute.  The  date  pom  it  goes  on  a  groin  and  the  gi 
he  goes  on  a  reatchin,  and  bimeby,  wen  his  boddy  has  got  as  tol  as  it  wil,  his 
neck  it  keeps  a  stretchin  and  a  stretchin  til  it  is  wot  you  behold.  It's  a  grate 
mercy  that  the  date  pom  stops  groin  some  time,  or  the  gi  that  is  a  sho  cuden't 
be  conseeled  by  a  tent  and  wuld  have  to  be  showed  in  a  church,  with  his  hed  up 
in  the  steple,  and  it  wuld  be  a  violent  religious  xercise  for  to  look  up  to  it. 

But  Mister  Pitchell,  thats  the  preecher,  he  ses  thecn  which  holds  thair  hed  hi 
shall  bile  the  dust,  and  the  loly  shall  be  insulted. 

I  ast  Uncle  Ned  wot  made  the  pig  have  a  curly  tail,  and  he  said,  Its  mighty 
curius    about  that,   Johnny.     One   lime  in  the  gardin  of  Edin  the  pig  he  was  a 


64  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


rcotin  round  and  he  see  a  apple  drop  from  a  apple  tree  and  he  made  off  for  to 
get  it.  But  Addam  he  std,  Hold  on  thare,  my  friend,  that  apples  mity  bad 
niedcine,  cos  I  kno  how  it  is  myself.  If  you  eat  that  you  wil  kno  g-  od  from  bad, 
and  yure  wife  wont  seem  haf  so  nice  to  you  as  she  did  before. 

But  the  pig  wudent  stop,  so  Addam  made  a  jump  and  ketched  him  by  the 
tail,  but  cudent  hold  him,  cos  the  tail  sHcked  out  of  his  hand.  So  Addam  he 
twisted  the  pigs  tail  around  his  finger  and  puld  him  bark  out  of  perril.  Then 
he  drew  his  finger  out  of  the  twist  and  the  pigs  tajl  has  been  curly  ever  since. 

But  if  me  and  Billy  had  ben  thare  we  wuld  hav  et  the  apple  and  give  the  core 
to  the  pore  pig,  for  the  Bible  it  ses  the  rijus  shal  not  be  forsook.  And  thats  wy 
A  say  a  man  is  knew  by  the  cumpny  wich  he  keeps. 

•Jack  Brily,  wich  is  the  wicked  sailor,  ses  one  time  him  and  the  captin  of  the 
-ship  and  th^  bosen  thay  went  a  shore  on  a  sabbage  iland  for  to  look  for  wotter. 
Wile  Jack  was  a  little  way  of  from  the  captin  and  the  bosen  the  natif  niggers 
thay  cetched  them  ftllers  and  took  them  a  way  after  sinkin  the  boat.  Next  day 
thay  seen  Jack  and  run  to  get  him  too,  but  Jack  he  stood  on  his  hed  and  made 
fritefle  mowths.  So  thay  sed  he  was  a  god,  and  led  him  to  thair  king  wich  shode 
him  grate  respekt  and  took  of  Jacks  close  and  had  him  painted  red  and  green  and 
yello  and  set  on  a  throne.  That  nite  the  king  sed  to  Jack,  We  have  made  a 
grate  feest  for  you,  the  nicest  pig  wich  you  ever  et. 

But  Jack  he  is  a  mity  suspishus  feller,  and  he  sed.  Us  gods  don't  eat  only  but 
just  evry  uther  day,  and  I  et  yestday  fore  I  come  ashore. 

So  thay  et  the  feest  ihemselfs,  and  nex  day  the  king  he  sed,  the  king  did,  We 
have  made  a  uther  feest  for  you. 

Jack  he  sed,  Wot  you  got  to  day,  captin  or  bosen  ? 

The  king  he  sed,  We  don't  raise  sich  things,  we  have  got  nice  stewd  horse. 

Jack  sed  to  hisself,  I  gess  it  is  all  rite,  and  set  down  to  the  stew,  cos  he  was 
mity  hungry.  Him  and  the  king  thay  took  big  wood  spoons  and  Jack  he  fisht 
around  in  the  stew  for  a  wile,  and  prety  soon  brot  up  a  piece  of  leiher  belt  and 
a  bras  finger  ring.  Then  he  leeped  to  his  feets  and  turned  a  han  spring  and  >eld 
terible  and  roled  his  eys  and  showted.  Rash  mortle  ! — horse  is  the  emperor  of 
meats,  but  how  dare  you  stew  it  with  the  harness  on  ?  Ketch  mca  rosted  munky, 
quick  as  you  can,  with  the  tail  attached,  or  lie  make  yure  nosegro  to  yure  hand  ! 

Jack  ses  he  staid  on  the  iland  five  years  and  was  fed  so  much  munky  that  wen 
he  escaped  to  a  ship  he  skamperd  up  the  riggin  and  leeped  from  mast  to  mast 
and  chaterd  srill. — Ambiose  Bierce,  in  the  Sunday  American. 


Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  is  a  kind,  good  man,  respected  by  the  people  of  Canada, 
and  deserves  the  gratit-ude  of  the  people  of  '1  oronto  for  his  many  benefactions 
to  the  poor  of  that  city  ;  but  he  furnishes  an  illustrious  and  striking  example  of 
the  fact  that  learning  fs  not  necessarily  synonymous  with  wisdom,  or  a  partial 
consciousness  of  the  fitness  of  things,  and  he  has  consequently  failed  to  accom- 
plish anything  for  which  posterity  will  specially  keep  his  memory  green.  —  6/. 
Thomas  Journal, 


Nothing  will  make  the  level  crossing  safe  except  its  abolition.  Frightened 
horses  will  charge  through  the  best  handled  gates  ;  street  cars  will  mount  the 
best  devised  obstructions  ;  vigilance  cannot  guard  against  the  carelessness  of  the 
prattling  child.  The  level  crossing  in  every  great  city  will  go  on  taking  its  toll 
of  lives  until  we  decree  its  death.  Its  abolition  may  cost  money,  but  the  lack 
of  it  will  cost  flesh  and  blood. — Montreal  Star. 


SECULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  M^r. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  3. 

TORONTO,  FEB.  11, 

1905. 

IOC.;  $2  per  ann. 

IRcductio  act  abeurctum^ 

:o: 

What  Is  that  you  say  ?  I  treat  holy  writ  with  scornful  deri- 
sion ?  I  certainly  do  not.  The  New  Testament  imbecilities 
are  not  holy  writ.  They  are  only  the  silly  marvel-mongering 
of  illiterates  for  illiterates.  They  stand  upon  the  ignorance 
and  prejudice  and  bigotry  of  the  centuries.  Not  one  of  them 
could,  in  the  light  of  to-day,  stand  for  a  moment  upon  its  own 
merits.      Does  nobody  else  dare  to  say  this?     Then  I  will. 

Priestcraft  has,  and  not  disinterestedly,  contrived  to  main- 
tain among  us  adults  till  this  hour  obscene  tales,  idiotic  bigotry, 
idiotic  legends,  and  barefaced  lies,  too  crudely  incredible  for  the 
fuirsery.  And  to  discuss  such  banalities  and  insanities  with 
grave  demeanor  and  erudite  convention  is  only  a  priestly  sub- 
terfuge for  maintaining  them.  No  one  knows  this  better  than 
the  priest.  The  indefensible  legends  and  lies  can  survive  grave 
and  erudite  volumes  laboriously  produced  to  expose  them,  but 
they  cannot  survive  derision. 

I  deny  not  that  staid,  restrained,  and  formal  volumes  of  anti- 
Christian  tendency  have  their  use,  but  one  bitter  jibe  of  Vol- 
taire, one  derisive  smile  of  Ingersoll,  is  worth  them  all.  A 
perverted  Christian  may  go  back  to  Christianity  after  he  has 
reasoned  against  it;  he  will  never  go  back  after  he  has  laughed 
at  it.  And  much  that  is  Christian  is  beneath  reason,  and  de- 
serves only  to  be  laughed  at. — Saladin  (IV,  Stewari  Ross), 


A  Christi.an  Miracle. — And  there  was  in  their  synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean 
spirit,  and  he  cried  out,  saying  :  Let  us  alone  ;  what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  .''  Art  tliou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  (iod.  And  Jesus  rebuked  him, -saying  :  Hold  thy  peace,  and  come  out 
of  him.     And  when  the  unclean  spirit  had  torn  him,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  he 

line  out  of  him.     And  they  were  all  amazed. — Mark  i  :  23-27. 


66  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 

EDITORIALS. 

THE  EDUCATION  QUESTION  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

Once  more  the  education  question  in  Canada  has  reached  a  stage  where 
the  Government  and  Parliament  have  to  face  the  problem  which  they 
had  to  grapple  with  when  the  Manitoba  School  Question  was  fought  out, 
resulting  in  the  great  victory  of  the  Grits  and  Liberals  under  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier.  The  problem  is  exactly  the  same — Shall  the  new  Provinces  be 
established  with  perfect  freedom  to  settle  their  educational  questions  in 
their  own  way,  or  shall  their  hands  be  tied  by  provisions  in  their  consti- 
tutions passed  by  the  Dominion  Parliament  in  the  interest  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  ? 

Although  many  of  our  friends  at  that  time  assured  us  that  our  esti- 
mate of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier's  character  was  at  fault,  it  seems  to  us  now 
that  it  was  not  far  astray.  He  certainly  talked  in  a  very  different  strain 
to  the  "  Liberals  "  in  Ontario  and  to  the  "  Liberals  "  in  Quebec- — the 
former  mainly  Protestants  and  the  latter  almost  entirely  Catholics — and 
each  of  these  parties  concluded  that  their  friend  Laurier  had  settled  for 
ever  in  their  favor  the  troublesome  education  question. 

It  could  not  have  been  expected,  however,  that  any  rational  settlement 
would  suit  both  of  them.  Politically  and  religiously  the  Ontario  Liberals 
seemed  to  have  won  ;  but  the  quiescent  attitude  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
led  some  of  us  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  an  understanding  with 
the  leaders  of  the  successful  party  that  the  Catholic  interests  would  be 
as  well  cared  for  as  if  the  Remedial  Bill  had  passed. 

The  Catholic  leaders  are  astute  and  patient  when  dealing  with  a  power- 
ful antagonist.  They  can  afford  to  wait.  They  know  that,  with  untiring 
vigilance  and  ample  means,  success  is  generally  within  their  grasp,  if 
only  they  are  not  too  anxiously  demonstrative.  And  in  the  Manitoba 
school  matter — barring  a  few  kicks  by  M.  Langevin — they  are  evidently 
fairly  well  satisfied  with  the  arrangements  entered  into. 

To-day,  however,  the  same  question  has  again  cropped  up.  The  North- 
west Territories  are  to  be  parcelled  off  into  new  Provinces,  and  in  the 
Dominion  Parliament  at  Ottawa  a  special  bill  is  now  under  discussion  to 
settle  the  constitution  and  powers  of  the  new  Legislatures.  The  attitude 
of  the  party  newspapers  on  the  question  shows  how  reckless  of  principles 
their  editors  are  when  discussing  measures  proposed  by  party  leaders. 

'*  Hands  off  Manitoba !  "  was  the  battle-cry  on  the  last  occasion,  and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  67 

the  sweeping  victory  gained  by  the  party  which  raised  that  cry  should 
be  a  warning  to  them  that,  though  they  have  a  large  majority,  a  reversal 
of  their  former  cry  may  ultimately  bring  a  merited  defeat. 

Yet  this  is  the  very  course  the  Ottawa  Government  are  now  pursuing. 
*'  Hands  off  Manitoba  !  "  meant  that  the  Province  was  to  be  left  to  settle 
its  educational  question  in  its  own  way.  A  "  Remedial  Bill  "  passed  by 
the  Dominion  Parliament  was  not  to  be  allowed  ;  and  the  minority  in 
Manitoba  must  in  this  matter  abide  the  result,  as  minorities  elsewhere 
have  to  do. 

The  new  bill  now  going  through  Parliament,  instead  of  leaving  the 
regulations  respecting  education  to  be  settled  by  the  Legislatures  of  the 
new  Provinces,  contains  clauses  sanctioning  the  establishment  of  Sepa- 
rate schools  ;  and  if  it  is  passed  and  not  vetoed  by  the  Governor-Gene- 
ral, the  new  Provinces  will  find  themselves  bound  to  a  system  they  w^ill 
be  unable  to  change  without  the  greatest  difficulty. 

THE  TORONTO  TELEGRAM  TO  THE  FRONT  ] 
We  are  very  glad  to  see  that  one  independent  newspaper  in  Toronto  is 
taking  a  rational  view  of  this  question.  The  Toronto  Telegram  quotes 
from  the  Orange  Sentinel  (explaining,  so  that  there  may  be  no  mistake, 
that  the  extract  is  not  from  the  Catholic  Register)  the  following  partisan 
liiid  illogical  presentation  of  the  case : 

"  It  is  not  certain  whetlier  tlie  people  of  the   Territories  and  their  representatives 

V>bject  to  having  Separate  scliools  fastened  upon  them.     There  has  been  no  organized 

or  official  protest  against  such  a  course,  ahhough  it  has  been  known  for  two  years  or 

more  that  the  danger  was  imminent.     This  makes  it  appear  that  the  people  inter- 

sted  are  satisfied.     If  tliat  is  the  case,  there  is  nothing  for  the  other  provinces  but  to 

u-quiesce  with  wliat  grace  they  may.     The  attitude  taken  in  1896  was  that  a  province 

hould  not  be  coerced.     It  is  strong  ground  still.     But  if  a.  province  should  not  be  co- 

rced  into  establishing  Separate  schools,  it  follows  that  it  should  not  be  coerced  into 

rejecting  Sep>arate  schools.     Consequently,  the  logical  position  for  Ontario  electors  is 

to  remain  silent  and  allow  the  measure  to  become  law,  if  the  Territories  are  satisfied." 

Whether  the  Territories  of  to-day  are  satisfied  or  not,  it  seems  clear 
that  the  proper  course  for  the  Ontario  and  all  other  Canadian  electoi's  to 
pursue  is  to  demand  that  the  Dominion  Parliament  shall  not  exceed 
its  authority,  or  hamper  future  generations  by  enacting  clauses  upon  a 
matter  in  which  the  new  Provinces  should  be  entirely  free.  To  be  silent 
while  their  representatives  are  voting  against  the  constitutional  riglits  of 


68  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

fdllow-Canadians  is  to  acquiesce  in  a  political  iniquity.    If  the  Provinces 
are  to  be  free  in  the  matter  of  education,  there  should  be 

No  Dominion    legislation  at  all  upon  the  subject. 
The  Telegram  makes  these  sensible  remarks  upon  the  extract : 

"The  Sentinel  misrepresents  D'Alton  McCarthy,  N.  Clarke  Wallace,  and  other  true 
men  living  and  dead  when  it  says  :  'The  attitude  taken  in  1896  was  that  a  province 
should  not  be  coerced.'  The  '  attitude  taken  in  1896'  was  represented  in  the  decla- 
ration '  Hands  Off  Manitoba  !' -  a  declaration  that  meant  no  Federal  interference 
with  the  provincial  right  to  set  up  or  tear  down  Separate  schools. 

"  '  The  attitude  taken  in  1896'  is  '  strong  ground  still,'  and  the  Orange  Sentinel  has 
simply  no  excuse  for  its  pretence  that  the  West  '  would  be  coerced  into  rejecting 
Separate  schools '  by  the  Ontario  members,  who  simply  ask  the  Dominion  Parliament 
to  mind  its  own  business  and  leave  the  whole  question  to  '  the  people  interested,'  who 
'  are  satisfied.' 

"  Ontario  does  not  ask  for  an  anti  Separate  school  clause  in  the  constitution  of  the 
new  province,  and  why  should  Ontario  take  the  Orange  Sentinel's  word  for  it  that '  the 
logical  position  for  Ontario  electors  is  to  remain  silent '  while  a  pro-Separate  school 
clause  is  being  voted  into  the  constitution  of  the  new  province  ?.  . . . 

"  The  Orange  Sentinel  betrays  its  complete  misunderstanding  of  the  protest  against 
Federal  interference  with  the  provincial  right  to  educational  liberty  when  it  says  : 
'  But  if  a  province  should  not  be  coerced  into  establishing  Separate  schools,  it  follows 
that  it  should  not  be  coerced  into  rejecting  Separate  schools.' 

"  What  could  be  more  utterly  unfair  and  untrue  than  the  Orange  Sent ineVs' sugges- 
tion that  Dr.  Sproule,  M.P.,  and  other  advocates  of  educational  liberty  are  trying  to 
coerce  a  province  '  into  rejecting  Separate  schools,'  when  they  are  merely  trying  to 
coerce  the  Dominion  Parliament  into  minding  its  own  business  ?  " 

And  to  the  Sentiners  contention  that,  '*  if  the  West  is  satisfied,  it  is 
the  logical  position  of  Ontario  electors  to  remain  silent  and  allow  the 
measure  to  become  law,"  it  replies  with  these  telling  sentences  : 

"  '  If  the  West  is  satisfied,'  then  leave  the  whole  question  to  the  West,  and  let  the 
Dominion  Parliament  keep  its  hands  off  the  rights  of  every  new  province. 

"  Whether  'the  West  is  satisfied  '  or  dissatisfied,  it  is  not  now  and  can  never  be 
'  the  logical  position  for  Ontario  electors  to  remain  silent  '  while  their  representatives 
at  Ottawa  '  allow  the  measure  to  become  law,' — in  other  words,  while  the  votes  of 
Ontario  are  being  used  to  substitute  Federal  tyi'anny  for  educational  freedom  in  the 
constitution  of  a  new  province." 

The  following  day  the  Toronto  Telegram  had  an  equally  effective  reply 
to  the  Toronto  Star,  which  had  copied  and  enlarged  upon  the  SentirieVs 
argument.  The  contention  that,  though  their  representatives  have  to 
vote  upon  the  proposed  measure,  the  Ontario  electors  should  not  inter- 
fere, is  the  argument  of  men  whose  moral  status  is  not  very  far  removed 
from  that  of  a  burglar  or  a  highwayman,  and  shows  what  little  reliance 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  69 

can  be  placed  upon  the  honor  or  honesty  of  men  who  are  prominent  in 
[Hirty  politics,  whether  as  editors  or  politicians. 

The  fallacy  underlying  the  use  of  the  term  "  coercion  "  is  not  made 
very  clear.  It  is  pretended  that  the  Dominion  Parliament  wishes  to 
protect  the  West  from  coercion,  but  who  will  coerce  the  West  if  she  is 
left  entirely  free  to  manage  her  own  schools  ?  The  West  of  to-day  may 
he  satisfied  to  let  the  innocent-looking  clauses  pass,  but  the  West  of  the 
future  may  find  itself  in  front  of  coercion  from  another  source — one 
tliat  never  has  and  never  will  have  any  scruple  about  using  any  means 
available  to  accomplish  its  ends, — and  then  the  innocent-looking  clauses 
will  be  used  as  a  real  weapon,  and  it  will  be  found  that  coercion  comes 
from  that  Liberal  party,  with  its  Catholic  and  Orange  partisans,  which 
has  forced  through  Parliament  legislation  on  a  subject  with  w^hich  it  has 
no  right  to  deal. 

THE  POPE  AND  THE  MANITOBA  SCHOOL  QUESTION, 

Those  who  imagined  that  the  Manitoba  school  question  had  been  set 
at  rest  finally  may  have  a  rude  awakening.  As  we  have  said  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  things  have  been  so  managed  that  practically  the 
schools  of  Manitoba  are  in  the  condition  that  was  supposed  to  have  been 
[♦rovided  against.  That  is  to  say,  the  Church  has  been  allowed  to  con- 
trol a  large  number  of  schools,  and  to  employ  unqualified  **  brothers" 
and  "sisters  "  as  teachers,  with  priests  in  charge — realizing  Separate 
bchoois,  teaching  religion,  fully  supported  out  of  the  public  funds. 

And  now  the  bishops,  backed  by  the  Pope,  are  demanding  Separate 
schools  for  the  new  Provinces.  Here  is  an  interesting  telegram  from 
Montreal  to  the  Toronto  Star  : 

"  The  Catholic  clergy  of  the  Territories,  who  are  almost  exclusively  secular  priests 
trained  at  the  Montreal  seminary,  or  priests  of  the  Oblate  Order,  which  has  its  head- 
quarters in  this  city,  will  take  the  stand  that  there  must  be  Separate  schools  in  the 
new  Provinces.  The  influence  that  the  clergy  here  has  over  the  younger  clergy  in 
the  West  renders  it  possible  to  secure  the  exact  attitude  of  the  latter,  which  was  made 
])lain  by  a  n^ember  of  the  Oblate  Order  who  has  been  serving  in  the  West,  and  who 
told  your  correspondent  to-day  that  it  was  at  the  express  desire  of  his  Holiness  the 
Pope  that  draiyht  sepa.ate  schools  would  be  exacted. 

"  The  late  Pope,  he  said,  had  asked  the  Archbishops  of  Canada  to  keep  on  fighting 
for  Separate  schools  in  Manitoba  till  they  were  secured  ;  and  nothing  would  be  left 

undone  to  have  a  distinct  understanding  from  the  start  in  the  new  Provinces The 

Canadian  bishops,  who  are  almost  controlled  by  the  large  representation  from  the 
province  of  Quebec,  expect  they  will  have  the  support  of  the  Lauricr  (Government  in 
their  endeavor  to  secure  the  Separate  schools." 


70  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

A  large  section  of  the  population  of  Manitoba  as  well  as  of  the  West  is 
Catholic,  but  there  is  also  a  large  proportion  of  Jews,  with  many  com- 
munities of  Doukhobors,  Galicians,  Italians,  and  other  Europeans,  and 
if  one  section  of  the  community  is  allowed  to  have  Separate  schools,  the 
same  privilege  could  not  justly  be  denied  to  the  others. 

Of  course,  all  these  sects  may  establish  schools  to  teach  their  special 
religious  notions,  but  the  Catholics  want  to  do  this  at  the  public  cost. 
They  contend  that  religion — their  religion — is  an  essential  part  of  a  good 
education,  and  that  priestly  control  of  education  is  therefore  necessar  y 

In  our  view,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  evil  effects  of  a  religiojus. 
education.  To  say  that  sectarian  creeds  and  dogmas  can  be  taught  so 
as  to  include  the  **  great  postulates  of  vital  Christianity — the  Brother- 
hood of  Man  and  the  Fatherhood  of  God,"  which  Goldwin  Smith  loves 
to  dwell  upon, — is  the  height  of  absurdity. 

If  creeds  and  dogmas  are  not  worth  fighting  for — well,  why  so  much 
of  the  fighting?  Men  figjht  for  what  they  believe  to  be  true  and  valu- 
able ;  and  while  men  think  creeds  are  all-important,  they  will  naturally 
look  upon  opponents  as  necessarily  wicked  and  fit  for  extermination.  To 
pursue  a  different  course  would  be  to  enact  a  criminal  code  without  pro- 
cess of  law  or  penalties.  The  Catholics  at  least  have  never  been  quite 
so  idiotic  as  this. 

Nominally,  our  Canadian  Government  has  no  more  to  do  with  main- 
taining religion  than  it  has  to  do  with  supporting  Theosophy,  Christian 
Science,  or  Secularism.  In  reality,  such  is  the  unscrupulousness  and 
power  of  the  modern  followers  of  Jesus,  that  every  Government  is  com- 
pelled to  grant  some  privileges  and  exemptions  to  all  the  large  religious 
bodies — spiritual  backsheesh.  Only  a  short  time  ago,  it  was  complained 
that  the  Methodist  body  had  not  been  sufficiently  considered  in  appoint- 
ments to  the  Senate  and  to  the  public  offices.  Surely  men  who  would 
make  such  complaints  can  have  but  a  faint  notion  of  what  **  religion  " 
should  be.  Imagine  Jesus  and  his  apostles  struggling  for  an  appoint- 
ment on  the  Sanhedrin  or  for  the  office  of  "  publican  1  " 

The  Catholics,  we  know,  have  an  unanswerable  argument  against  the 
Public  school,  in  which  knowledge  and  not  religion  is  taught.  It  is  dan- 
gerous to  teach  to  children  the  alleged  truths  of  modern  science^  for 
many  of  them  are  opposed  to  the  divine  truths  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
therefore  only  such  matters  as  are  approved  by  some  competent  Catholic 
authority  should  be  taught  in  the  schools.  School  knowledge  is  opposed 
to  theological  faith,  therefore  it  is  outraging  our  church  to  teach  facts  of 


SECULAE   THOUGHT.  71 

science  or  history,  or  give  examples  of  literature  and  art,  opposed  to  our 
creeds  and  dogmas.  And  if  it  is  the  business  of  the  Government  to 
support  the  Catholic  faith,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  would  be 
bound  to  obey  the  instructions  of  the  hierarchy. 

Unquestionably,  the  Laurier  Government  owes  its  continued  lease  of 
power  to  the  overwhelming  vote  cast  in  its  favor  by  the  Catholic  electors 
of  Canada,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  its  pledges  to  the  hierarchy 
in  return  for  their  support  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  lead  to  the  disrup- 
tion of  the  Canadian  Public  school  system. 

While  France,  Italy,  and  Spain  are  making  great  strides  towards  free- 
dom from  ecclesiastical  control,  Canada  and  the  United  States  seem  to 
be  slowly  sinking  into  the  clutehes  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  bigots. 

It  certainly  will  be  a  monstrous  joke  if  it  is  found  that,  while  France, 
lately  the  stronghold  of  the  Papacy,  is  turning  out  the  congregations 
that  have  largely  controlled  the  education  of  the  French  people,  and  is 
inaugurating  a  rational  system  of  public  instruction,  the  Pope  is  rapidly 
becoming  the  dictator  of  Canada  in  this  all-important  matter. 

SEPAEATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  FRANCE. 

The  defeat  of  the  late  Combes  Cabinet  in  France  by  no  means  ends 
the  anti-clerical  programme  of  the  French  Liberals.  A  despatch  from 
Paris  of  February-  II  announces  that  the  new  Premier,  M.  Rouvier,  has 
introduced  a  bill  into  the  Chamber  providing  for  the  complete  separation 
of  Church  and  State,  and  that  the  Chamber,  b}'  an  overwhelming  vote, 
decided  to  commence  its  debate  immediately  after  the  discussion  of  the 
budget  and  the  military  estimates.  This  is  interpreted  as  meaning  that 
the  measure,  with  possibly  some  modifications,  will  certainly  pass. 

The  clerical  party^'s  representative,  Abbe  Gayraud,  has  stated  that  the 
party  is  willing  to  accept  the  measure,  which  is  said  only  to  need  some 
ad-dition  to  secure  complete  religious  freedom  under  the  new  regime  and 
to  avert  some  hardships  which  might  attend  the  abandonment  of  a  sys- 
tem which  has  existed  for  centuries,  to  make  it  acceptable  to  almost  all 
parties. 

Whe«  tliis  measure  is  jmssed,  France  will  occupy  the  proud  position 
of  leader  in  tlie  van  of  civilized  nations.  It  will  he  the  only  country 
which  has  entirely  and  deliberately  freed  itself  fixDUi  priestly  control.  It 
will  be  the  Banner  Land  of  Freedom.  And  it  will  be  a  land  where  no 
priest  is  allowed  to  distwt  the  minds  of  its  Public  school  children. 


72  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 
The  current  "  evidences  "  put  forward  in  favor  of  Christian  dogmas 
form  an  index  to  the  changes  that  are  taking  place  in  Christian  beliefs, 
if  not  among  the  unintelligent  masses,  at  all  events  among  those  who 
to  some  degree  are  tinctured  with  the  lessons  of  modern  knowledge  and 
investigation.  A  week  or  two  ago,  Canon  P.  Stokes,  of  Yale  Universit}-, 
preached  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Montreal,  and  gave  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  changes  that  have  come  over  the  Christian  apologist  dur- 
ing the  last  few  decades.  Speaking  of  modern  doubt,  he  said  that  the 
old  arguments  for  Christianit}^  hardly  satisfied  the  modern  mind.  He 
is  quite  correct  here  ;  but  we  have  plenty  of  ancient  minds  among  us 
still,  and  though  these  may  reject  the  mostly  miraculous  evidences  once 
boldly  set  forth  by  our  ghostly  fathers,  they  are  still  led  by  evidences 
not  a  whit  more  rational,  though  not  so  baldly  absurd  and  barbarous. 
Here  are  the  arguments  Prof.  Stokes  thinks  will  suit  the  modern  mind  : 

"  Formerly  men  were  asked  to  believe  on  the  ground  that  Christ  fulfilled  prophecy 
and  wrought  miracles.  To-day  the  argument  centres  less  in  what  Christ  did  than  in 
what  he  was.  In  clear  and  convincing  fashion  the  Canon  developed  four  lines  of 
testimony  to  the  divinity  of  Christ  :  i,  His  own  claims  to  be  the  Messiah;  2,  the 
authoritative  fashion  in  which  he  announced  his  message  ;  3,  his  sinless  character  ; 
and  4,  the  impression  he  produced  upon  his  generation." 

Naturally  enough,  though  a  college  professor.  Canon  Stokes  made  no 
reference  to  the  manifest  fact  that  no  possible  evidence  would  prove  the 
"  divinity  "  of  Jesus  or  of  any  other  son  of  a  woyaan  ;  ard  it  need  hardly 
be  said  that,  to  be  of  any  evidential  value,  his  "  four  testimonies  to  the 
divinity  of  Christ  "  should  each  be  strong  enough  to  prove  the  divinity, 
or  he  is  trying  to  make  an  unbreakable  chain  out  of  four  broken  links — 
a  common  Christian  evidence  contrivance. 

When,  formerly,  men  took  the  preacher's  word  for  both  the  prophecies 
and  their  fulfilment,  and  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  the  actuality  of  miracles, 
it  was  easy  to  convince  them  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  or  Buddha,  or  Joss. 
Any  preacher's  rope  of  sand  was  strong  enough  for  their  stunted  brains. 
And  men  who  will  accept  the  Canon's  four  testimonies  as  involving  any- 
thing supernatural  or  "divine"  will  be  equally  ready  to  accept  the  next 
similar  set  when  these  are  exploded.  The  sligl>test  intelligent  considera- 
tion, however,  will  show  their  utterly  untenable  character. 

Numberless  men  in  both  ancient  and  modern  times  have  claimed  to  be 
**  the  Messiah."  We  nineteenth  centaryites  have  had  at  least  a  score  of 
Mahdis,  besides  a  multitude  of  Piggotts  and  Teeds^  in  the  Eastern   and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  73 

Western  worlds,  without  mentioning  such  representatives  of  divinity  as 
Blavatsky  and  Eddy,  Dowie  and  Booth,  etc.;  and  of  those  which  one  has 
failed  to  announce  his  or  her  message  in  an  authoritative  manner? 

Who  shall  say  that  any  one  of  these  is  more  sinful  than  Jesus  ?  If 
Blavatsky  sips  brandy  and  smokes  tobacco,  is  that  more  sinful  than 
making  wine  for  a  feast  and  drinking  it  ?  If  Teed  keeps  a  harem,  is  that 
more  sinful  than  consorting  with  Magdalens  ?  If  Piggott  drives  to  his 
temple  in  a  coach  with  a  pair  of  high-steppers,  is  he  more  sinful  than  he 
who  rode  into  Jerusalem  on  "  an  ass  and  the  foal  of  an  ass?" 

Why  should  **  divine  "  persons  want  to  ride  on  horseback  or  assback 
or  in  carriages?  Do  they  become  tired,  like  common  mortals?  If  so, 
wherein  lies  their  divinity  ?  Is  it  to  prove  their  divinity  ?  Would  they 
be  less  divine  if  they  walked?  Certainly,  if  Apollo,  instead  of  riding  on 
the  sun,  had  driven  into  Athens  on  the  back  of  a  donkey,  he  might  not 
have  secured  many  followers.     But  who  can  tell  ? 

And  if  all  mankind  are  guilty  of  **  original  sin,"  was  not  Jesus,  on  his 
human  side,  as  much  a  sinner  as  any  other  son  of  Adam  ?  Or  is  he  to 
be  a  man  now  and  a  god  then — human  and  divine  alternately,  a  sort  of 
divinity  sandwich  or  layer-cake — to  suit  the  needs  of  the  apologist  ? 

Then,  finally,  we  are  asked  to  accept  "  the  impression  he  produced 
upon  his  generation  "  as  evidence  of  his  divinity  !  Surely  Canon  Stokes 
has  8lip|)ed  a  cog  here.  The  chief  Christian  difficulty  is  to  prove  that 
Jesus  ever  lived,  let  alone  any  question  as  to  "  the  impression  he  pro- 
duced upon  his  generation."  Certain  it  is  that  nothing  reliable  can  be 
brought  forward  to  prove  that  Jesus  himself  exercised  any  influence  of 
importance.  Utterly  unknown  outside  of  Palestine,  even  the  Gospels — 
our  only  source  of  information — do  not  assert  that  he  did  more  than 
collect  a  few  crowds,  like  Wesley  or  Whitfield.  Mrs.  Eddy  has  had  an 
immensely  greater  influence  upon  the  world  than  had  Jesus  in  his  gene- 
ration ;  and  Joseph  Smith's  following  has  to-day  a  far  better  prospect  of 
becoming  a  controlling  force  in  United  States  politics  than  the  following 
of  Jesus  had  of  capturing  the  Roman  world  for  more  than  three  cen- 
turies, as  far  as  present  knowledge  enables  us  to  judge. 

If  Jesus  really  lives  and  reigns,  it  is  a  pity  he  does  not  inspire  his 
pulpit  defenders  with  some  arguments  that  might  appeal  to  intelligent 
men,  even  if  it  be  impossible  for  him  to  submit  any  facts  that  would 
influence  us.  Compared  with  Eddyites,  Canon  Stokes  may  appear  to  be 
j-ensible;  liis  arguments,  however,  are  not  a  whit  more  logical  than  the 
utterances  of  his  more  noisy  and  more  illiterate  fellow-preachers. 


74  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


FAKE  MESSAGES  FEOM  THE  DEAD. 
A  telegram  fiom  London  tells  us  of  the  failure  of  an  "  experiment" 
made  by  the  Psychical  Research  Society  in  the  above  line : 

"  Failure  of  extraordinary  efforts  to  establish  communication  between  the  living 
and  the  dead  is  frankly  recorded  in  the  current  issue  of  the  Journal  of  the  Psychical 
Research  Society.  The  late  Frederick  Myers  some  years  before  his  death  handed  a 
sealed  envelope  to  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  with  the  intention  of  communicating  the  contents 
to  Sir  Oliver  beyond  the  grave.  Sir  Oliver  placed  the  envelope  in  a  bank  and  awaited 
events. 

"  Some  time  after  Mr.  Myers'  death,  a  woman  developed  a  gift  of  automatic  writing 
and  alleged  she  had  received  a  communication  from  the  dead  man  giving  the  con- 
tents of  the  envelope.  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  then  decided  to  open  the  envelope,  and  a 
meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Council  was  called.  The  automatic  writer  first 
recorded  the  message  she  alleged  she  had  received  from  the  supposed  spirit  of  Myers. 
Then  the  envelope  was  opened,  but  it  was  found  there  was  no  resemblance  between 
the  actual  contents  and  the  alleged  communication  through  the  medium." 

No  one  outside  of  a  Spiritalistic  or  a  Theosophical  society  would  have 
expected  the  "  experiment "  to  turn  out  otherwise  than  it  did,  and  it  is 
surprising  that  Sir  Oliver  allowed  his  envelope  to  be  opened  at  all,  for, 
judging  from  all  similar  "  co.nmunications"  that  we  have  seen,  the  work 
of  the  medium  must  have  contained  internal  witness  to  its  falsity. 

Now,  however,  that  the  fated  envelope  has  been  opened  and  its  con- 
tents have  become  known,  no  doubt  numbers  of  mediums — who  c^n,  of 
course,  easily  be  proved  to  have  had  no  means  of  finding  out  what  was 
in  Mr.  Myers'  envelope — will  be  receiving  messages  from  the  dead  man 
more  or  less  resembling  it.  Possibly  ^  very  sensitive  medium  may  at 
length  secure  a  verbatim  copy  :  and  possibly,  also,  innumerable  dupes 
will  joyfully  accept  the  evidence  of  these  fakers  as  proof  that  they  them- 
selves will  be  all  alive  when  they  are  dead  and  buried. 

We  need  not  dogmatize  on  this  matter.  All  we  are  waiting  for  is  that 
one  little  bit  of  fact  that  Ingersoll  used  to  ask  for  ;  and  the  longer  we 
live  the  less  likely  to  reach  us  seems  that  one  little  bit  of  fact.  If  there 
ever  was  a  case,  however,  in  which  there  should  have  been  a  message 
from  the  dead,  this  was  the  case.  Myers  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
Spiritualists  in  the  world,  and  if  his  shade  cannot  find  means  to  com- 
municate with  his  old  friends,  then  it  must  be  "  all  day  and  good-by  " 
for  less  developed  spirits.     Still,  who  dares  to  prophesy  ? 

Our  friend  Mad  Murdock  had  a  vision  lately  of  a  journey  to  heaven. 
The  scene  was  all  so  bright  and  clear  and  beautiful  and  real  that  to-day, 
standing  in  the  broad  daylight  with  the  thermometer  marking  10  below 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  75 

zero,  he  does  not  like  to  swear  that  the  journey  was  not  a  real  one. 
Who  shall  presume  to  deny  its  reality  ? 

One  of  the  strangest  features  of  these  Theosophical  and  Spiritualistic 
claims  is  the  fact  that,  if  they  were  true,  not  only  would  the  offices  of 
detective  and  judge  soon  hecome  unnecessary,  but  social  life  would  be 
impossible.  The  seven  seals  would  be  broken  and  the  day  of  judgment 
would  be  here. 

Then  look  at  the  comical  aspect  of  the  matter.  You  may  imagine  the 
condition  of  things  that  would  arise  if,  sitting  beside  a  ladv  friend  with 
a  patent  X-ray  apparatus  in  your  pocket,  you  could  examine,  not  only 
her  clothing,  but  her  whole  body  even  to  the  marrow  of  her  bones  !  But 
this  would  be  nothing  to  what  would  happen  if  you  could  read  her  mind. 
Fancy  a  merchant  receiving  a  telepathic  message  from  a  friend  who  had 
the  power  of  reading  the  mind  oi  a  merchant  who  had  goods  to  sell ! 
Fancy  Admiral  Rojestvensky  being  able  to  read  Admiral  Togo's  mind  ! 
And  if  Oyama  could  know  Kuropatkin's  designs,  what  would  become  of 
the  spy  and  the  balloon  and  the  reconnaissance  enforce  ?  What,  indeed, 
would  become  of  the  whole  human  outfit  ? 

Yet  most  preachers  of  the  "  occult  sciences  '*  treat  it  as  simply  a 
matter  of  common  know^ledge  that  "  telepathy  "  and  "  mind-reading  " 
are  as  well-established  facts  as  the  production  of  electric  power ! 

EDUCATION  IN  WALES. 

There  seems  every  probability  that  under  the  provisions  of  the  British 
Education  Act  of  1902  the  Welsh  language  will  become  the  leading  lan- 
guage of  the  Welsh  schools.  The  Act  authorizes  the  formation  of  a 
Council  of  Education  for  Wales,  with  authority  to  control  education 
largely  independent  of  the  London  Board,  and  the  upshot  will  probably 
be  that  the  supervision  of  the  latter  body  will  become  of  a  merely  per- 
functory character.  At  a  recent  special  meeting  of  the  County  Council 
of  Carnarvon,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  M.P.,  moved  to  create  a  Welsh  Council 
of  Education  under  the  Act;  and  immediately  afterwards  the  Education 
Committee  for  the  county  met  and  adopted  some  drastic  elianges  in  the 
character  of  the  school  education.  The  Welsh  language  is  to  be  substi- 
tuted for  English  entirely  in  the  lowest  grades,  both  languages  being 
taught  side  by  side  in  the  higher  grades.  The  scheme  says  :  *'  English 
is  to  be  taught  in  the  direct  method,  like  any  other  foreign  lanpuae/e  /  " 

Well,  we  suppose  our  Welsh  friends  know  their  own  business  best ; 
and  certainly,  not  being  Welsh — at  least  only  in  a  very  distant  degree — 
we  can  hardly  appreciate  the  '*  patriotism,"  or  whatever  otlier  sentiment 
it  may  be,  that  induces  these  Welsh   enthusiasts  to  hark  back  to  raedi- 


76  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 


aeval  times.  It  is  lui fortunate  that  in  this  case,  as  in  most  others  in 
educational  matters,  the  real  sufferers — the  children — can  have  no  choice 
in  the  matter.  That  they  should  be  deprived  of  all  the  advantages  of  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  language  whicli  must  be  of  the  greatest  value 
to  them  both  commercially  and  aesthetically,  or  only  get  such  a  smatter- 
ing of  it  as  boys  get  of  Latin  or  German  in  an  English  school,  is  a  mis- 
fortune that  no  doubt  many  of  them  will  live  bitterly  to  regret.  They 
will,  however,  like  many  others,  have  to  begin  their  real  education  after 
they  leave  school. 

It  may  be  that  the  present  movement  has  its  impulse  in  the  idea  that 
Welsh  was  the  original  Garden  of  Eden  language.  A  similar  idea  pre- 
vails also  in  regard  to  the  Basque,  Gaelic,  Hebrew,  and  other  languages. 
Why  not  preserve  them  all,  as  well  as  Hottentot  and  Timbuctoo  dialects  ? 

TO  ABOLISH  WAK— ABOLISH   CHEISTIANITY. 

In  his  address  of  welcome  to  the  International  Peace  Congress  re- 
cently, Secretary  Hay  said  he  agreed  with  Tolstoi  that  religion  was  the 
remedy  for  war.  In  view  of  the  world's  history,  it  seems  a  strange  as- 
sertion to  make.  Religion  has  been  the  cause  of  more  wars  than  all 
other  causes  combined.  Of  course,  the  Secretary  meant  the  Christian 
religion,  and  yet  to-day  the  most  aggressively  warlike  nations  of  the 
world  are  so-called  Christian  nations.  These  are  the  nations  that  burden 
themselves  with  armies  of  soldiery  and  expend  millions  upon  millions  of 
money  to  create  naval  monsters  of  destruction,  largely  as  a  matter  of 
defence  against  each  other. 

Certainly,  looking  to  the  past  and  the  present  condition  of  affairs,  and 
the  warlike  attitude  of  Christian  nations,  it  does  not  seem  sane  and  rea- 
sonable to  claim  that  the  Christian  religion  is  the  remedy  for  war. 

With  far  greater  reason  could  the  claim  be  made  for  Buddhism  as  the 
religion  of  peace. 

In  view  of  the  church's  bloody  history,  it  would  almost,  if  not  quite, 
seem  that  the  proper  and  direct  way  to  abolish  war  would  be  to  abolish 
the  Christian  religion. — Progressive  Thinker, 

CHRISTIANITY'S  FOUR  PRIVILEGED  MIRACLES. 

The  Rev.  Prebendary  Whit  worth,  in  an  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Ccn- 
tnn/,  gives  up  all  the  Bible  miracles  except  four — the  Virgin  Birth,  the 
Incarnation,  the  Resurrection,  and  the  Ascension.  Of  these  he  says  : 
"  If  all  the  miracles,  with  the  exception  of  the  privileged  four,  were  blotted 
out  of  the  gospel  records,  Christianity  would  still  remain  v  ha'  it  is  ;  but 
if  belief  in  the  Incarnation  and  in  the  Resurrection  were  surrendered, 
Christianity  would  be  overthrown."  So  that,  while  Goldwin  Smith  thinks 
that  '*  vital  Christianity"  can  get  along  without  any  miracles,  Mr.  Whit- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  77 

worth  thinks  it  would  he  overthrown  if  men  ceased  to  helie%'e  that  the 
Infinite  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe  "  came  down"  and  was  miracu- 
lously horn  of  a  virgin  ;  that  he  lived  for  thirty  years  as  an  ordinary 
man  ;  that  he  was  then  crucified,  died,  was  huried,  and  went  to  hell ; 
that  he  Rose  From  the  Dead  and  Ascended  to  Heaven,  where  he  sitteth 
at  the  right  hand  of — himself,  etc. ;  from  w^hich  coign  of  vantage  he  now 
directs  human  affairs  with  such  wisdom  and  success  that,  while  Jap  and 
Russ  are  engaged  in  deadly  combat,  covering  Manchuria  with  bleaching 
skeletons  and  filling  Japan  and  Russia  with  widows  and  orphans,  the 
Rev.  Prebendary  Whitworth  draws  a  handsome  salary  for  preaching  and 
])rofe8sing  to  believe  a  lot  of  rubbish  that  a  baboon  might  scout.  In 
our  view,  a  man  who  will  accept  one  miracle  and  thinks  he  has  reason 
to  reject  all  others,  is  little  short  of  a  drivelling  idiot  or  a  fraud. 


Cbriet  an&  Cbriatianiti^* 


'LETTER    TO    A    CLERGYMAN    BY    B.    F.    UNDERWOOD. 

Rev.  H.  H.  B .     My  Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  kind  letter,  I  have  to 

say  that  my  views  as  to  Christ  and  Christianity  are  unchanged. 

Your  statements  are  my  reason  and  excuse  for  propounding  to  you  a  few 
questions.  Are  you  willing  to  judge  the  Bible  by  the  same  rules  of  historical 
criticism  by  which  you  judge  other  ancient  works? 

When  you  read  Herodotus,  Xenophon,  Livy,  or  Tacitus,  do  you  not,  whi'e 
accepting  their  common  narratives,  reject  as  fabulous  and  false  every  statement 
that  is  plainly  of  a  miraculous  character?  And  knowing  the  tendency  to 
exaggeration  in  ancient  times,  do  you  not  make  allowance  for  it,  even  when  you 
read  of  events  which,  although  possible  in  the  order  of  nature,  are  of  a  very  ex- 
ceptional or  extraordinary  character  ? 

Why  shouid  not  the  gospels  be  read  in  the  same  way  ?  Because  you  believe 
on  the  testimony  of  Livy  that  Rome  was  governed  by  consuls,  do  you  accept  as 
correct  the  statement  of  the  same  author  respecting  the  gap  appearing  in  the 
Roman  forum,  and  suddenly  closing  when  the  gods  were  appeased  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  Curtius? 

Because  it  is  not  improbable  that  an  individual  named  Jesus  o*ice  lived  and 
was  put  to  death,  -does  it  follow  that  we  must  believe  he  was  born  miraculously, 
rose  from  the  dead,  and  appeared  to  his  disciples  ? 

Thousands  of  persons  now  living  testify  that  they  see  and  talk  with  departed 
spirits — their  former  friends  and  acquaintances  on  earth.  You  do  not  believe 
these  statements.     You  think  the  parties  dishonest  or  deceived. 

How  can  you  reject  the  testimony  of  so  large  a  number  of  living  men  and 
women,  including  several  of  your  most  respectable  neighbors,  when  they  say 


78  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


they  see  their  deceased  friends,  and  yet  believe  that  a  man  rose  from  the  dead 
and  appeared  bodily  to  his  acquaintances,  1800  years  ago,  when  your  only  proof 
is  the  statement  of  a  few  obscure  individuals  of  whom  you  know  nothing? 

Would  you  believe  a  man  if  he  claimed  to  write  by  divine  inspiration  now  ? 
If  you  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  he  possessed  a  reputation  for 
veracity,  would  you  believe  his  claim  ?  Evidently  not.  Then  why  do  you 
believe  that  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John  wrote  by  divine  inspiration  ? 

Would  you  believe  now  that  a  married  woman  was  the  mother  of  a  child  that 
had  no  earihly  father,  simply  on  the  statement  of  the  husband  that  he  was  not 
the  father,  and  that  he  had  dreamed  its  existence  was  due  to  the  agency  of 
supernatural  power  ? 

If  not,  why  believe  in  the  miraculous  origin  of  Jesus,  on  the  statement  of  some 
old  writers  who  tell  us  that  Joseph  dreamed  his  wife's  pregnancy  was  the  result 
of  divine  interposition  ? 

Would  you  believe  the  physical  resurrection  of  an  individual,  to-day,  on  the 
testimony  of  a  number  of  intelligent  and  honest  men?  Would  you  not  believe 
rather  that  there  was  some  illusion  or  deception  in  the  matter? 

Why  believe  that  Jesus  rose  physically  from  the  dead,  when  you  have  only 
the  statements  of  some  unknown  individuals,  especially  when  none  of  them 
claim  that  they  saw  him  come  out  of  the  sepulchre,  when  none  of  them  (with 
one  exception,  if  the  last  chapter  of  John  be  genuine,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of 
the  best  biblical  scholars)  claim  to  have  seen  him  in  the  flesh  after  his  death, 
and  when  they  wrote  in  an  age  and  among  people  notorious  for  superstitions — 
for  belief  in  miraculous  births  and  the  reappearance  of  the  dead— and  when,  too, 
the  authors  evidently  wrote  many  years  after  the  date  of  the  alleged  event  ? 

If  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament  were  performed,  and  their  object  was  to 
furnish  evidence  of  the  divine  character  and  mission  of  Jesus,  both  to  that  and 
succeeding  generations,  why  were  they  not  ^brought  before  critical  and  discrimi- 
nating minds,  before  men  capable  of  judging  as  to  their  character,  and  who  were 
writing  history  for  posterity  ? 

Is  it  not  very  strange  that  neither  Philo-Judaes,  who  lived  in  the  time  of 
Jesus,  nor  Josephus,  who  lived  a  generation  later,  make  any  allusion  to  the 
alleged  miracles  of  Jesus,  especially  when  each  gives  a  tediously  minute  account 
of  the  events  of  those  days  ?  And  why  is  no  mention  of  those  miracles  made  by 
the  Roman  historians,  who  likewise  gave  us  accounts  of  their  times,  in  which  the 
wonderful  events  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  are  said  to  have  occurred  ? 

If  the  profane  writers  of  the  first  centuries  did  mention  any  of  the  alleged 
miracles  of  Jesus,  why  were  not  some  of  those  writers  quoted  by  the  fathers  of 
the  following  centuries  in  their  disputes  with  the  pagans,  who  denied  the  super- 
natural character  of  Jesus  ? 

Is  not  the  fact  that  the  "  Christian  Fathers  "  forged  and  fabricated  evidence  by 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  79 


interpolating  spurious  passages  into  the  works  of  Josephus,  Phlegon,  and  other 
writers,  and  by  manufacturing  such  evidence  as  the  correspondence  between 
Christ  and  Abgarus,  Paul  and  Seneca,  pretty  good  proof  that  no  genuine  evidence 
could  be  found  ? 

Is  not  the  historical  silence  of  Jewish  and  pagan  authors  of  the  first  and 
second  centuries  respecting  the  pretended  miracles  of  Christ  utterly  inexplicable 
upon  the  supposition-  that  the  miracles  actually  occurred,  and  were  performed 
before  intelligent  men  ? 

Is  not  the  fact  that  Christians  of  the  fourth,  fifth  and  succeeding  centuries 
destroyed  the  infidel  writings  that  appeared,  including  those  of  Celsus,  Porphyry 
and  Julian  presumptive  proof  that  they  contained  facts  and  arguments  which 
were  damaging  to  the  claim  of  Christianity  ? 

If  an  individual  had  a  case  in  a  court  of  law,  and  it  were  found  he  had 
destroyed  documentary  evidence  touching  his  claim,  would  there  not  be  reason 
for  the  belief  that  the  evidence,  if  it  could  be  recovered,  would  be  likely  to  in- 
validate or  very  much  modify  the  claim  ?     You  can  apply  the  illustration.    . 

By  giving  some  thought  to  these  questions,  and  by  answering  the  same  when 
convenient  for  you  to  do  so,  you  will  oblige,  Yours  truly, 

B,  F.  Underwood. 
— Pros[ressive  Thinker, 


THE  DAILY  GRIND. 


My  son,  when  you  speak  of  the  work  you  do,  there's  something  to  keep  in  mind  ; 
No  matter  how  little  it  pleases  you,  don't  call  it  "the  daily  grind." 
Don't  tell  of  the  tasks  that  you  dislike,  nor  grumble  at  sorry  fate  — 
Tliere  never  was  work  set  to  our  hands  that  we  had  a  right  to  hate  ; 
It  isn't  the  work  ;  it  isn't  the  hire  ;  nor  toiling  from  sun  to  sun 
That  counts  in  the  eyes  of  them  who  see— it's  "  how  is  the  labor  done  ?  " 
As  soon  as  you  say  it's  a  daily  grind,  that  moment  you  hate  your  work, 
That  moment  the  imp  of  indolence  shows  you  how  you  well  may  shirk  ; 
That  moment  you  lose  all  your  good  intent  ;  that  moment  you  ought  to  quit, 
For  the  work  that  you  do  is  a  friend  to  you  while  you  are  a  friend  to  it. 
And  once  you  have  called  it  a  slavish  task  and  named  it  "  the  daily  grind," 
Your  work  is  a  snare  that  will  catch  your  feet  and  cause  you  to  fall  behind. 
My  son,  when  you  work  you  must  finish  your  task  ;  you  must  finish  that  task  alone; 
And  work  that  is  done  with  a  friendly  hand  will  change  to  a  stepping-stone. 
Will  carry  you  over  the  l3arring  stream  or  out  of  the  clinging  slough, 
And  lift  you  to  where  you  may  put  your  hand  on  the  work  that  you  want  to  do, 
it  will  help  you  along  to  the  heights  you  seek,  will  bring  you  unto  your  goal — 
Hut  when  you  declare  it's  "the  daily  grind,"  it  will  grind  you  both  heart  and  soul. 
— Evening  Telegram.  \V.  D.  N. 


80  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


IRevcrence  for  ''Sacrc&''  ^binga. 

:o: 

BY   GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

in. 

Superstition  still  prevails.  We  are  not  yet  perfect.  Why  should  I 
reverence  the  worship  of  stuffed  snakes  or  wooden  dolls  ?  A  large  room 
of  the  British  Museum  is  filled  with  gods  and  images  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  Why  should  I  take  off  my  hat  to  them  ?  Why  should  I  hold, 
as  sacred,  customs  like  those  of  refraining  from  meat  on  Friday,  frogs' 
legs  on  Tuesday,  or  pate  de  foie  gras  on  Sunday  ;  tossing  an  apple-peel- 
ing over  the  head  to  determine  a  future  spouse,  or  for  the  same  purpose 
putting  a  four-leaved  clover  in  the  shoe  before  taking  a  stroll  ;  holding 
a  wedding-ring  of  gold  to  be  a  cure  for  sties  ;  or  taking  care,  as  in  Scot- 
land, not  to  don  a  torn  garment  or  be  late  to  breakfast  on  New  Year's 
day  ?  Why  should  1  render  homage  to  the  superstition  of  the  Filipinos, 
who  are  convinced  that  there  exists  a  monstrous  vampire,  the  Penangga- 
lon,  who  must  be  propitiated,  and  who  greatly  fear  the  Polong,  a  female 
manikin  supposed  to  have  power  to  wreak  dire  disaster  ? 

[s  there  any  valid  reason  why  I  shouJd  "  reverence  "  the  chimeras  of 
those  who  quake  in  alarm  and  beat  tom-toms  at  times  of  eclipse ;  who 
cast  quantities  of  food  and  raiment,  or  even  human  victims,  on  graves 
of  the  dead  ;  who  worship  candles  or  soap-suds  ;  who  stand  in  awe  of 
ghosts,  fairies,  or  genii  and  get  pleasure  out  of  believing  in  them  ;  who 
through  a  process  of  cannibalism-by-proxy  succeed  in  devouring  im- 
mense quantities  of  some  body  who  has  "  saved  "  them — in  other  words, 
bread  and  wine?  Why  should  I  stifle  my  levity  when  I  think  of  the 
many  religions  of  the  outside  world,  admitted  to  be  false  and  prepos- 
terous by  nearly  every  person  in  this  country  ? 

To  illustrate.     A  writer,  relating  an  experience  in  India,  says  : 

"  A  learned  Brahman,  reading  a  sacred  poem  to  Sir  William  fones,  omitted  the 
portions  relating  to  Brahma  because  it  was  profanation  to  make  them  known  to  any- 
pne  but  priests,  and  the  sincerity  of  his  feelings  was  evidenced  by  his  frequent  inter- 
ruptions of  tears.  It  shocks  a  Brahman  to  hear  a  foreigner  utter  one  of  their  prayers 
or  sacred  poems.  An  English  gentleman  had  learned  the  Gayatree  in  Sanscrit,  and 
began  to  repeat  it  in  the  presence  of  a  Brahman,  not  being  in  the  slightest  degree 
aware  of  doing  harm.  The  priest  instantly  stopped  his  ears  with  his  hands  and  with 
horror  rushed  from  the  room." 

This  is  fetishistic  superstition  of  the  worst  type,  more  ridiculous  and 
astonishing  because  it  occurs  among  cultured  men. 

The  weaker  and  more  secular  superstitions  prevalent  among  us  are,  of 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  81 


course,  not  felt  to  be  so  worthy  of  reverence  as  those  more  deeply  reli- 
gious ones  **  ventilated  "  within  the  church.  But  they  partake  of  the 
same  character.  They  originated  in  wonder,  fear,  and  falsehood — the 
substratum  of  every  religion  ;  and  that,  in  the  growth  of  our  race,  man 
has  been  losing  his  fear  and  substituting  for  it  the  prospective  favors  to 
be  had  of  the  supreme  power,  indicates  merely  that  he  is  becoming  more 
selfish  and  more  conceited,  and  refuses  longer  to  picture  a  god  capable 
of  designing  injury  to  him,  the  great  and  good  Homo. 

Many  things  once  reverenced  are  scouted  to-day  by  the  church  itself.  { 
The  fiat  earth  ;  the  world  as  the  centre  of  the  universe,  and  man  as  the  \ 
central  figure  in  the  great  panorama;  witches  and  a  personal  devil  or 
devils ;  the  lake  of  sulphur  and  fire  in  the  infernal  regions,  and  golden 
streets  with  pearl  trimmings  in  Paradise — these  are  among  the  outworn 
conceptions  which  now  excite  the  ridicule  of  intelHgent  Christians.  And- 
yet  for  ages  these  things  w^ere  reverently  dandled  by  the  elect. 

Brother  John  Jasper,  of  Virginia,  is  laughed  to  scorn,  and  the  Salva-- 
tion  Army,  good  though  it  is  in  some  respects,  has  to  meet  the  jibes  and 
ridicule  of  the  more  cultured  Christians ;  and  if  it  is  right  to  ridicule  at 
this  time  the  reverently  nurtured  humbugs  of  1600,  why  was  it  not  right 
then  ?  If  it  will  be  right  for  the  average  intellect  of  the  more  advanced 
twenty-first  century  to  ridicule  the  venerated  superstitions  of  1905,  why 
is  it  not  right  for  the  isolated  advanced  intellect  to  do  it  now,  when  it  is 
most  needed  ? 

While  exacting  rigid  deference  towards  its  own  faith,  Christianity  has 
never  hesitated  to  assail  with  ridicule  and  slander  the  professors  of  every 
other  faith.  Nor  has  it  stopped  there.  Look  back  along  the  carmine 
trail  of  history,  and  what  do  we  see  ?  That  Christianity  did  not  simply 
neglect  to  reverence  the  sacred  which  found  lodgment  in  rival  religions, 
but  did  not  so  much  as  respect  it — that,  in  fact,  Christianity  actually 
assailed  opponents,  and  that,  too,  with  fire  and  sword.  Divines  used  to 
discuss  whether  or  not  to  tear  out  the  tongue  of  victims,  in  order  that 
dying  irreverence  and  blasphemy  might  not  be  heard  by  the  delicate 
ears  of  the  murderers. 

When  not  torturing  and  killing,  ridicule  has  been  allowed  full  swing 
by  the  church.  Paganism  was  ridiculed  by  the  early  Christians ;  the 
Moslem  was  ridiculed  by  the  mediaeval  hierarchy,  and  finally  was  made 
the  object  of  bloody  crusades.  Protestantism  was  ridiculed  by  Catholi- 
cism, and  rice  versa,  Erasmus  and  Luther  being  especially  ai)t  in  the 
art.  The  rites  of  the  North  American  Indians  were  ridiculed  by  our 
pioneer  ancestors,  and  the  Millerites  of  the  last  century  kept  their  Chris- 
tian neighbors  in  roars  of  laughter.  Laugh  ad  libitum  over  what  you  do 
not  yourself  believe  in,  but  do  not  let  anyone  else  laugh  at  your  beliefs, 
seems  to  have  been  the  Christian  motto. 

When  the  Ark  of  the  Israelites  was  captured  by  the  Philistines,  they 
took  it  to  Ashdod  and  placed  it  in  a  temple  beside  their  own  god  Dagon. 
The  first  night  Dagon  was  tumbled  to  the  ground  through   the  influeuce 


82  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


of  this  ark,  and  on  the  succeeding  night  this  was  repeated,  with  the  ad- 
ditional violence  of  Dagon's  hands  being  cut  off.  Thus  we  find  that  the 
Lord  himself  set  a  very  poor  example  in  the  "  reverence"  line  by  bring- 
ing into  contempt  the  revered  god  of  the  Philistines.  He  had  said  also, 
frequentl}^  that  no  other  gods  should  be  reverenced  but  him  ;  that  to 
diim  and  him  alone  should  be  burned  all  the  incense  of  this  world. 

Then  there  is  the  case  of  Elijah  and  Baal.  At  the  famous  test  ar- 
ranged by  the  prophet,  the  worshippers  of  Baal,  notwithstanding  that 
their  sincerity  was  so  great  as  to  lead  them  to  maim  themselves  with 
knives,  were  openly  ridiculed  by  Elijah,  who  suggested  that  possibly 
their  god  was  on  a  journey  or  sleeping  somewhere.  Throughout  the 
whole  day  this  man  of  God  mocked  them,  displaying  not  the  slightest 
reverence  for  sacred  feelings  and  sacred  things.  In  the  end,  after  his 
own  successful  appeal  to  Jehovah,  he  managed  to  get  together  four  hun- 
dred prophets  of  poor  old  Baal  and  to  slay  them, — showing  them  to 
have  differed  in  many  points  from  our  modern  clergy,  concerning  whom 
it  may  be  said  that  it  is  more  than  doubtful  if  they  would  content  so 
readily  to  abandon  this  vale  of  tears. 

Isaiah  is  represented  at  one  place  in  the  Bible  (Isa.  44  :  16, 17)  as  thus 
ridiculing  the  idolator  who  made  fire  and  God  out  of  the  same  stick  : 

"  He  burneth  part  thereof  in  the  fire  ;  with  part  thereof  he  eateth  flesh ;  he  roasteth 
roast,  and  is  satisfied  ;  yea,  he  warmeth  himself,  and  saith.  Aha,  I  am  warm,  I  have 
seen  the  fire  ;  and  the  residue  thereof  he  maketh  a  god,  even  his  graven  image  ;  he 
falleth  down  unto  it,  apd  worshippeth  it,  and  prayeth  unto  it,  and  saith,  Dehver  me, 
for  thou  art  my  god." 

Mosheim  says  (Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  i.  30),  after  speaking  of  the  customary 
tolerant  lenity  of  the  Romans  : 

"  A  principal  reason  of  the  severity  with  which  the  Romans  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tians, notwithstanding  these  considerations,  seems  to  have  been  the  abhorrence  and 
contempt  felt  by  the  latter  for  the  religion  of  the  Empire,  which  was  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  form,  and  indeed  with  the  very  essence  of  its  political  constitu- 
tion ;  for,  though  the  Romans  gave  an  unlimited  toleration  to  all  religions  which  had 
nothing  in  their  tenets  dangerous  to  the  commonwealth,  yet  they  would  not  permit 
that  of  their  ancestors,  which  was  established  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  to  be  turned 
into  derision,  nor  the  people  to  be  drawn  away  from  their  attachment  to  it.  These, 
however,were  the  two  things  with  which  the  Christians  were  charged,  and  that  justly, 
though  to  their  honor.  They  dared  to  ridicule  the  absurdities  of  the  Pagan  supersti- 
tions, and  they  were  ardent  and  assiduous  in  gaining  proselytes  to  the  truth." 

To  be  co)iduded. 


In  opinions,  look  not  always  back  : 

Your  wake  is  nothing,  mind  the  coming  track. 

Leave  what  you've  done  for  what  you  have  to  do  ; 

Don't  be  "  coi^istent,"  but  be  simply  true.  -O.  W.  Holmes. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  88 


•fcovo  II  XPtHoult)  Hmenb  tbe  (5ol&en  IRule* 


BY    THE  LATE    COL.    R.    G.   INGERSOLL. 

:o: 

Peace  on  earth,  good   will  to  men  !     Whit  effect  has  thai  saying  had  upon  the 
eaith  ? 

If  we  judge  by  the  history  of  human  beings  since  the  celestial  choir  uttered 
the  words  •'  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they 
have  had  any  particular  effect.  These  words  are  supposed  to  have  been  said  by 
angels  to  the  shepherds  in  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  Now,  if  the 
life  of  Christ,  as  it  appears  in  the  New  Testament,  had  been  in  accordance  with- 
those  words,  the  effect  might  have  been  different ;  but  Christ  himself,  according 
to  the  New  Testament,  said  :  "  I  come  not  to  bring  pt?ace,  but  a  sword.  I  come 
to  set  father  against  son  and  mother  against  daughter."  P>om  this  it  would 
appear  that  the  celestial  choir,  in  commemoration  of  his  birth,  sang  the  wrong 
hymn. 

The  New  Testament  is  a  mixture  of  the  generous  and  the  malicious  ;  of  the 
benevolent  and  malevolent.  Side  by  side  with  this  doctrine  of  peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men,  is  found  the  dogma  of  eternal  pain,  so  that  the  message  of. 
good  will  seems  to  come  from  a  being  who  intends  to  take  eternal  revenge.  Oa 
account  of  this  frightful  dogma,  there  was  no  peace  on  earth,  and  there  was  but 
little  good  will  toward  men.  People  who  said  "  Peace  on  earth,"  waged  war 
against  all  who  differed  from  them  in  belief.  The  people  who  said  "  Good  will 
to  men,"  founded  inquisitions,  invented  and  used  instruments  of  torture. 

In  my  judgment,  the  effect  of  what  is  called  Christianity  has  been  bad.  When 
the  church  had  power  there  was  no  liberty  in  Christendom,  and  there  was  no 
progress.  Science  was  detested  by  the  Church,  and  men  who  were  endeavoring 
to  ascertain  the  facts  in  nature  were  denounced  as  blasphemers  and  infidels. 
For  many  centuries  there  was  nothing  but  hypocrisy,  ignorance,  fear,  cunning, 
persecution  and  slavery.  Of  course  there  were  many  who  honestly  believed  the 
creed  ;  many  who  sincerely  worshipped  the  being  they  called  God  ;  many  who> 
denied  themselves  and  inflicted  tortures  upon  themselves,  thinking  that  in  that 
way  they  could  secure  eternal  happiness  in  another  world  ;  but  the  general  effect 
of  the  creed  has  been  bad. 

Since  the  words,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  are  supposed  to  have 
been  uttered  Christendom  has  been  filled  with  war,  and  people  called  Christians 
are  the  most  warlike  of  the  world.  Christians  rvow  have  armies  amounting  to 
several  millions  of  men  They  have  hundreds  of  iron-clad  monsters  filled  with 
missiles  of  death  floating  from  port  to  port,  ready  to  destroy  and  kill.  Every 
Christian  nation  is  guarded  by  fortifications  to  prevent  other  Christians  from 
cutting  their  throats.     The  Gatling  and  Maxim  guns,  the  needle  rifles,  the  Krupp 


84  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

cannon,  the  dynamite  shells,  have  all  been  invented  by  the  people  who  said 
"Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men." 

The  world  is  not  governed  by  a  remark.  A  paragraph  or  two  does  not  fix  the 
condition  or  determine  the  destiny  of  a  nation.  Man  is  governed  and  nations 
are  governed  by  environment,  by  countless  wants.  Everywhere  there  is  compe- 
tition ;  that  is  to  say,  war.  This  war  is  universal.  Every  kind  of  plant  fights  for 
soil  and  sunshine.  Every  animal  is  fighting  for  food  to  supply  its  wants,  to 
gratify  its  passions.  Man  is  no  exception,  and  through  all  the  dead  centuries 
men  have  been  shedding  the  blood  of  each  other.  They  will  continue  to  do  so 
,until  the  human  brain  has  developed  to  that  degree  that  right  makes  might 
instead  of  might  making  right.  When  the  reason  becomes  superior  to  the 
passions  we  will  be  civilized.  Then  there  will  be  peace  on  earth.  Then  there 
will  be  good  will  to  men,  but  not  before.  Man  does  not  need  preaching  ;  he 
needs  teaching.  He  does  not  require  faith,  but  he  is  in  great  need  of  facts.  So 
I  think  that  good  sayings,  fine  paragraphs,  have  done  but  little  toward  civilizing 
the  human  race. 

Has  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  any  parallel  in  ancient  history  ? 
YES.  It  is  said  that  at  the  birth  of  Buddha  there  was  celestial  music  and  there 
was  a  heavenly  choir,  and  this  choir  sang  substantially  the  same  words.  They 
proclaimed  peace,  they  proclaimed  salvation  to  the  human  race  and  universal 
delivery  from  ignorance  and  evil.  Substantially  the  same  happened — or  is  said 
to  have  happened— at  the  birth  of  many  of  the  sun-gods.  Buddha  was  a  sun- 
god,  so  were  Krishna  and  Apollo  and  Hercules,  Samson,  Mithra,  Hermes  and 
many  others. 

The  curious  thing  about  the  sun-gods  is  that  they  all  have  the  same  biography. 
Each  sun-god  had  a  god  for  a  father  and  a  virgin  for  a  mother.  Each  was  born 
in  a  humble  place,  in  a  roadside  inn,  under  a  tree  or  in  a  cave,  and  tyrants  sought 
to  kill  each  of  these  babes.  Every  one  fasted  for  forty  days ;  every  one  met 
with  a  violent  death,  and  every  one  rose  from  the  dead.  Another  fact — every 
one  was  born  on  Christmas,  at  the  winter  solstice. 

Samson  was  a  sun-god.  His  strength  was  in  his  hair;  that  is  to  say,  in  his 
,bjams.  Dc^lilah  was  the  shadow,  the  darkness,  and  when  Samson  was  shorn  of 
his  beams  he  became  weak.  Afterwards,  he  rose  above  his  enemies,  as  the  days 
lengthened.     The  Hebrews  changed  this  myth  into  the  biography  of  a  giant. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  life  of  Christ  is  an  old  biography  with  a  new  name. 
Christ  was  not  a  man,  hut  a  myth  ;  not  a  life,  but  a  legend.  It  is  the  old  story 
of  the  war  between  darkness  and  light,  between  the  power  of  good  and  the  power 
cf  evil.  The  proclamations  made  at  the  birth  of  the  sun-gods  that  man  was  to 
be  redeemed,  to  be  delivered  from  evil — that  there  was  to  be  peace — seem  to 
have  had  but  little  eflfect  upon  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

Why  was  Christ  to  be  heralded  with  this  message  ?     Because  the  message  was 


SECULAK    THOUGHT.  85 

copied  from  an  older  biography.  You  see,  there  never  was  but  one  rehgion. 
There  have  been  modifications  and  variations  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  leaves  and  the 
branches  have  been  different,  but  the  trunk  has  always  been  the  same.  Probably 
the  first  religion  that  was  organized  was  the  worship  of  the  sun.  The  sun  was 
the  Sky-Father,  the  All-Seeing,  and,  so  far  as  the  savages  understood,  the  probable 
author  of  all  that  was  good.  On  the  other  hand,  darkness  was  evil,  and  we  now 
find  that  in  our  own  religion,  called  Christianity,  there  is  nothing  original.  All 
the  doctrines  are  old  ;  all  the  symbols  are  ancient ;  all  the  ceremonies  are 
mouldy  with  antiquity.  The  cross  was  used  thousands  of  years  before  Christ 
was  born.  Baptism  is  thousands  of  years  older  than  the  Baptists.  So  the  tree 
of  life  grew  in  India  and  China  and  in  Central  America  thousands  of  years 
before  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  planted.  So  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man  and 
the  atonement  are  far  older  than  Adam  and  Eve.  So  the  eucharist  came  from 
the  Pagans.  I'hey  used  to  make  little  cakes  of  wheat  and  say,  "  This  is  the 
flesh  of  the  goddess  Ceres."  Then  they  drank  wine  and  said,  *'  This  is  the 
blood  of  our  god  Bacchus."  Bacchus  was  a  sun-god.  In  other  words,  there  is 
nothing  original  in  Christianity.  Salvation  by  belief  is  thousands  and  thousands 
of  years  older  than  the  Christian  religion. 

How  much  of  the  message  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  was  intended 
for  women,  or  was  the  entire  message  for  men  only  ?  I  suppose  that  the  word 
"  men  "  includes  women  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  human  race.  Of  course  I  have  no 
idea  that  the  heavenly  choir  sang  any  song.  I  have  no  idea  that  there  was  any 
heavenly  choir.  Neither  do  I  believe  that  there  were  any  shepherds  or  that  any 
miraculous  babe  was  born  in  Bethlehem.  The  whole  thing  is  simply  a  legend 
— a  myth.     Some  of  it  is  good,  some  of  it  beautiful,  some  of  it  absurd  and  cruel. 

There  are  many  things  in  the  New  Testament  that  I  like.  "  Blessed  are  the 
merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  That  is  beautiful.  Forgive  others  and 
God  will  forgive  you.  That  is  good  sense.  So  what  is  called  the  Golden  Rule  is 
good.  I  think  it  might  have  been  a  little  better,  but  still  it  is  good.  "  Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you."  I  do  not  know  that  we 
can  carry  that  out.  For  instance,  if  I  were  in  prison  I  would  like  to  have  some- 
body to  help  me  to  escape.  Ought  I  to  help  others  to  escape  ?  Maybe  the 
Golden  Rule  would  be  better  if  it  was  "  Do  unto  others  as  you  honestly  believe 
others  should  do  unto  you."  Of  course,  this  rule  has  been  known  for  many, 
many  centuries.  Christ,  not  contented  with  that,  went  even  further.  He  taught 
us  to  love  our  enemies  and  to  return  good  for  evil.  There  is  no  philosophy  in  that. 

One  of  the  disciples  of  Confucius  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  doctrine 
that  we  should  return  benefits  for  injuries.  Confucius  replied,  *•  If  you  return 
benefits  for  injuries,  what  do  you  propose  to  return  for  benefits  ?  "  My  doctrine 
is  this :  "  For  benefits  return  benefits  ;  for  injuries  return  justice."  Now,  that 
seems  to  me  to  be  good,  sound,  sane,  common  sense. 


86  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

All  these  fine  sayings  are  intended  for  women — that  is  to  say,  for  all  human 
beings,  for  all  who  have  the  intelligence  to  {)erceive,  to  understand.  While  I  do 
not  believe  shat  these  disconnected  sayings  have  controlled  the  course  of  human 
events,  still  I  believe  that  a  good  thought  has  never  quite  been  lost.  Every 
philosophic  utterance  bears  fruit.  Every  good,  kind,  generous  sentiment  has  its 
influence.  Still,  it  is  better  to  do  a  good  thing  than  simply  to  say  one,  and  a 
noble  life  is  more  convincing  than  any  possible  form  of  speech. 


Zhc  Zcvm  ''Xaw0  of  mature/' 

BY    CHARLES     CATTELL. 

:o: 

The  phrase  "  laws  of  nature  "  has  long  been  commonly  met  with  in  [)ooks  and 
periodicals  of  all  sorts,  but  what  the  words  mean  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  is 
not  always  obvious.  It  is  not  here  attempted  so  show  what  the  laws  of  nature 
are,  but  simply  the  meaning  that  should  always  be  attached  to  a  form  of  words. 
"  Law,"  as  applied  to  nature,  is  a  compendious  formula  to  express  the  mode  in 
which  things  act  and  are  acted  upon,  as  demonstrated  and  verified  by  endless 
observations  and  experiments. 

The  idea  of  "  law  "  underlying  much  of  what  we  read  is,  that  it  resembles 
rules  and  regulations  prescribed  by  the  supreme  power  of  State,  whether  king, 
kaiser,  or  president  ;  that  is,  that  the  regulations  or  laws  of  phenomena  are  made 
and  put  in  force  by  a  king  of  the  universe.  And  not  only  so,  but  that  both,  ac- 
cording to  the  same  view,  can  be  ignored  alike,  with  penalties  attached  to  non- 
compliance with  the  regulations.  Thus,  we  get  in  the  writings  of  eminent 
persons  references  to  "  disobedience,"  infringement,"  '*  breaking,"  and  "  acting 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  ;  "  as  though  they  resembled  the  written  or  printed 
acts  of  parliament  or  municipal  by-laws,  which,  in  themselves,  have  no  power 
over  anything.  Just  as  though  man  could  as  easily  avoid  the  forces  of  nature  as 
he  can  the  instruction  to  sweep  the  pavement  in  front  of  his  house.  A  man 
falling  from  a  ladder  may  break  his  neck,  but  no  natural  law  is  broken  ;  that 
remains  whole,  and,  in   fact,  in  full   operation,  as   the  result  of  the  fall  testifies. 

Two  difficulties  are  presented  :  the  conception  of  human  law  and  the  impossi- 
V.ility  of  avoiding  the  use  of  figurative  language  in  describing  natural  operations. 

G.  H.  Lewes  half  a  century  ago  proposed  as  a  way  out  of  this  to  call  the  laws 
of  na'ure  the  "Method"  of  Nature  ;  a  method  meaning  a  path,  a  way  of  transit. 
Ihus,  *' methods  of  nature"  expressed  the  paths  along  which  the  activities  of 
i-aiure  travelled  to  results  (phenomena). 

Given  the  phenomena,  we  name  the  process  by  which  they  are  called  forth 
the  "way  of  nature."  His  illustrations  are:  A  spark  will  ignite  dry  gunpowder  ; 
the  forces  travel  to  an  issue  (explosion)  ;  but  if  we  throw  water  on  the  powder, 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  87 

that  path  is  blocked  and  another  issue  is  reached.  Fire  raises  the  temperature  of 
water,  yet  if  you  pour  water  into  a  red-hot  crucible  containing  liquid  sulphuric 
acid,  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  not  raised  ;  nay,  it  is  lowered  to  freezing 
point.  Instead  of  steam,  you  get  ice.  But  there  is  no  "  contradiction,"  no  law  is 
'•  broken."  We  add  nothing  to  Nature's  actions  themselves  by  declaring  such 
and  such  the  methods  of  nature.  "  What  we  call  '  Laws  '  are  nothing  but  the 
paths  or  methods  along  which  the  forces  of  nature  move." 

This  is  all  very  good,  as  explanation,  but  to  adopt  the  new  terms  would  involve 
the  re-writing  of  all  our  treatises  on  science ;  hence  it  has  not  been  adopted. 
But  really  all  that  is  necessary  is,  that  we  should  always  bear  in  mind  what  the 
phrase  "  laws  of  nature  "  means  when  properly  understood. 

Observed  changes  in  phenomena  are  tabulated  and  named  "  laws  of  phe- 
nomena," and  are  interminable.  At  certain  points  water  boils  or  freezes  ;  that 
is,  under  certain  conditions  ;  but  it  is  not  "  law  "  that  boils  the  kettle  or  covers 
the  pool  with  ice. 

All  that  is  meant  by  natural  law  or  uniformity  of  nature's  movements  is,  that  if 
the  same  conditions  recur  the  same  results  will  follow  ;  and  exactly  so  far  as 
these  conditions  are  repeated  the  result  will  also  be  repeated.  Throughout  the 
earth  and  the  heavens  observation  reports  that  the  same  or  similar  causes  are 
followed  by  the  same  or  similar  effects.  I  have  said  that  changes  are  intermin- 
able, so  are  causes  and  effects,  the  names  applied  to  them  ;  hence,  in  science  a 
first  or  last  cause  is  unknown.  Neither  the  word  "cause  "  nor  "effect"  has  a 
meaning  separately  considered ;  they  are  relative  terms. 

George  Combe  first  arrested  my  attention  by  stating  that  natural  law  was  only 
the  mind's  perception  of  regularity,  and  was  not  like  human  law,  arbitrary  and 
alterable  ;  and  that  it  was  an  error  to  describe  it  as  a  Cause.  Yet  he  calls  it 
God's  Secular  Providence,  and  speaks  of  pre-ordained  consequences  attached  ta 
their  operations,  of  "  infringements  "  and  "flagrant  infractions  "  of  natural  laws 
Nothing  was  more  common,  in  his  time  and  long  afteiwards,  than  to  describe 
natural  laws  of  co-existence  and  succession  of  causes  and  sequences  as  being  the 
metho  is  by  which  God  "  governs  "  the  world,  just  as^  an  earthly  potentate  is 
said  to  govern  his  subjects. 

Some  advanced  minds  described  law  as  a  mysterious  subtle  entity  which  ruled 
certain  known  operations  familiar  to  all  of  us,  leaving  a  wide  margin  for  miracles 
or  the  operation  of  divine  causes  beyond  the  province  of  science.  Science  was 
only  concerned  with  secondary  causes,  which  implied  more  than  one  kind  of 
causes. 

In  our  time,  the  revelations  of  the  telescope,  the  microscope,  and  the  spectro- 
scope assure  us  that  the  same  kinds  of  matter  and  the  same  laws  are  present 
everywhere  within  the  range  of  human  investigation. 

I  have  been  led  to  revert  to  this  q^uestion  by  reading  the  sixpenny  reprint  of 


88  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

an  admirable  book,  "  Modern  Science  and  Modern  Thought,"  by  the  late 
Samuel  Laing.  Generally  speaking,  Laing  uses  language  which  simply  expresses 
what  is  known  of  Nature  and  its  movements  as  seen  under  all  known  conditions, 
mental,  moral  and  physical.  He  maintains  that  all  movement  implies  the  exist- 
ence of  energy  ;  that  an  unbroken  sequence  prevails  universally  throughout  space 
and  time  ;  and  that  it  is  as  nearly  certain  as  anything  can  be  that  what  is  known 
as  "  the  law  of  gravity,"  which  is  the  foundation  of  "the  laws  of  nature,"  desig- 
nates an  original  condition  of  matter. 

Yet,  on  a  few  occasions,  he  reminds  us  of  the  ancient  orator,  to  whom  man 
was  not  a  two  legged  or  a  reasonable  animal,  but  a  curious  work  of  an  almighty 
creator,  framed  after  his  own  image,  endued  with  reason,  and  born  for  im- 
mortality. 

Laing,  in  a  flow  of  eloquence,  tells  us  law  "  reigns  "  supreme,  and  molecules 
"  obey  "  gravity.  Following  this  strain,  we  might  suggest  that,  if  law,  like  a  good 
king,  "reigns"  impartially,  it  should  have  a  statue;  and  if  molecules  "obey" 
gravity  constantly,  as  a  dutiful  daughter  obeys  her  mother,  they  should  have  gold 
medals.  But  one  could  wish  that  all  books  were  as  enlightening  and  clear  in 
statement  and  as  free  from  ambiguity. 


THE  EDITORS  CAREER. 
The  stork  disappears  and  we  look  into  the  cradle  and  behold  a  male  child. 
After  running  the  gauntlet  of  measles,  mumps,  and  chickenpox,  he  enters  school. 
At  the  age  of  ten  he  is  a  red-headed,  freckle-faced  boy  and  the  terror  of  the 
neighborhood.  At  twelve  he  is  an  apprentice  in  a  printing  office.  At  eighteen 
he  has  acquired  two  cases  of  long  primer  and  an  army  press,  atid  is  the  editor  of 
a  country  newspaper.  At  twenty  he  is  married.  At  thirty  he  is  baldheaded, 
stoop-shouldered,  and  the  father  of  a  large  family.  At  thirty-five  he  is  a  corpse 
in  a  cheap  pine  cotfin,  and  as  500  delinquent  subscribers  file  past  his  bier  for  the 
last  look  they  are  heard  to  say  :  "  He  was  a  good  fellow,  but  he  couldn't  save  his 
money." — Lockwood  Times. 


THE  ICE   BRIDGE  BREAKER. 

(Translated  from  the  original  Russian) 
The  captain  trod  the  frpzen  bridge,  whence  all  but  he  had  fled  ;  the  wind  blew 
fiercely  o'er  the  ridge  ;  the  Montcalm's  fires  burned  red.  Dense  clouds  of  inky 
smoke  arose  from  out  her  funnels  large.  Her  cargo  ?  Jolly  Belles  and  Beaux, 
the  captain's  special  charge.  The  flames  that  lit  that  cabin  deck  he  saw  full 
well,  I  know  ;  but  sternly  held  himself  in  check,  and  would  not  go  below.  He 
called  once  more,  "  Say,  must  I  go,  or  perish  here  instead  ?  "  While  Gwyndolene 
just  giggled  so  her  Pa's  black  hair  turned  red.  His  whiskers  smoked  !  He 
pulled  the  be.l — no,  not  the  one  below  ;  and  words  escaped  [  dare  not  tell— no, 
rot  in  print,  you  know.  Yet  once  more  through  the  tube  he  called,  *'  Sa)',  fire- 
man, give  her  steam  !"  then  charged  the  foe  with  lusty  bawls,  but  could  not 
make  a  seam.  She  struck  the  ice  one  awful  crack,  which  caused  her  bells  to 
ring  ;  then,  turning  back  and  sailing  home,  said,  "  Leave  it  for  the  spring  ]  " — 
J.  S  R.  S.,  in  Montreal  Star. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  89 

provincial  IRigbte  an^  tbe  mew  fi&ucation  (Question, 

:o: 

BY    D.    S.    MACORQUODALE 

:o: 

The  press  of  Ontario  have  much  to  say  regarding  the  question  of  education  in 
the  new  Provinces  to  be  created  in  the  North-west.  In  Toronto,  the  Telegram 
and  the  News  have  shouted  themseives  hoarse  on  all  sides  of  the  question. 

The  Telegram  says  ''  Hands  off  Provincial  rights  !  "  to  the  Dominion  Govern- 
ment, and  scores  the  Orange  Sentinel  for  its  truckling  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  the  Orange  Sentinel  at  the  same  time  saying,  "  Let  the  people  have 
Separate  schools  in  the  new  provinces  if  they  want  them  "  in  this  fashion  : 

**  But  if  a  Province  should  not  be  coerced  into  establishing  Separate  schools, 
it  follows  that  it  should  not  be  coerced  into  rejecting  Separate  schools.  Conse- 
quently, the  logical  position  for  Ontario  electors  is  to  remam  silent,  and  allow 
the  measure  to  become  law,  if  the  Territories  are  satisfied." 

The  Toronto  News  talks  all  round  the  question,  and,  after  saying  everything 
but  the  right  thing,  replies  to  the  Orange  Sentinel  thus  : 

"  No  one  proposes  that  the  new  Provinces  shall  be  coerced  into  rejecting 
Separate  schools.  There  are  two  proposals  :  one,  that  Separate  schools  shall  be 
established  by  Federal  authority  ;  and  the  other,  that  the  Provincial  authorities 
shall  have  full  liberty  to  establish,  maintain,  or  abolish  Separate  schools." 

Such  a  way  to  treat  the  subject  is  the  proper  line  for  a  hireling  or  a  literary 
prostitute  to  take.  Keep  truckling  and  juggling,  gentlemen  ;  it  is  the  only  way 
lo  hang  on  to  a  constituency. 

The  fact  is,  the  way  the  Public  schools  of  the  Dominion  are  conducted  is  the 
best  reason  possible  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  Separate  schools. 

In  Ontario  Public  schools  it  is  imperative  to  open  the  school  with  Bible  read- 
ing and  to  offer  prayer  at  one  end  of  the  day.  Those  whose  conscientious  con- 
victions forbid  their  taking  part  need  not  stay  for  the  prayer.  It  is  now  proposed 
that  in  the  new  Provinces  there  shall  be  no  Separate  schools,  but  that  religious 
instruction  may  be  given  during  the  last  half-hour,  and  that  those  whose  religious 
convictions  forbid  shall  not  be  required  to  remain. 

We  ask,  is  not  this  an  admission  that  the  thing  to  be  taught  is  not  necessary  ? 
Would  the  same  liberty  to  come  and  go  be  permitted  during  a  lesson  in  mathe- 
matics? We  ask  these  doughty  editors,  who  talk  and  argue  in  a  circle,  and  who 
are  each  and  all  champions  of  equal  rights  for  all, — would  any  one  of  them  be 
content  to  have  his  children  made  social  outcasts  by  having  to  rise  and  leave  the 
school  when  objectionable  religious  instruction  was  given  ?  As  Protestants — 
the  name  used  to  mean  something — would  they  be  content  to  be  so  imposed 
upon?     As  Protestants,  are  they  willing  so  to  impose  upon  others  ? 

This  is  not  a  question  of  the  Standard's  views  upon  matters  of  religion,  but  a 
question  of  the  removal  from   our  Public  schools  of  everything  that    militates 


90  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

against  a  united  people  in  Canada,  free  from  social  sores  that  are  cultivated 
by  a  clashing  of  creeds.  Our  contention  is,  that  the  only  matters  to  be  taught 
in  all  our  Public  schools  should  be  those  that  can  be  demonstrated  as  facts  or 
exact  sciences,  leaving  matters  of  faith  to  the  family  circle  and  its  voluntary 
associations.  —  The  Standard ^  East  Toronto. 


Ibow  fo  Cure  Coneumption. 

:o: 

Erom  our  valued  contemporary  Sus^gestion  we  copy  the  following  "  Rules  for 
Consumptives,"  issued  by  the  New  York  Board  of  Health.  They  will,  we  think, 
be  found  to  contain  many  valuable  suggesiions  for  others  besides  consumptives : 

Never  sleep  or  stay  in  a  hot  or  close  room. 

Keep  at  least  one  window  open  in  your  bedroom. 

Have  a  room  to  yourself,  if  possible  ;  if  not,  be  sure  to  have  your  own  bed. 

Avoid  draughts,  dampness,  dust  or  smoke  ;  dust  and  smoke  are  worse  for 
you  than  rain  and  snow. 

When  indoors,  remain  in  the  sunniest  and  best  ventilated  room,  preferably 
without  carpet. 

Do  not  wear  chest  protectors. 

Keep  your  feet  dry  and  warm. 

Go  to  bed  early  and  sleep  at  least  eight  hours. 

If  you  have  to  work,  take  every  chance  to  rest  that  you  can. 

Take  half  an  hour's  rest  on  the  bed  before  and  after  the  principal  meals. 

Avoid  eating  when  bodily  or  mentally  tired,  or  when  in  a  state  of  nervous 
excitement. 

Eat  plenty  of  good  and  wholesome  food.  Besides  your  regular  meals,  take  a 
quart  of  milk  daily,  from  three  to  six  fresh  eggs,  and  plenty  of  butter  and  sugar. 

Keep  your  teeth  in  good  condition  ;  use  a  toothbrush  after  every  meal. 

Do  not  smoke,  and  do  not  drink  liquor,  wine  or  beer,  except  by  special 
permission. 

Drink  plenty  of  good,  pure  water  between  meals. 

Do  not  talk  to  anyone  about  your  disease  except  your  physician  and  nurse. 

Do  not  kiss  anyone  upon  the  mouth. 

.Shave  your  beard  or  wear  it  closely  clipped. 

In  the  treatment  of  your  disease,  fresh  air,  good  food,  and  a  proper  mode  of 
life  are  more  important  than  medicine. 

Stay  in  the  open  air  as  1  >ng  as  you  can  — if  possible,  in  the  park,  woods  or 
fields. 

Do  not  be  afraid  of  cold. 

Be  hopeful  and  cheerful,  for  your  disease  can  be  cured,  although  it  will  take 
i?ome  time. 

Carefully  obey  your  physician's  instructions. 


Within  the  past  few  weeks,  we  have  come  across  a  case  which  proves  the  value 
of  many  of  these  rules.  It  is  that  of  a  young  letter-carrier  in  the  Toronto  Post- 
office.     Two  years  ago  he  was  sent  for  treatment  for  phthisis  to  the  Gravenhurst 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  91 

Sanitarium.  After  a  successful  treatment  lasting  some  months,  he  was  able  to 
resume  his  duty  as  a  letter-carrier,  and  to-day  enjoys  his  open-air  work  the  better 
the  lower  sinks  the  mercury  in  the  thermometer.  The  Clerk  of  the  VV^eather 
can  threaten  him  in  vain,  though  he  is  now  on  a  route  that  taxes  the  energies  of 
the  strongest  men  ;  nor  does  he,  though  a  somewhat  spare  man,  find  it  necessary 
to  wear  a  heavy  fur  overcoat  or  any  extraordinary  wraps,  even  in  the  cold  snaps, 
and  we  have  lately  had  many  days  when  the  thermometer  has  registered  below 
zero,  once  reaching  — 14.  The  rules  in  regard  to  food  may  need  the  exercise  of 
judgment,  as  necessarily  all  such  rules  must  do,  in  view  of  the  great  variety  of 
circumstances  and  constitutions. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Dkar  Sir, — Realizing  the  hard  position  of  an  editor  of  a  Freethought  journal 
in  pleasing  his  subscribers,  and  knowing  the  great  aversion  of  Freethinkers  to  the 
idea  of  intelligence  in  the  cosmos,  I  send  you  the  enclosed  with  the  liberty  to 
accept  or  reject  as  you  may  deem  fit.  If  a  riv«.r  is  to  be  crossed,  the  bridge 
cannot  be  destroyed,  hence  your  magazine  must  have  the  preference.  Ideas 
cannot  be  forced  upon  people ;  there  must  be  a  demand.  Your  position  is  a 
trying  one  wi  h  little  to  encourage.  But  a  change  must  come.  Rationalists 
must  go  forward  ;  superstition  must  be  conquered — and  it  will  be.  Use  your  own 
judgment.  Yours  truly, 

John   Maddock. 


'MS  THERE  INTELLIGENCE  IN  MATTER?" 

In  your  issue  of  Jan.  28th  A.  Elvins  asks  the  above  question  and  wants  "  some 
light  "  upon  the  subject.  This  is  the  supreme  question  of  this  rationalistic  age,, 
and  upon  an  answer  in  the  affirmative  hangs  the  fate  of  all  existing  religious  and 
philosophic  theories  ;  upon  such  an  answer  reason  is  furnished  with  a  new 
premise  and  a  new  impetus  is  given  to  pure  science.  By  the  revelations  of 
Nature  it  can  be  positively  said  that  there  is  intelligence  in  matter.  Intelligence 
cannot  abide  anywhere  else,  since  it  must  have  substance  to  reside  in  ;  it  cannot 
be  in  nothing.  All  that  is  lacking  in  the  Monism  of  Haeckel  to  make  it  pure 
science  is  the  principle  of  intelligence  which  resides  in  matter  and  is  a  property 
of  it.  In  the  evolution,  transmutation  and  differentiation  of  forms  from  the 
lowest  cell  life  up  to  the  highest  intelligent  man,  there  are  natural,  material  reve- 
lations of  the  work  of  intelligence  m  specific  adaptations  to  specific  ends,  just  as 
much  as  there  are  in  the  evolutions  of  the  palatial  ocean  steamship  from  the 
primitive  dug-out  canoe,  and  in  the  unfoldments  revealed  in  the  wonderful 
changes  made  by  intelligent  man  from  the  primitive  matchlock  to  the  modern 
rapid  firing  gun.  Reason  is  obliged  to  admit  that  ingenious,  specific  combines 
to  specific  ends  could  not  have  been  made  by  blind,  mechanical  force  or  matter, 
any  more  than  the  evolution  of  the  ocean  steamer  could  come  about  by  a  blind, 
unconscious,  unintelligent  man.     The  science  of  the  evolution  of  forms  from,  the 


92  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


great  cosmic  womb  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  origin  of  the  cosmos.  It  does 
not  matter  whether  the  cosmos  is  6,000  or  6,000,000  years  old  or  whether  it  is 
eternal,  the  question  of  man's  relation  to  it  is  the  only  one  that  can  concern  the 
Rationalist.  John  Maddock. 


THE  DECAY  OF  ESTHETIC  AND  RATIONAL  IDEALS. 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

De\r  Sir,— In  your  July  issue  (No  14)  I  note  your  comments  on  the  N.  Y. 
Sun's  article  on  the  "  Decay  of  Christianity,"  as  well  as  your  obituary  editorial 
on  the  demise  of  the  Boston  I nvesti orator.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the 
decadence  of  the  ideals  of  early  Christianity.  What  is  to-day  taught  and  preached 
is  merely  priestianity  and  Churchianity  in  their  chase  after  wealth  and  power. 

But  the  same  spirit  is  also  manifest  among  rationalists  to  a  very  large  extent, 
which  of  course  partly  accounts  for  the  demise  of  the  Investigator  and  for  the 
strugiiling  existence  of  the  remaining  rational  journals.  And  if  you  will  investi- 
gate I  think  you  will  find  that  there  is  less  demand  for  poetry  and  other  idealistic 
literature  than  there  used  to  be  ;  the  exception  is  only  in  trashy  novels,  for  the 
same  reason  that  whisky  and  tobacco  are  consumed — that  misery  and  poverty 
love  company. 

Now  I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  we,  as  rationalists,  cannot  blame 
the  public  at  large  for  their  indifference  toward  the  idealistic  side  of  life,  when 
our  economic  cond  tions  have  come  to  such  an  acute  stage  that  with  the  most  of 
us  it  is  getting  to  be  a  question  of  bread  —not  to  mention  butter,  for  the  law  of 
self-preservation  holds  good  in  all  ages  and  with  all  classes.  VVe  cannot  expect 
very  hi^h  ideals  with  the  idealists  starving  and  wearing  rags,  and  mostly  posing  as 
social  outcasts  also. 

And  the  end  is  not  yet,  there  will  be  a  still  further  slump  in  idealism  ;  and  in 
the  meantime  the  clergy  will  bind  or  rather  crush  men's  minds,  while  the  capital- 
ist binds  their  bodies,  as  those  two  classes  work  together  in  the  game  of  playing 
the  public  for  suckers.     So  look  out  for  breakers  ahead  !  ! 

Enclosed  you  will  find  an  order  for  a  Unit  of  Modern  Superstition.  It  will 
put  my  tab  ahead  six  months.  Upon  close  study  and  investigation  you  will  find 
that  this  is  one  of  the  links  in  the  chain  that  binds  the  whole  human  race,  eco- 
nomically as  well  as  mentally,  and  which  it  is  your  mission,  as  journalist  and 
educator,  to  loosen.  If  you  either  refuse  or  fail  to  do  so  it  is  liable  to  bind  you 
yourself  as  tight  as  the  rest  of  us — at  least  economically  speaking. 

Tne  extra  quarter  is  for  yourself,  and  wishing  yoa  the  compliments  of  the 
season,  I  remain,  Yours  truly,  J.  S.  Odegaard 


"  Until  I  met  you,^'  Matilda,"  he  murmured  in  a  voice  husky  with  emotion,*'  I 
believed  that  ail  women  were  deceitful  ;  but  when  I  look  into  your  clear,  beauti- 
ful eyes  I  behold  there  the  very  soul  of  candor  and  loyalty." 

"  George,"  she  exclaimed  with  enthusiasm,  "  this  is  the  happiest  moment  I  have 
4vncwn  since  papa  took  me  to  the  London  oculist." 

*'  London  oculist  ! " 

"  Yes,  dear  ;  you  never  would  have  known  that  my  left  eye  was  a  glass  one." 

Then  the  moon  went  under  a  cloud,  and  Georgie  sat  dcwn  and  buried  his 
Xac&'in  the  sofa  cushion. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  93 


BOOK     NOTICES 


••A  NEW  PHILOSOPHY." 

This  is  ihe  title  of  a   handsome   little  volume  by  Arthur  Crane,  of  Room  447, 
No.  129  Third  Street,  San  Francisco,  who  in  a  Publisher's  Note  says  : 

*'  Truth  is  not  for  sale.  No  one  can  buy  a  copy  of  this  book,  and  no  one  can 
have  it  at  a'l  unless  he  receives  it  as  an  absolutely  free  gift  andean  get  a  message 
without  feeling  under  any  obligation  whatever.  As  long  as  I  can  earn  enough  to 
do  so,  I  will  send  a  copy  of  this  book  to  every  applicant  gratis  and  postage  paid. 
I  have  a  little  ahead,  so  that  no  contributions  are  needed,  and  probably  never 
will  be." 

We  are  alwajs  chary  of  listening  to  propositions  which  come  to  us  on  the  pro 
mising  condition  of  "  No  cure  no  pay  ; "  but  here  we  have  one  which,  like  the 
church's  gospel,  is  "  without  money  and  without  price."  Surely  there  can  be  no 
deception  here.  A  whole  scheme  of  brand-new  philosophy  free  for  the  asking — 
and  postage  paid  !  We  have  read  Mr.  Crane's  volume,  from  the  first  chapter, 
"  The  Order  of  the  Infinite,"  in  which  he  gives  us  this  formula  : 

Suggestive  Table  for  Illustration  Only. 
Voltage  of  minerals=^say  i-iooo  volt. 
Voltage  of  liquids=say  1-500  volt. 
Voltage  of  telephone  electricity=say  2  volts. 
Voltage  of  electric  light  electricity==say  200  volts. 
Voltage  of  Marconigrams=say  30,000  volts. 
Voltage  of  thought=say  500,000  volts. 
Voltage  of  pure  unselfish  love=say  infinite  voltage. 

to  the  last  page,  in  which  he  writes  : 

"  When  we  wake  up  to  the  Ever-presence  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore. 
Not  the  pleasures  of  sense,  but  the  immortal  joys  of  love.  Not  the  joys  of 
getting  love,  but  the  joys  of  loving.  Loving  is  the  most  sublime  joy  conceivable. 
Loving  IS  joy." 

And  we  feel  inclined  to  accept  his  offer  in  his  Publisher's  Note  where  he  tells 
us  that 

"Those  needing  special  advice  that  they  think  I  could  be  the  means  of  giving 
them  should  write  me  fully  and  freely,  telling  me  all  about  themselves.  If  I  then 
feel  any  special  message  for  them,  it  will  give  me  supreme  pleasure  to  write  it  to 
them." 

For,  after  reading  the  volume,  we  really  feel  that  to  understand  what  the  author 
is  driving  at  we  need  some  personal  communication  with  him.  But  perhaps  he 
will  "  feel  a  message  "  for  us  that  will  save  us  the  trouble.  And  yet  we  anticipate 
that  some  of  those  who  send  for  the  volume  an(4  read  it  through  will  feel,  like 
ourselves,  somewhat  doubtful  about  consulting  Mr.  Crane  further,  though  others 
may  feel  differently.  This  is  an  age  of  wonders— of  miracles,  we  had  almost 
written.     By  all  means,  we  say,  then,  send  to  Mr.  Crane  fur  a  volume,  and  pray 


M  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


hard  that  he  may  feel  a  message  for  you.  It  may  do  you  some  good,  and  it  can 
hardly  do  you  much  harm.  "  Hope  tells  a  flattering  tale,"  and  a  Crane  talk  will 
certainly  not  be  so  objectionable,  if  not  so  powerful,  as  a  dose  of  julep  or  a  fly 
plaster. 


We  have  received  a  number  of  valuable  Dominion  Government  Blue-books  — 
the  annual  reports  of  the  different  Government  departments  at  Ottawa  — which 
may  be  consulted  at  our  office.  They  include  the  Statutes  passed  in  1904,  List 
of  Members,  and  Reports  of  departments  of  Trade  and  Commerce,  Agriculture, 
Justice,  the  (Geographic  Board,  and  the  Interior.  The  last  is  illustrated  with  a 
large  number  of  full-page  photo-engravings. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


THE  RURAL  PARSON. 

"  Oh,  I  am  the  cook  and  the  housemaid  bold. 

And  the  nurse  of  the  infants  three. 
And  the  man  of-all-work,  and  the  parish  clerk, 

And  the  lawyer  without  a  fee." 

"  Oh,  clerical  man,  it's  little  I  know 

Of  the  duties  of  men  of  this  See, 
But  I'll  eat  my  hand  if  I  understand 

How  you  can  possibly  be  : 

"  At  once  the  cook  and  the  housemaid  bold. 

And  the  nurse  of  the  infants  three, 
And  the  man-of-all-work  and  the  parish  clerk, 

And  the  lawyer  without  a  fee." 

Then  he  gave  a  twitch  to  his  waistcoat,  which 

Is  a  trick  all  parsons  learn, 
And  blowing  his  nose,  and  squaring  his  toes, 

He  spun  this  painfful  yarn  : 

*•  Oh,  I  am,  you  see,  a  poor  D.D., 

Whose  lot  is  a  country  cure. 
Five  hundred  a  year,  and  living  is  dear. 

And  my  family  might  be  fewer. 

^'  And  my  wife  is  ill,  and  the  doctor's  bill 

Is  something  that  keeps  me  awake, 
So  I  do  all  the  work  and  try  not  to  shirk 
While  creditors  make  me  quake. 

"  And  I  never  grieve,  and  I  never  smile. 

And  I  never  laugh  nor  play, 
But  I  work  and  work,  and  a  single  quirk 

Ihave,  which  is  to  say  : 

^'  Oh,  I  am  the  cook  and  the  housemaid  bold, 

And  the  nurse  of  the  infants  three. 
And  the  man-»of-all-work,  and  the  parish  clerk. 
And  the  lawyer  without  a  fee." 
Montreal  Star.  A.  C. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  95 


POPULATION  OF  JAPAN. 
Japan's  population  reaches  a  total  of  at  least  5,000,000  more  than  Great 
Britain.  With  Formosa  and  the  other  annexations  the  Japanese  people  numbered 
46,500,000  six  years  ago,  and  they  were  then  increasing  at  the  rate  of  500,000  a 
year.  Japan  has  also  some  very  big  towns.  Tokio  has  a  population  of  about 
1,500,000,  Osaka  between  800,000  and  900,000,  and  there  are  twenty  others 
with  a  population  of  more  than  50,000  each. 

GOLDWIN  SMITH'S  LOGIC. 

Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  steadily  preaches  against  war  as  if  some  one  were  in  favor 
of  it.  He  as  steadily  tries  to  create  the  impression  that  the  Imperialists— and 
especially  Mr.  Chamberlain — love  war.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  no  more  love 
war  than  the  citizen  loves  to  see  the  policeman's  club  employed.  But  when  a 
nation's  life  is  to  be  defended,  whether  at  its  hearth-stone  or  on  its  *'  far-flung 
battle  line,"  war  is  as  necessary  as  is  the  use  of  a  policeman's  club  when  a  citizen's 
life  or  purse  is  to  be  protected.  The  only  question  is,  What  is  a  nation  justified 
in  regarding  as  a  defence  of  its  life  ?  Should  England  abandon  India  because  it 
( ould  do  so  without  immediate  national  death  ?  Most  will  admit,  however,  that 
national  decay  would  follow  the  abandonment  of  India  and  the  rest  of  her  Em- 
pire ;  and  that  such  national  "  death  "  as  Holland  suffered  could  not  fail  to  follow. 
And  if  India  is  not  to  be  abandoned,  then  surely  it  is  legitimate  to  provide 
against  attack  by  such  expeditions  as  those  to  Cabul  and  Lhassa,  instead  of 
sitting  down  until  the  enemy  is  filing  through  the  mountain  passes. — Montreal 
Star. 


WOOING  A  SCHOOLTEACHER. 

**  Yes,"  said  a  young  man,  as  he  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  pretty  school- 
mistress, **  I  love  y(ju  and  would  go  to  the  world's  end  for  you" 

"  You  could  not  go  to  the  end  of  the  world  for  me,  James.  The  world,  or  the 
earth,  as  it  is  called,  is  round  like  a  ball,  slightly  flattened  at  the  poles.  One  of 
the  first  lessons  of  elementary  geography  is  devoted  to  the  shape  of  the  globe. 
You  must  have  studied  it  when  you  were  a  boy." 

'*  Of  course  I  did,  but  " 

**  And  it  is  no  longer  a  theory.     Circumnavigators  have  established  the  fact.'* 

'*  I  know,  but  what  I  meant  was  that  I  would  do  anything  to  please  you.  Ah, 
Minerva,  if  you  knew  the  aching  void" 

"  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  void,  James.  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum.  Bui, 
admitting  that  there  could  be  such  a  thing,  how  could  the  void  you  speak  of  be 
a  void  if  there  were  an  ache  in  it  ?  " 

"  I  meant  to  say  that  my  life  will  be  lonely  without  you  ;  that  you  are  my  daily 
thought  and  my  nightly  dream.  I  would  go  anywhere  to  be  with  you.  If  you 
were  in  Australia  or  at  the  North   Pole,  I  would  fly  to  you.     I  " 

"  Fly  !  It  will  be  another  century  before  men  can  fly.  Even  when  the  laws 
of  gravitation  are  successfully  overcome,  there  will  still  remain,  says  a  late  scien- 
tific authority,  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  balance  " 

"  Well,  at  all  events  !  "  exclaimed  the  youth,  "  I've  got  a  pretty  fair  balance  in 
the  bank,  and  I  want  you  to  be  my  wife.     There  ! " 

"  Well,  James,  since  you  put  it  in  that  light,.  I  " 

Curtain. 


96  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


AN  IDEAL  CHURCH. 

Mrs.  Newcombe — Yes,  our  new  house  is  delighiful,  and  there's  such  a  nice 
church  near  it." 

Mrs.  Mooven — Indeed  !     What  denomination  ? 

Mrs.  Newcombe — I  declare  I  don't  know,  but  the  pews  are  so  arranged  that 
«:you  can  see  every  one  who  comes  in  without  the  slightest  trouble. 


•'HOCH,  HOCH,   FUR  GO  FT." 

'It  is  the  general  conviction,  based  on  the  German  Kaiser's  own  acts  and 
'Words,  that  he  holds  a  very  exalted  opinion  of  his  greatness  and  personal  preroga- 
tive as  an  emperor.  So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  it  is  dangerous  to  criticise 
him,  lest  one  shall  be  convicted  of  "  lese  majesty  "  and  condemned  to  severe 
punishment. 

At  a  harvest  festival  recently,  a  woman  named  Helmholtz  cried  out  in  the 
exuberance  of  her  thankfulness,  "  Hoch,  hoch,  fur  Gott."  This  is  about  the 
German  equivalent  for  the  Russian  Alexieff's  "  Hurrah  for  our  God  !  "  A  police- 
man questioned  the  woman,  why  she  did  not,  as  is  the  custom,  reserve  this  form 
of  salutation  for  his  majesty  the  kaiser.  She  answered  that  she  thought  the 
kaiser  himself  would  admit  that  God  came  first. 

Frau  Helmholtz  was  prosecuted  for  "  lese  majesty  " — disrespect  for  the  kaiser 
— and  subjected  to  a  fine  or  ten  days'  imprisonment.  An  appeal  to  the  kaiser 
swas  ignored  by  him. 

The  Kaiser  is  said  to  be  content  now  that  it  has  been  settled  by  law  that  he 
takes  precedence  over  "  Gott," — at  least  in  Germany. 


VVh  n  the  Russ  gels  hurt  in  a  fight  he  praises  and  thankskys  his  great  Godsky 
that  it's  no  worsky,  and  prays  for  helpsky  to  killsky  and  skinsky  the  enemiesky. 
AVhen  the  Chinese  or  Jap  meets  a  stinging  mishap  that  makes  one  eye  lookee 
like  three,  he  goes  to  his  boxee  and  takee  the  smallee,  no  goodee  godee  by  the 
headee,  and  him  breakee  and  smashee  every  timee. 


Dr.  George  C  Lorimer,  of  the  Madison  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York, 
when  visiting  Philadelphia  recently,  told  this  story  : 

"  It  is  queer  what  a  liking  some  young  students  have  for  long  words  and  Latin 
quotations,  and  what  a  dread  possesses  them  of  appearing  conventional.  I  once 
knew  a  promising  young  student  who  was  pliced  in  charge  of  a  funeral  in  the 
absence  of  the  pastor  of  the  church.  He  knew  it  was  customary  for  the  minister 
to  announce  after  the  sermon  that  those  w^ho  wished  should  step  up  to  view  the 
remains,  but  he  thought  ihis  was  too  hackneyed  a  phrase,  and  instead  of  it  he 
said  :  '  The  congregation  will  now  pass  around  the  bier. 


}  »j 


A  well-known  minister  in  the  West  tells  this  good  joke  against  himself.  He 
had  been  conducting  a  service  at  a  home  for  incurables  in  a  Manitoba  town,  and 
had  for  one  of  his  auditors  a  paralytic,  who,  as  he  lay  helplessly  back  in  his 
wheel  chair,  appeared  by  frequent  nods  of  approval  to  be  greatly  appreciating 
the  sermon.  At  the  close,  the  minister  approached  his  interested  hearer  to  bid 
him  farewell,  when  the  latter  whispered,  "  How  long  have  you  been  at  this 
work  ?  "  On  the  minister  replying  that  he  had  been  preaching  for  se^veral  years, 
ihis  intetlocutor  calmly  remarked,  "  Don't  you  think  it  about  time  you  pulled  out 
vand  went  ioto  some  honest  business  ?  " 


SEC  CJLAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bu5.  Msrr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  4. 

TORONTO,  FEB.  25, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

lpb?0ical  llmmoraUt?. 


:o: 


Perhaps  nothing  will  so  much  hasten  the  time  when  body  and 
mind  will  both  be  adequately  cared  for  as  a  diffusion  of  the 
belief  that  the  preservation  of  health  is  a  duty.  Few  seem 
conscious  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  physical  morality.* 
Men's  habitual  words  and  acts  imply  the  idea  that  they  are 
at  liberty  to  treat  their  bodies  as  they  please.  Disorders  en- 
tailed by  disobedience  to  nature's  dictates  they  regard  simply 
as  grievances,  not  as  the  effects  of  a  conduct  more  or  less 
flagitious.  Though  the  evil  consequences  inflicted  on  their 
dependants  and  on  future  generations  are  often  as  great  as 
those  caused  by  crime,  yet  they  do  not  think  themselves  in  any 
degree  criminal.  It  is  true  that,  in  the  case  of  drunkenness, 
the  viciousness  of  a  purely  bodily  transgression  is  recognized, 
but  none  appear  to  infer  that,  if  this  bodily  transgression  is 
vicious,  so  too  is  every  bodily  transgression.  The  fact  is,  that 
all  breaches  of  the  laws  of  health  are  physical  sins.  When 
this  is  generally  seen,  then,  and  perhaps  not  till  then,  will  the 
physical  training  of  the  young  receive  all  the  attention  it 
deserves. — Herbert  Spencer  (Edticatioji), 

EDITORIALS. 

THE  NEW  EDUCATION  QUESTION  IN  CANADA. 

We  ju'e  very  glad  to  see  the  Toronto  Telegram  sticking  to  its  guns  in  the 
matter  of  the  education  clauses  in  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier's  new  hills.  In 
an  article  on  Feh.  23rd  it  points  out  that  these  hills  dig  a  pit  for  the 
Liherals  just  as  in  189()  the  Remedial  Bill  dug  a  pit  for  the  Conservatives. 


98  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


In  the  present  case,  however,  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition  seem  inclined 
to  help  the  Government,  with  the  idea  of  conciliating  the  hierarchy,  in 
view  of  future  events,  but  such  an  idea  is  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Loyalty  and  honor  are  not  failings  of  the  Catholic  priesthood,  and  every 
new  opportunity  invariably  means  a  new  concession  for  them. 

The  Conservative  party  to-day  have  an  exactly  similar  opportunity  to. 
that  they  made  for  the  Liberals  in  1896.  If  they  miss  it,  they  deserve 
the  defeat  the  Telegram  prophecies  for  them.  On  the  following  day  the 
same  paper  published  this  editorial : 

"  Laurier  Bill  is  an  Infamy. 

'*  Ontario  cannot  be  taught  wisdom  by  falsehoods  like  the  following 
from  the  Toronto  Star  : 

"  The  leading  public  men  of  both  political  parties  at  Ottawa,  and  in  the  West,  are 
satisfied  that  the  school  arrangement  made  in  1875  can  safely  be  continued." 

"  The  Star  may  be  in  the  confidence  of  the  '  leading  men  of  both  poli- 
tical parties,'  who  probably  know  the  utter  and  stupid  falsity  of  the 
suggestion  that  theLaurier  bill  merely  continues  the  school  arrangement 
made  in  '75. 

*'  The  school  arrangement  made  in  1875  tolerated  Separate  schools 
upon  conditions  fixed  by  the  Territories. 

"  The  Laurier  bill  of  1905  establishes  Separate  schools,  regardless  of 
conditions  laid  down  by  the  new  Provinces. 

"  The  school  arrangement  made  in  1875  enabled  the  Territories  to 
insist  on  properly  certificated  teachers,  to  control  the  text-books,  and 
govern  Separate  schools. 

''  The  Laurier  bill  of  1905  enables  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to 
claim  its  per  capita  share  of  public  taxation  and  public  land  for  anything 
which  the  hierarchy  may  choose  to  call  a  Separate  school. 

**  The  school  arrangement  made  in  1875,  bad  as  it  was,  left  the  Terri- 
tories with  some  right  to  impose  standards  of  efficiency  upon  every  school 
sharing  in  public  money  or  public  lands. 

*'  The  Laurier  bill  of  1905  leaves  the  new  Provinces  with  no  option 
but  to  hand  over  the  _pfr  capita  share  of  public  lands  and  public  money 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy. 

"  The  school  arrangement  made  in  1875  left  State  aid  to  Separate 
schools  conditional  upon  the  efficiency  of  those  schools. 

"  The  Laurier  bill  of  1905  makes  State  aid  to  Roman  Catholic  schools 
compulsory,  regardless  of  the  efficiency  of  these  schools. 

"  The  Tupper  Government  was  served  by  a  poor  lot  of  coercionist 
organs  in  1896,  but  the  Laurier  Government  has  in  the  Globe's  '  learned 
junior  '  a  coercionist  organ  whose  columns  are  daily  the  scene  of  a  St„ 
Bartholomew's  massacre  of  everlasting  principles  and  eternal  truths."^ 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  99 

The  Telegram  mtiy  be  excused  for  its  metaphorical  lapse  in  making 
the  Star  kill  the  immortal,  but  we  are  glad  to  recognize  its  justice  and 
moderation  in  setting  forth  the  features  of  the  new  bills.  As  will  be 
seen,  these  bills  leave  the  new  Provinces  no  alternative  but  to  permit 
the  establishment  of  any  Separate  schools  the  hierarchy  may  demand, 
with  the  right  to  share  on  equal  terms  with  the  Public  schools  in  the 
school  taxes  and  lands,  and  without  any  educational  tests. 

SIR  WILl^RID  LAURIER'S  SPEECH. 
In  his  speech  introducing  tlie  bills  the  Dominion  Premier  made  what 
is  described  as  "  a  brilliant  effort."  It  certainly  was  a  wordy  speech, 
but  its  concluding  passage  seems  sufficient  to  justify  us  in  damning  its 
author  as  a  narrow-minded  and  bigoted  partisan,  totally  incapable  of 
taking  a  broad  and  rational  view  of  intellectual  questions.  He  may  be 
a  cunning  politician,  a  verbose  and  fluent  speaker,  and  a  fair  scholar  ; 
but  he  is  evidently  an  apt  pupil  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Speaking  of 
the  effect  of  religious  teaching  upon  public  morality,  he  concluded  with 
this  '*  eloquent  and  patriotic  "  peroration  : 

**  When  I  compare  these  two  countries,  when  I  compare  Canada  with 
the  United  States,  when  I  compare  the  status  of  the  two  nations,  when 
I  think  upon  their  future,  when  I  observe  the  social  conditions  of  the 
civil  society  in  each  of  them,  and  when  I  observe  in  this  country  of  ours 
a  total  absence  of  lynchings  and  almost  total  absence  of  divorces  and 
murders,  for  my  part  I  thank  heaven  that  we  are  living  in  a  country 
where  the  young  children  of  the  land  are  taught  Christian  morals  and 
Christian  dogmas.  Either  the  American  S3^stem  is  right  or  the  Canadian 
system  is  right.  They  cannot  both  be  right.  For  my  part,  I  say,  and 
I  say  it  without  any  hesitation,  I  know  that  we  are  in  the  right ;  and  in 
this  instance,  as  in  many  others,  I  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  institu- 
tions of  my  own  country." 

Fittingly  the  Telegram  comments  upon  the  logic  and  sense  of  this 
amazing  utterance : 

**  The  preceding  words  were  addressed  to  the  people  of  Canada  by  their 
Premier  amid  all  the  solemnity  of  a  real  Parliament. 

"  Such  words  might  more  reasonably  be  expected  from  an  eighteen- 
year-old  schoolboy  in  the  empty  debates  of  a  mock  Parliament. 

"  There  are  no  lynchings  in  Canada  and  there  are  Separate  schools  in 
Canada.  There  are  lynchings  in  the  United  States  and  there  are  no 
Se[)arate  schools  in  the  United  States.  The  absence  of  lynchings  in 
Canada  is  due  to  the  presence  of  Separate  schools.     The  presence  of 


100  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


lynching  in  the  United  States  is  clue  to  the  absence  of  Separate  schools. 
Great  logic — powerful  deduction — is  it  not  ? 

"  The  logic  is  not  great — the  deduction  is  not  sound — but  the  logic 
and  the  deduction  are  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier's  own 

"  It  is  a  national  humiliation,  fh'st  that  a  Premier  of  Canada  should 
introduce  such  a  reactionary  .neasure  as  the  Laurier  bill,  and  thirteenth 
and  lastly,  that  a  Premier  of  Canada  should  employ  arguments  so  shal- 
low and  worthless  that  it  would  be  utterly  impolite  to  affix  the  true 
names  and  proper  labels  to  them." 

The  Government  that  plays  with  religious  questions  deserves  defeat. 

The  politician  who  expects  from  the  hierarchy  anything  more  than 
the  price  they  bargain  to  give  in  the  immediate  case  is  a  blind  optimist. 

Sir  Wilfrid's  majority  in  Parliament  is  a  large  one,  and  he  controls 
the  Senate,  but  his  success  on  this  occasion,  we  believe,  will  seal  his  fate 
in  the  next  election. 

In  the  meantime,  he  will  have  sold  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  rew 
Provinces  to  his  co-religionists,  and  will  leave  them  to  fight  a  hard  battle 
with  the  reactionaries. 

Practically,  the  new  bill  means  a  Canadian  Concordat  with  Rome. 

If  it  carries,  by  the  time  the  new  Provinces  are  fairly  populated  they 
will,  with  Quebec  and  the  Catholics  of  the  other  Provinces,  form  a  large 
majority  of  the  people  of  Canada ;  and  their  children  and  their  votes 
will  be  almost  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Catholic  power. 

THE  DIFFICULTY  OF  THE  SITUATION. 

The  real  difficulty  of  the  situation,  and  what  gives  the  Government 
the  opportunity  of  betraying  the  people  on  this  education  question,  is 
the  fact  that,  led  by  the  preachers,  and  even  by  men  likeGoldwin  Smith, 
the  Protestants  as  well  as  the  Catholics  of  Canada  firmly  believe  that 
the  national  morality  would  suffer  if  some  sort  of  religion  were  not 
taught  in  the  public  schools.  The  perfunctory  repeating  of  the  "  Lord's 
Prayer"  and  some  passage  from  the  Bible  are  accepted  by  most  people 
as  sufficient — just  enough  to  impress  upon  the  scholars  the  "  sacred  " 
character  of  the  religious  teaching. 

The  connection  between  morality  and  religion  is  not  easy  of  elucida- 
tion, though  the  abundantly  manifest  concrete  evidence  distinctly  shows 
religion  to  have  utterly  failed  in  producing  either  a  moral  world  or  a 
physically  sound  race.  Yet  religion,  even  in  its  crankiest  forms,  has  in 
many  individual  cases  apparently  produced  great  effects  for  good  ;  and 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  101 

in  some  cases,  no  doubt,  religious  hopes  and  fears  do  act  as  a  restrain- 
ing»force.  The  same  may  be  said,  also,  of  many  other  matters  of  faith 
and  knowledge.  Probably  cranks  and  lunatics  are  as  moral  as  religious 
folks  generally. 

A  few  years  ago,  it  will  be  remembered,  a  preacher  named  Farthing, 
of  Woodbridge,  publicly  acknowledged  in  a  discussion  with  us,  that  he 
would  have  been  the  worst  scoundrel  in  Canada  were  it  not  for  his  hope 
of  heaven  and  dread  of  hell.  The  difficulty  is  to  teach  such  embryo 
fiends  that  morality  depends  upon  other  considerations  than  the  police 
man's  truncheon  or  the  promises  or  threats  of  a  god. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  man  who  has  his  heart,  his  eye,  and  his  hand 
upon  another  man's  gold  is  already  lost  to  morality,  whether  he  takes 
the  gold  or  not.  We  may  regard  it  as  hyperbolic  to  say  that  '*  whosoever 
looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her  hath  committed  adultery  with  her 
already  in  his  heart ;"  but  it  is  conceivable  that  a  time  may  come  when 
men's  thoughts  and  passions  may  be  so  under  control  that  even  this  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  common  and  sound  moral  maxim. 

The  restraining  influence  of  a  religious  faith  is  only  another  form  of 
the  policeman's  club  idea,  and  the  men  who  make  these  things  neces- 
sary may  be  religious,  but  they  certainly  are  not  moral. 

We  may  ask,  what  religious  dogmas  can  be  considered  as  moral  ?  It 
can  hardly  have  much  to  do  with  morality  to  believe  that  Jesus  wrought 
miracles,  that  devils  were  driven  out  of  a  man  into  a  herd  of  pigs  and 
that  water  was  turned  into  wine  ;  that  Jesus  was  half-man  and  half-god, 
and  that  he  was  the  son  of  his  god-father  and  yet  as  old  as  his  father ; 
that  he  was  also  the  son  of  a  ghost,  and  yet  that  this  ghost  proceeded 
from  both  son  and  father;  that  there  is  a  trinity  of  gods — father,  son, 
and  ghost  ?  And  yet,  if  these  things  are  not  believed,  how  can  Chris-^ 
tianity  stand  ? 

It  is  ridiculous  to  imagine  that  religious  beliefs  can  affect  morality, 
except  to  degrade  it.  Morality  depends  upon  knowledge  and  the  ability 
to  judge  of  the  effects  of  speech  and  action.  The  religion  that  subjects 
men's  consciences  to  the  alleged  authority  of  God,  or  Pope,  or  Bible  has 
no  relation  to  morality.  It  makes  men  slaves  to  superstition,  and  they 
must  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  before  they  can  distinguish  evil  from 
good  and  become  moral  beings. 

And  yet,  it  seems  as  if  the  hands  of  the  new  Provinces  will  be  tied 
by  their  constitution,  and  their  school  system  practically  handed  over  to 
the  Romanists,  because  the  Prptestants  are  afraid  that  their  fetish  Bible 


102  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

may  lose  its  hold  if  it  is  not  beaten  into  the  children's  heads  by  the 
school  teacher's  stick. 

DR.  MILLIGAN'S  VIEW. 

Dr.  Milligan  the  other  day  gave  to  an  interviewer  his  views  of  the 
matter  in  this  shape  : 

'*  It  is  a  very  difficult  position  to  state,  in  the  circumstances,  as  one 
would  like.  I  am  one  with  the  Roman  Catholics  in  believing  that  the 
religious  element  should  be  an  integral  part  of  school  education.  It 
shoud  not  be  relegated  as  a  side  matter  in  the  programme  of  daily 
studies,  to  he  taken  up  somehow  by  some  one  if  desired.  No  one  can 
teach  any  branch  of  study,  secular  or  sacred,  as  a  teacher  may  be  ex- 
pected to  do,  not  even  clerg}'men,  as  a  rule — not,  indeed  it  may  be  even 
said,  they — unless  at  one  time  of  their  lives  they  have  been  teachers." 

*'  But  how  can  State  schools  do  this  with  so  many  different  views  on 
religious  questions  ?  "  asked  the  interviewer  : 

"  Surely  there  are  other  dogmas  than  those  pertaining  to  sect  and 
ritual  upon  which  all  are  agreed,  and  which  the  very  life  of  a  nation 
demands  should  be  known  and  practised  by  its  people.  A  prophet  of 
old  said  God  would  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  more  than  burnt  offering.  This  is  the  distinction  that  should 
be  maintained  between  ritualistic  and  essential  dogma." 

Dr.  Milligan  is  wise  in  his  generation,  and  knows  how  to  evade  the 
Catholic  objections  to  the  very  things  he  proposes.  Even  supposing  it 
were  possible  to  separate  the  essentials  of  religion  "  upon  which  all  are 
agreed  " — what  an  agreement ! — from  sectarian  dogmas,  it  would  still  be 
impossible  to  satisfy  the  Catholics.  They  want  in  the  schools,  not  reli- 
•  gion,  but  a  priest — a  priest,  paid  from  the  State  funds,  in  fall  charge  of 
the  "  education,"  sacred  and  secular. 

Dr.  Milligan,  of  course,  does  not  give  us  any  list  of  dogmas  on  which 
all  Christians  are  agreed.  He  and  his  fellows  appear  to  want  religion 
of  some  sort — or  almost  any  sort — forced  on  the  children  by  the  school 
authority.  Let  that  be  done,  and  the  churches  will  do  the  rest.  He 
would  doubtless  like  to  teach  the  true  Protestant  doctrines  and  exclude 
the  false  Catholic  ones,  but  is  willing  to  compromise  so  long  as  religious 
dogmas  of  some  sort  are  taught. 

It  was  a  terrible  thing  when,  a  year  or  two  ago,  the  French  Govern- 
ment decided  to  abolish  all  references  to  *'  god  "  from  the  school  books. 
But  the  French  Government  was  both  wise  and  logical.     The  teaching  of 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  103 

*'  god  "  and  his  attributes,  benevolent  or  malevolent,  as  a  piece  of  cer- 
tain knowledge,  is  enough  to  vitiate  a  great  deal  of  what  is  commonly 
taught  in  schools,  and  certainly  violates  the  fundamental  basis  of  ethics. 

Who  knows  anything  at  all  about  "  god  ?  "  With  *'  god  "  forced  into 
them,  the  lessons  of  modern  science  are  half  destroyed.  And  Dr.  Milli- 
gan  and  his  fellows  know  that,  unless  the  existence  of  "  god  "  be  taught 
as  a  truth  as  certain  as  the  rotundity  of  the  earth,  belief  in  it  will  soon 
evaporate.  With  it,  all  the  rest  of  the  rigmarole  of  religious  teaching 
follows  naturall}'. 

Like  a  true  ecclesiastic.  Dr.  Milligan,  asked  what  he  thought  of  a  purely 
secular  system  of  education  as  a  solution  of  the  difficulty,  said  he  was 
strongly  opposed  to  it.  He  was  in  favor  of  giving  the  Catholics  Separate 
schools — ''  anything  but  secularism."  And  so  he  is  ready  to  sell  his 
country  to  the  Scarlet  Woman  rather  than  allow  a  rational  system  of 
State  education  to  be  established. 

PREMIER  HAULTAIN,  OF  THE  TERRITORIES. 

Mr.  Haultain  proves  distinctly  the  falsity  of  the  two  claims — that  the 
Territories  are  satisfied,  and  that  the  Laurier  bill  simply  continues  the 
agreement  of  1875.  His  draft  bill  was  so  phrased  as  to  leave  education 
wholly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Province,  and  even  if  Parliament 
imposes  Separate  schools  upon  the  West,  he  objects  to  the  clause  relating 
to  the  division  of  the  school  funds.     This  clause  reads  : 

"  In  the  appropriation  of  public  moneys  by  the  Legislature  in  aid  of  education,  and 
in  the  distnbution  of  any  moneys  paid  to  the  Government  of  a  Province  arising  from 
the  school  funds  established  by  the  Dominion  Lands  Act,  there  shall  be  no  discrimi- 
nation between  the  Public  schools  and  the  Separate  schools,  and  such  moneys  shall 
be  applied  to  the  support  of  Public  and  Separate  schools  in  equitable  shares  or 
proportions." 

Mr.  Haultain  justly  thinks  that  the  insertion  of  such  a  stipulation  is 
a  gross  infringement  of  provincial  powers.  Without  Dominion  compul- 
sion, the  Territories  have  hitherto  made  an  equitable  division  of  public 
funds ;  and  if  the  Dominion  is  now  to  step  in  and  prescribe  the  terms 
upon  which  the  education  funds  are  to  be  administered,  why  not  go  all 
the  way  and  formulate  a  complete  set  of  school  regulations  ? 

To  bind  the  Provinces,  to  impose  upon  them  limitations  which  they 
will  feel  to  be  unjust,  will  rouse  a  spirit  far  more  dangerous  to  the  mi- 
nority than  any  danger  which  would  be  removed  by  the  insertion  of  a 


104  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


guarantee  in  the  Act.     Mr.  Haultain  says  be  will  fight  the  new  clauses 
with  every  resource  at  his  command. 

^     THE  PHILOSOPHER  OF  THE  GRANGE. 

To  an  interviewer,  Goldwin  Smith  expressed  his  opinions  thus,  and  wa 
are  pleased  to  record  them  in  his  favor  : 

''  The  entire  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and  the  perfect  equality 
of  all  religions  before  the  law,  are,  perhaps  the  clearest  gain  made  by 
humanity  in  its  transition  from  the  Old  World  to  the  New."  [Would  it 
were  an  accomplished  fact  in  any  country  excepting  France.]  *'  Of  this 
principle,  the  concession  of  special  privileges  to  Catholics  in  the  matter 
of  public  schools  is  manifestly  an  infraction.  We  go  backward  in  this 
respect,  while  France  and  other  nations  in  the  old  world  go  forward.. .  . 

"  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  boasts  of  the  superior  moral  effect  of  our  school 
system  compared  with  that  of  the  American  system,  among  other  things 
in  freedom  from  divorce.  In  deference  to  ecclesiastical  sentiment,  Canada 
is  kept  without  a  Divorce  Court  other  than  a  political  assembly.  Cana- 
dians resort  to  American  Divorce  Courts,  and  of  this  Sir  Wilfrid  boasts 
as  our  freedom  from  divorce  ! 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  we  ought  to  go  to  the  British  Parliament  and 
get  the  restrictive  clauses  respecting  the  matter  of  public  education 
struck  out  of  the  British  North  America  Act,  and  the  whole  subject  en- 
trusted to  the  hands  of  our  o\Nn  Legislatures. 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  constitutional  lawyer,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  power  of  the  Dominion  under  the  British  North  America  Act  to 
do  what  it  is  doing  is  by  no  means  clear." 

The  great  danger  is,  that  if  the  Act  once  passes,  the  Catholic  priests 
will  at  once  claim  their  full  rights  under  it,  and  it  may  take  a  long  time 
to  set  it  aside.  Whether  justified  to  any  degree  by  the  British  North 
America  Act  or  not,  it  seems  clear  that  it  gives  to  the  Catholics  greater 
privileges  than  they  possess  in  any  of  the  Provinces  outside  of  Quebec. 

It  is  conceivable  that,  even  under  the  clauses  as  they  now  stand,  the 
Legislatures  of  the  new  Provinces  might  attempt  to  nullify  their  evil 
effects  by  passing  efficiency  regulations  controlling  their  entire  school 
systems,  but  this  could  only  be  accomplished  after  a  struggle  similar  to 
that  of  1896.     Is  it  good  to  be  laying  a  train  for  a  civil  war  ? 

A  NEW  ''EVANGELICAL"  PREACHER  IN  TORONTO. 
If  Presbyterianism  in  Toronto  lost  a  big  theological  gun  by  the  death 
of  Prof.  Caven,  the  Anglican  Church  has  gained  a  very  little  one  in  the 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  105 


person  of  the  Rev.  Frederick  Wilkinson,  the  new  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
Church.  Mr.  Wilkinson  is  a  graduate  of  Wycliffe  College,  and  preached 
two  sermons  on  the  day  of  his  initiation  to  his  new  office.  His  text  at 
the  evening, service  was,  "  If  an}^  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me ;"  and  the  substance  of  his 
sermon  is  given  to  us  in  this  shape  : 

*'  Religion  was  often  brought  into  contempt  through  the  shortcomings 
of  its  representatives,  although  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  had  been 
proven  to  be  without  a  fault !  The  first  great  remedy  for  defects  in  the 
individual  life  was  that  the  Christian  be  separated  from  the  world  and 
identified  with  Christ.  One  of  the  hard  tests  came  after  the  first  enthu- 
siasm had  died  away,  and  the  disciple  realized  that  religion  was  not  a 
question  of  feeling,  but  of  doing  the  King's  business,  which  involved  the 
denying  of  one's  identity  for  Christ  I  The  remedy  for  the  conflict  within 
the  life  was  to  take  up  the  cross  daily.  The  idea  was  not  merely  bearing 
the  cross,  but  setting  it  up  and  being  crucified  upon  it.  Men  tired  of  the 
plain  manna,  and  the  old  self  reasserted  itself,  and  each  day  the  self 
must  be  slain  that  Christ  may  be  all  in  all.  The  only  way  to  save  life  was 
to  lose  it  in  Christ's  service  and  in  helping  struggling  ones  to  victory." 

Language,  said  the  cynic,  was  given  to  man  to  hide  his  thoughts ;  and 
if  Mr.  Wilkinson's  sermon  deserved  the  eulogium  of  the  scribe  who  re- 
ported it,  and  who  characterized  it  as  ''  emphasizing  the  practical  side  of 
life,"  then  we  must  admit  our  utter  want  of  mental  acuteness. 

We  once  had  a  volume  of  sermons  entitled  *'  In  Christ."  We  were 
professionally  compelled  to  read  this  volume  in  weekly  instalments  ;  but 
we  must  admit  that,  though  it  had  the  great  merit  of  iteration  and  re- 
iteration of  its  leading  idea  to  a  nauseous  extent,  we  never  got  close 
enough  to  the  author  to  read  a  tangible  meaning  into  even  one  sentence. 
A  volume  of  sermons  from  Mr.  Wilkinson's  pen  would,  we  imagine,  be 
equally  luminous.     Oh,  the  delight  of  being  a  true  Christian  ! 

But,  says  the  (inspired  ?)  reporter,  Mr.  Wilkinson  deals  with  practical 
matters.  In  his  sermon  he  givTS  us,  not  mere  theories  and  dogmas,  but 
the  practical  work  a  true  Christian  goes  through — or  should  go  through 
— when  ''  the  first  enthusiasm  has  died  away,"  and  he  gets  down  to  real 
liard  training;  when  the  taste  for  fresh  manna  is  palled,  and  he  has  to 
put  up  with  the  pork  and  beans  of  daily  duty.  Alas  !  that  the  glamor 
of  a  new  and  beautiful  and  true  religion  should  so  soon  vanish  ! 

Mr.  Wilkinson,  of  course,  practises  what  he  preachers.  Once  a  day 
at  least  he  goes  through  what  he  says  is  the  daily  duty  of  a  Christian — 
perhaps  he  does  it  oftener,  just  to  encourage  the  others  ;  but  if  he  does 


106  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

it  once  only,  this  will  be  about  his  daily  routine,  giving  him  credit  for 
being  an  ordinarily  vigorous  man  : 


7  a.m. — Cold  bath,  followed  by  a  two-mile  sharp  walk  for  exercise. 

8  a.m. — Breakfast  :  Manna,  with  trimmings  of  ham,  eggs,  etc. 

9  a.m. — Reading  newspaper  and  letters. 

10  a.m. — Setting  up  the  cross  and  being  crucified  upon  it.     (This 

means,  probably,  writing  a  portion  of  Sunday's  sermon.) 

1 1  a.m. — Service  in  church. 

12  noon. — Lunch  :  Manna,  with  dishes  of  beef  and  pie,  beer,  etc. 

1  p.m. — Slays  himself,  that  Christ  may  be  all  in  all 

2  p.m. — Visiting  ;  separating  himself  from  the  world. 

4  p.m. — Loses  his  life  in  Christ's  service. 

5  p.m. — Five  o'clock  tea  at  friend's  house  ;  King's  business. 

6  p.m.— Dinner  :   Manna,  with  turkey,  etc. 

7  p.m. — Church  service  ;  denies  his  identity  for  Christ's  sake. 

8  p.m.     Social  intercourse,  aided  by  wine  and  cigars. 

1 1  p.m. — Whisky  nightcap,  and  bed — loses  himself  once  more. 


The  Friar  of  Orders  Gray  is  still  among  us  :  the  cant  is  the  same,  but 
dress  and  manners  are  slightly  changed,  that  is  all  the  difference,  and 
the  change  is  certainly  not  an  improvement. 

THE  ST.  LOUIS  FAIR  AND  "  PROPHECY." 

The  preacher  who  cannot  find  the  fulfilment  of  '*  prophecy  "  some- 
where in  his  neighborhood  must  be  a  dummy,  and  Rev.  Bartlett,  pastor 
oi  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Chicago,  is  certainly  not  one  of 
these.  He  thinks  that  what  the  United  States  Government  has  done  for 
the  Filipinos,  as  shown  at  the  late  St.  Louis  Fair,  makes  "  all  talk  of 
imperialism  silly."  Why  so  is  not  clear.  If  the  United  States  has  con- 
quered or  bought  a  foreign  country,  and  governs  it  at  its  own  sweet  will, 
it  will  not  alter  that  fact  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  incidentally 
get  some  benefit  out  of  the  transaction,  in  addition  to  the  slaughter  and 
torture  to  which  they  have  been  subjected.     But,  said  he, 

*'  There  has  been  a  deep  religious  significance  in  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase Exposition.  It  is  a  part  of  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  concerning 
the  coming  together  of  the  nations  in  peace.  The  exhibits  of  the  nations 
indicate  the  character  and  history  of  the  peoples  themselves.  Those 
which  have  been  under  the  heel  of  despotic  power  show  the  effects  of 
that  in  the  slow  development  of  their  arts,  industries,  and  inventions. 
While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nations  which  have  come  up  in  the  free- 
dom which  the  Christian  religion  gave  them  and  which  the  Reformation 
confirmed,  show  by  their  exhibits  that  the  world  of  progress  has  found 
its  inspiration    in   the  enlightenment  of   the  Christian  faith.     If   one 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  107 

wanted  tlie  confirmation  of  the  power  of  missions,  let  them  go  to  the 
Filipino  villages  and  see  the  native  in  his  ignorance,  and  then  to  the 
school  or  drill  ground  and  behold  the  effect  of  training  and  education." 

The  logic  of  the  rev.  gentleman  seems  rather  confused.  His  facts 
would  seem  to  show  that  "  training  and  education  "  are  responsible  for 
the  improvements  he  ascribes  to  the  Christian  faith.  If  we  are  to  take 
the  products  of  the  countries  where  Christianity  has  been  the  prevailing 
faith  as  evidence  of  the  beneficial  effect  of  that  faith,  why  not  also  attri- 
bute them  to  any  other  noticeable  characteristic  in  those  countries  ? 

British  and  German  workmen  have  both  been  noted  rather  for  beer- 
drinking  than  for  religion.  Shall  we  attribute  their  modern  industrial 
and  scientific  progress  to  British  and  German  drunkenness?  Should  we 
not  rather  attribute  their  progress  in  murderous  implements  of  war  to 
their  religious  faith  ?  Mr.  Bartlett's  logic  is  like  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier's. 
If  we  attribute  our  social  advantages  to  our  religious  faith,  why  not  also 
our  social  evils  ? 

The  same  paper  that  tells  us  of  Mr.  Bartlett's  views  also  tells  us  that 
the  party  of  Hairy  Ainus  (a  race  inhabiting  Northern  Japan,  supposed 
to  be  the  remnants  of  the  original  inhabitants),  when  they  arrived  at  the 
Fair,  asked  at  once  where  they  could  attend  the  services  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  !  These  Hairy  Ainus,  we  suppose,  would  die  or  suffer  some  sort 
of  purgatory  if  they  could  not  every  few  hours  hear  the  mellifluous  tones 
of  some  well-fed  preacher's  voice.  We  do  not  know  how  many  Hairy 
Ainus  have  been  converted  to  Episcopal  Christianity,  but  we  shall  not 
have  much  fear  for  their  future  if,  beside  the  insinuating  missionary, 
the  Japanese  Government  takes  care  that  there  shall  stand  a  competent 
school  teacher.  Ainus,  Hairy  or  smooth-skinned,  being  without  the 
inherited  and  inbred  bias  of  Western  Christians,  will  soon  be  able  to 
judge  wisely  as  to  which  is  the  most  reliable  basis  for  practical  life — the 
teacher's  facts  or  the  preacher's  buncombe. 

THE  ''GRAFT"  OF  THE  OFFICIAL  CHAPLAIN. 
The  real  meaning  of  the  strong  efforts  made  by  the  preachers  to  be 
allowed  to  teach  and  preach  religion  in  public  schools,  prisons,  asylums, 
etc.,  is  shown  in  a  case  that  occurred  recently  in  New  York.  Some  few 
years  ago  a  Catholic  priest  and  a  Protestant  preacher  volunteered  to  act 
as  chaplains  to  the  Fire  Department,  and  their  services  were  accepted, 
the  question  of  salary  not  arising,  as  the  offer  was  made  simply  through 


108  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


a  desire  to  do  "  the  Lord's  work."  Since  then  two  other  priests  have 
been  allowed  to  join  the  staff  on  the  same  conditions,  but  at  the  last 
session  of  the  Legislature  an  Act  was  passed  authorizing  the  payment 
of  an  annual  stipend  of  $1,000  to  each  of  these  holy  men.  The  Civil 
Service  Commissioners,  however,  were  dubious  about  paying  the  money, 
as,  according  to  law,  all  members  of  the  Fire  Department  must  pass  a 
competitive  examination  ;  but  the  chaplains  have  petitioned  the  Com- 
missioners to  place  them  on  the  exempt  list,  for  which  no  examination 
is  required,  and  this  no  doubt  will  be  done,  as  the  preachers  need  the 
money  and  have  got  the  "  pull." 

The  next  move,  of  course,  will  be  to  obtain  an  annual  increase  of 
salar}^  This  is  a  natural  and  universal  feature,  except  for  those  who 
are  compelled  to  do  real  and  useful  work. 

And  this  is  how  they  "Keep  Church  and  State  for  ever  separate"  in 
the  United  States ! 

CANADA  SHOULD  OWN  HER  OWN  RAILWAYS. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Cumming,  Jr.,  of  Melbourne,  Australia,  was  recently  in 
Ottawa,  Ont.,  on  his  way  home  from  attending  the  Scientists'  Congress 
at  the  St.  Louis  Fair.  He  asserts  that  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Aus- 
tralia Government  ownership  of  railways,  in  spite  of  early  mistakes,  has 
proved  decidedly  successful.  The  railways  are  now  being  run  on  busi- 
ness lines  and  are  giving  general  satisfaction.  The  State-owned  railways 
of  Victoria  have  been  brought  to  their  present  state  of  efficienc}^  under 
the  management  of  Mr.  Thomas  Tait,  formerly  of  the  C.  P.  R.  Mr. 
Tait  receives  a  salary  of  $17,500  a  year,  and  is  at  the  head  of  a  Railway 
Commission  absolutely  free,  it  is  said,  from  political  control  or  interfer- 
ence. It  surely  is  not  a  sign  of  madness  to  ask.  Why  cannot  Canada  do 
as  well  as  Australia  in  this  line  ? 

It  is  **  up  to"  the  ministers  who  are  pledging  the  Canadian  finances 
to  enable  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  to  build  the  new  transcontinental 
railway,  to  show  some  rational  cause  why  the  Canadian  people  should 
not  build  their  own  railway  and  get  what  profit  there  may  be  in  it,  in- 
stead of  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  multimillionaires  who  already 
have  received  extravagant  bonuses  for  the  railways  they  now  hold. 

We  have,  like  Australia,  a  Railway  Commission  with  almost  unlimited 
power,  but  its  work  seems  mainly  directed  towards  protecting  the  inte- 
rests of  the  giant  railway  monopolies  instead  of  guarding  the  rights  of 
the  people.     In  many  cases,  its  decisions  violate  every  idea  of  justice. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  109 

Reverence  for  ''Sacre&''  ZTbinae* 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

IV.  f  conclusion  J . 

Under  Theodosias  the  rights  of  Pagans  were  taken  away  and  their 
temples  destroyed  by  '*  reverent  "  Christians.  As  related  by  Gibbon, 
the  Pagans  declared  that  the  temple  was  to  them  "  the  very  eye  of  na-. 
ture,  the  symbol  and  manifestation  of  an  ever-present  deity,  the  solace 
of  all  their  troubles,  the  holiest  of  all  their  joys,  and  if  it  were  over- 
thrown, their  dearest  association  would  be  annihilated.  The  tie  that 
linked  them  to  the  dead  would  be  severed.  The  poetry  of  life,  the  con- 
solation of  labor,  the  source  of  faith  would  be  destroyed." 

This  representation  availed  the  Pagans  nothing.  Not  even  ordinary 
decency  was  vouchsafed  them. 

That  noble  Christian  orator,  Julius  Firmicius  Maternus,  in  attempting 
to  egg  on  the  Emperors  Constantius  and  Constans  to  violence  upon  the 
opposition,  said  : 

"  Take  away,  take  away  in  perfect  security,  O  most  holy  Emperors,  take  away  all 
the  ornaments  of  their  temples.  Let  the  fire  of  the  mint,  or  the  flames  of  the  mines, 
melt  down  their  gods.  Seize  upon  all  their  wealthy  endowments,  and  turn  them  to 
your  own  use  and  property.  And,  O  most  sacred  Emperors,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  you  to  revenge  and  punish  this  evil.  You  are  commanded  by  the  law  of  the  Most 
High  God  to  persecute  all  sorts  of  idolatry  with  the  utmost  severity." 

Calvin,  in  considering  the  profusion  with  which  the  milk  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  appeared  to  be  scattered  in  relic  form  over  Catholic  Europe,  ob- 
served that  "'one  might  suppose  she  was  a  wet-nurse  or  a  cow,"  thereby 
exhibiting  unmistakable  reverence  for  the  sacred  things  of  others. 

Nor  is  it  on  the  past  alone  that  our  blessed  Christian  religion  has  seen 
fit  to  point  the  finger  of  ridicule  and  lay  the  heavy  hand  of  desecration 
and  sacrilege.  How  is  it  to-day  ?  What  of  Christian  Science  *?  How 
much  reverence  is  accorded  this  new  faith  by  the  old  sects?  How  about 
Dowieism,  Teedism,  Mormonism,  Voodooism,  Theosophy,  Spiritualism, 
Astrology,  or  Judaism — each  fighting  for  life  in  the  face  of  pious  ridi- 
cule? How  is  it,  too,  with  Freethought?  Were  I  to  found  a  new  sect 
to-morrow,  how  much  reverence  would  it  elicit  from  the  dominant  sect  ? 

No  more  glaring  antithesis  can  be  discovered  than  that  between  Chris- 
tian preaching  and  Christian  practice.  As  the  Judaistic  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  of  old  ridiculed  Christ,  so  the  Christian  scribes  and  pharisees 
of  the  present  day  ridicule  their  rivals.  Not  a  struggliug  band  or  body 
can  be  named,  no  matter  how  sacred  its  beliefs  are  considered  by  its 
followers — and  no  matter  even   if  it  profess   allegiance   to  the  Gospel 


110  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Christ  himself, — which  nevertheless  is  not  made  a  hutt  of  ribald  attack 
of  every  description  by  the  Christian  majority  of  this  country.  Chris- 
tianity has  not  reverenced — Christianity  does  not  reverence — anything 
but  itself. 

Inman  says,  in  "Ancient  Faiths:"  "  In  the  course  of  my  life  I  have 
heard  very  many  sermons  and  speeches  made  by  missionaries,  and  have 
perused  very  many  of  their  written  reports  and  books.  In  these  we  see 
conspicuously  a  contempt  for  the  absurd  beliefs  of  the  heathen  and 
sneers  at  the  theology  of  their  priests." 

The  late  H.  L.  Hastings,  formerly  one  of  the  leading  popular  defen- 
ders of  Christianity,  says  :  "  Egypt  had  her  hideous  images,  her  sacred 
calves  and  consecrated  cats  and  monkeys  and  crocodiles,  which  her  wise 
men  worshipped  and  adored."  ("  Atheism  and  Arithmetic,"  p.  11.) 
"  Moses  was  reared  in  a  land  of  magnificent  temples  devoted  to  base 
and  obscene  idolatries  ;  wliere  the  highest  culture  of  the  age  bowed  in 
adoration  before  sacred  serpents,  holy  hawks,  blessed  beetles,  consecrated 
crocodiles,  and  divine  bulls  ;  where  men  erected  obelisks  and  adored 
monkeys,  built  pyramids  and  worshipped  cats.  .  .  .Heathen  cosmogonies 
are  puerile,  fabulous  and  absurd."  ("  Was  Moses  Mistaken,"  pp.  10,  35.) 

How  the  allied  punitive  force  sent  to  China  in  1900  revered  sacred 
things  is  told  by  Edward  Wildman  in  a  Neiv  York  Journal  despatch  of 
September  4th  of  that  year  :  "  China's  most  sacred  temples  and  palaces 
have  been  profaned  by  the  armies  of  the  civilized  world,  which  have 
marched  ruthlessly  over  the  traditions  of  the  Empire  in  their  progress 
to  avenge  the  Pekin  outrages.  The  mute  lips  and  downcast  eyes  of  the 
household  ministers  and  servants  in  the  Forbidden  City,  as  the  allies 
trampled  over  the  sacred  ground,  eloquently  expressed  tne  shocked  sen- 
sibilities of  the  Chinamen.  Through  temples  and  past  thrones  venerated 
for  centuries  marched  the  booted  and  spurred  legions  of  the  New  World, 
each  footstep  warning  China  that  the  ancient  dynasty  had  fallen." 

George  Lynch,  a  well-known  English  correspondent,  says  {Collier  s 
Weekly,  1900)  :  "Horses  were  stabled  in  the  temples,  and  the  art  heir- 
looms of  thousands  of  years  of  the  nation's  life  to  be  found  therein 
were  mutilated  aud  destroyed  where  they  were  not  stolen.  .  .  .Hundreds 
of  the  books  were  written  in  the  quaint  characters  which  showed  that 
they  belonged  to,  and  were  written  by,  Lama  priests;  many  of  them 
had  probably  found  their  way  there  from  the  bleak  steppes  of  far  Tibet. 
....  They  were  all  alike  consigned  to  the  same  funeral  pyre,  and  thou- 
sands of  volumes  of  unascertained,  but  perhaps  of  considerable  value, 
were  thus  lost  to  the  w-orld  for  ever." 

Thus  does  the  hoary  attempt  of  superstition  to  enforce  reverence  for 
itself  as  a  just  obligation  fail  completely  when  subjected  to  the  light  of 
reason.  If  Christianity  still  declines  to  enter  the  arena  of  discussion 
with  other  open  questions,  it  must  fail ;  if  it  consents  to  do  so,  then  it 
will  also  fail,  though  more  quickly.  The  anathemas  and  taboos  that  in 
the  past  have  been  used  to  shackle  thought  are  fast  losing  their  terrors ; 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  Ill 

and  the  clay  is  close  at  hand  when  the  complete  emancipation  of  the 
human  mind  will  mark  another  giorious  milestone  in  the  upward  striv- 
ing of  mankind. 


letbice  of  tbe  public  Scbool. 


BY    REV.   A.    M.   WALKER,   CHURCH    OF   MESSIAH   (UNITARIAN),   ST.  JOHN,    N  B. 

:o: 

The  proposed  bill  by  which  two  new  Provinces  are  to  be  added  to  the 
Dominion  has  created  considerable  discussion  among  the  citizens  of 
Canada.  Some,  because  of  political  affinity,  would  necessarily  oppose 
any  project  of  their  political  opponents.  But  this  bill  presents  interests 
above  those  of  mere  party  politics.  So  it  is  not  as  a  politician,  but  as 
an  ethical  student,  that  I  approach  this  subject. 

There  are  two  aspects  of  the  educational  clauses.  One  concerns  the 
rights  of  a  province,  or  its  autonomy  ;  the  other  concerns  the  attitude  of 
the  State  toward  religion.     I  shall  be  concerned  chietly  with  the  latter. 

As  to  the  first,  the  following  considerations  seem  to  argue  against  the 
proposed  clauses.  This  responsibility  ought  to  involve  the  right  of  the 
citizens  to  decide  what  sort  of  schools  they  shall  have.  I  believe  the 
truth  of  this  proposition  is  self-evident. 

Again,  the  action  of  the  Government  seems  to  discredit  both  the  in- 
telligence and  the  morality  of  the  people  of  the  new  Provinces.  Measures 
of  coercion  usually  imply  such  deficiencies.  I  think,  from  an  ethical 
point  of  view,  that  the  intelligence  and  the  sense  of  justice  of  the  people 
of  the  new  Provinces  have  some  rights  in  the  matter,  and  ought  to  be 
trusted  in  affairs  of  purely  local  significance. 

And  tlien  the  principle  of  autonomy  is  in  itself  a  w^holesome  one,  and 
ought  to  be  respected  whenever  and  wherever  possible.  There  are  certain 
interests  which  concern  the  entire  Dominion.  Of  course,  these  are  for 
Dominion  legislation.  But  in  the  details  of  provincial  affairs,  the  prin- 
ciple of  autonomy  ought  to  be  respected  on  the  ground  of  responsibility 
already  referred  to. 

Let  us  now  take  up  the  second  aspect  of  the  matter.  Here  I  shall  not 
set  forth  the  virtues  or  vices  of  any  church,  but  what  I  shall  s^y  will 
apply  to  all  churches.     My  opinion  in  tbe  matter  is  that 

The  State  should  in  no  wise  recognize  religion, 

except  to  guarantee  absolute  freedom  of  worship  in  so  far  as  individual 
rights  are  not  outraged.  In  support  of  this  opinion  I  submit  tlie  follow- 
ing reasons. 

The  first  which  I  mention  is  very  general,  but  will  serve  as  a  founda- 
tion for  more  specific  reasons.  It  is  this  :  State  recognition  of  religion 
has  been  attended  by  confusion  and  injustice  throughout  its  history.  I 
need  not  trace  the  career  of  Church  and  State  since  the  davs  of  Con- 


112  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

stantine.  Every  student  knows  that  such  a  history  leads  along  a  high- 
way of  persecution,  outrage,  injustice,  and  ignorance.  The  history  of 
the  State  Church  is  a  story  of  unrighteousness.  In  this  there  is  no  dis- 
tinction to  he  made  between  Christians  and  pagans.  Among  both,  injus- 
tice and  oppression  have  paraded  in  the  garb  of  religion. 

We  are  not  without  present  illustrations  of  this  reason.  The  turmoil 
in  France  over  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  the  Passive  Resist- 
ance Movement  in  England,  the  Scotch  Church  fiasco,  the  Indian  Ap- 
propriation frauds  in  the  United  States,  all  bear  witness  that  religion  is 
not  to  be  over-trusted.  Yes,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  over-straining  the 
religious  instincts.  And  union  of  State  and  Church  seems  to  have  been 
and  is  a  moral  problem  which  the  Church  has  never  been  able  to  solve 
with  justice — unless  it  be  to  dissolve  partnershij).  Hence,  in  the  name 
of  justice  and  peace,  I  oppose  all  State  recognition  of  religion. 

I  present  now  some  more  specific  reasons. 

The  proposed  bill  and  some  of  the  provinces  provide  for  separate 
schools  for  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  separation  is  based  on  reli- 
gious convictions.  But  what  right  has  the  State  to  stop  here  in  the 
matter  of  religious  differentiation  ?  The  religious  division  is  not  com- 
plete when  we  have  put  all  into  two  great  classes.  If  the  State  is  going 
to  act  on  a  principle  of  recognizing  religious  convictions,  then  it  must 
be  prepared  to  build  separate  schools  for  all  the  shades  in  the  religious 
spectrum.  If  Catholics  and  Protestants  cannot  study  together  because 
of  a  difterence  in  the  Bibles  used  for  devotions,  why  should  not  the 
Liberal  have  a  separate  school,  where  his  children  could  hear  Voltaire, 
Paine,  or  Ingersoll  read  in  preference  to  David  or  St.  Paul  ? 

Jews  differ  from  Christians  more  than  Protestants  do  from  Catholics  ; 
and  hence,  on  the  principle  of  State  recognition  of  religion,  they  of  all 
people  ought  to  have  separate  schools. 

The  logical  absurdities  of  this  principle  are  so  apparent  that  it  seems 
ridiculous.  The  school  is  a  public  institution.  Now,  if  the  State  is  to 
recognize  religion  in  this  institution,  why  not  recognize  it  in  other  insti- 
tutions? The  silliness  of  such  a  proposition  is  evident  when  we  think 
of  Catholic  and  Protestant  court-houses,  post-offices,  town-halls,  and 
dumping-grounds. 

Now,  let  us  seek  the  purpose  of  the  public  gchool.  It  is  to  educate. 
That  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  mind  is  to  be  developed.  This  is  necessary 
for  the  safety  of  the  State.  P'or  a  State  composed  of  idiots  is  unthink- 
able. Hence  the  necessity  of  teaching  writing,  reading,,  arithmetic,  and 
all  the  so-called  secular  studies. 

Further,  the  school  must  produce  characters.  Hence,  the  scholar 
learns  obedience,  industry,  the  ethics  of  reward  and  punishment,  love, 
patriotism,  honesty — the  rod  frequently  proving  the  policy  of  honesty — 
self-reliance ;  indeed,  the  best  things  of  character  are  not  only  learned, 
but  are  also  enforced  in  the  public  school. 

Now,  if  it  be  suggested  that  religion   also  should  be  taught,  I  reply, 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  113 


that  I  should  consent  to  this  proposition  when  it  is  proven  that  the  mul- 
tiplication table  depends  on  baptism  for  its  truthfulness,  that  hygiene 
depends  upon  an  infallible  Bible,  or  that  astronomy  depends  upon  an 
infallible  Pope. 

The  school  is  to  teach  things  that  are  certain,  and  therefore  cannot 
properly  countenance  the  speculations  of  theologians.  Religion  has  no 
legitimate  place,  then,  in  the  public  schools.  It  is  the  peculiar  business 
of  the  church,  and  hence  let  there  be  a  division  of  labor  in  this  matter. 

Furthermore,  religion  must  be  a  peculiarly  immoral  or  vicious  thing 
if  Catholics  and  Protestants  and  Jews  cannot  study  arithmetic  without 
quarrelling  over  a  Bible  or  some  other  religious  object. 

When  children  quarrel  over  their  toys,  the  mother  usually  deprives 
them  of  their  toys.  So  ought  the  State  to  do.  If  all  children  cannot 
come  together  to  study  without  quarrelling,  then  the  State  ought  to 
remove  the  object  of  the  quarrelling — viz.,  some  religious  thing,  either 
Bible  or  what  not.  If  the  Bible  can  produce  only  discord  at  its  best, 
then  the  State  should  banish  it  from  its  schools,  and  hand  it  over  to  the 
churches,  which  love  discord  and  strife. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  travesty  upon  Christ  to  think  that  his  professed  fol- 
lowers cannot  study  and  play  together  in  the  same  school. 

This  matter  of  separate  schools  would  seem  to  suggest  that  religion  is 
like  two  fighting-cocks,  which  must  be  kept  in  separate  coops,  or  like 
bulldogs,  which  must  be  chained  to  separate  kennels.  The  State  cannot 
afford  to  harbor  such  dangerous  animals,  but  must  by  non-recognition 
eliminate  them  from  her  sphere  of  action. 

As  a  final  reason  against  the  separate  school  system,  I  present  this- 
thought.  The  separate  school  does  violence  to  the  spirit  of  democracy. 
This  is  a  democratic  age.  People  are  coming  together.  A  social  con- 
science is  being  developed.  And  the  public  school,  where  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  Jew  and  Gentile,  orthodox  and  liberal,  come  together  for  a 
common  purpose — namely,  to  fit  themselves  for  life — will  do  more  to- 
strengthen  democracy  than  all  the  churches.  By  nature  the  churches 
are  narrow  and  sectarian,  the  school  is  cosmopolitan.  The  church  may 
preach  brotherhood,  but  it  practises  a  caste  system  ;  the  church  is  ex- 
clusive, and  the  separate  school  reflects  the  narrowness  of  the  church. 

A  nation  must  depend  in  the  coming  century,  not  so  much  upon  her 
churches  as  upon  her  schools.  If  catholicity  of  sentiment,  identity  of 
interests,  intelligent  patriotism,  and  nobility  of  ideals,  are  what  a  nation 
seeks,  then  the  general  school  and  not  the  separate  school  must  be  the 
medium  through  which  they  are  to  be  attained.  Recognizing  sectarianism 
as  an  essential  element  in  the  educational  life  of  a  nation  is  to  do  violence 
to  the  best  theories  of  education,  and  endangers  the  happy  growth  of  the 
sentiment  of  democracy. 

I  conclude,  then,  that  the  separate  school  system,  however  justified  in 
the  past,  does  not  accord  with  the  best  educational  ideals  of  the  twen- 
tieth century. 


114  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Xiberal  anb  ]freetbouQbt  ©rganisation* 

:o: 

BY   DR.   J.    B.    WILSON,   CINCINNATI,   OHIO. 

:o: 

[Dr.  Wilson  was  one  of  the  three  American  delegates  to  the  great  Freethought 
Congress  at  Rome,'Sept.,  1904,  and  prepared  this  paper,  but  declined  to  read 
it  as  French  had  been  chosen  as  the  official  language.  It  was  subsequently 
published  |^  the  Blue  Grass  Blade.] 


As  long  as  the  majority  of  human  beings  are  mental  slaves,  thought  cannot  be 
secure  in  its  freedom.  Only  the  few  realize  that  their  own  freedom  depends 
upon  the  freedom  of  the  majority. 

The  evolution  of  liberty  is  a  process  of  slow  growth.  At  spasmodic  intervals, 
Liberals  act  conjunctively  and  revolt ;  but  with  the  end  of  revolution  comes  the 
end  of  organization. 

Such  liberty  as  we  now  possess  is  not  the  result  of  organization,  but  rather  the 
result  of  the  work  and  sacrifice  and  genius  of  a  few  great  and  fearless  individuals, 
far  separated  from  each  other. 

Each  nation  has  developed  one  or  more  great  Liberal  teachers  and  iconoclasts, 
whose  individual  efforts  have  not  only  stimulated  the  cause  of  freedom  in  their 
respective  countries,  but  whose  influence  has  extended  to  other  nations,  and 
in  some  rare  cases  has  become  world-wide. 

If  the  indviidual  labors  of  leading  Freethinkers  have  wrought  such  great  effects, 
what  might  not  their  collective  efforts  accomplish  ?  In  union  there  is  strength. 
Individual  effort  must  ever  be  confined  to  the  slow  process  of  education 

The  secret  of  the  power  of  the  church,  by  which  she  wields  political  and 
legislative  inflaence,  lies  wholly  in  her  organization.  She  awes  humanity  by  her 
imposing  temples,  by  her  great  parades,  and  by  the  pomp  and  pride  of  authority. 

The  secret  of  the  power  of  party  and  of  government  lies  in  organization. 
King  and  priest  take  advantage  of  the  weakness  of  humanity  to  follow  blindly 
where  the  few  combine  to  lead. 

The  organization  of  Freethought  is  of  an  entirely  different  character. 

The  Freethinker  is  not  a  follower.  Unless  he  be  an  enthusiast  he  cannot  be 
organized. 

You  cannot  organize  the  free  brain  simply  because  the  freeman's  freedom  is 
t)ie  result  of  escape  from  organization.  As  long  as  a  man  believes  what  his 
priest  or  party  tells  him,  as  long  as  he  believes  some  other  man's  word  to  be  the 
gospel,  he  can  be  brought  into  organization  and  kept  there. 

.A.S  soon  as  he  begins  to  exercise  independent  thought,  as  soon  as  he  begins  to 
reason,  he  immediately  drops  organization,  and  is  not  inclined  to  take  it  up  again. 
.  Only  that  Freethinker  who  is  intensely  imbued  with  the  love  of  liberality,  who 
is  an  enthusiast,  who  is  ever  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  security  which  rests 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  115 

in  the  majority,  who  is  fearless  and  ready  to  make  personal  sacrifices — only  such 
can  be  brought  together  in  active  organization. 

The  first  step,  then,  should  be  to  bring  these  enthusiasts  together.  The  re- 
presentatives of  each  nation  should  acquaint  the  secretary  with  the  names  and 
addresses  of  leading,  active  enthusiasts  in  this  country,  and  he  should  correspond 
with  the  same  at  once,  acquainting  them  with  our  objects,  and  soliciting  co-opera- 
tion. 'I'he  means  of  such  co-operation  are  to  be  found  chiefly  among  writer>',. 
editors,  speakers,  authors,  college  professors,  and  other  well-known  enthusiasts 
and  supporters.  Some  of  our  most  active  and  efficient  workers  are  to  be  found 
among  men  and  women  who  are  not  gifted  with  speech,  but  instead  are  gifted 
with  large  practical  sense,  and  who  do  most  effective  work  by  their  generosity 
and  by  distributing  literature.  There  are  no  more  valuable  members  than  these. 
The  practical  businesi  mind  is  of  utmost  importance  in  organization,  as  every- 
thing depends  upon  ways  and  means. 

In  choosing  members  the  same  scrutiny  and  investigation  should  be  exercised 
as  that  observed  by  the  strictest  fraternal  or  professional  fellowship.  To  become 
a  member  of  this  organization  should  be  considered  an  honor,  and  honors  should 
never  be  cheap. 

The  very  exclusiveness  of  the  Masonic  organization  inclines  men  to  j  jin  it 
without  solicitation  upon  the  part  of  its  members. 

Let  this  organization  be  select ;  let  it  maintain  such  intellectual  dignity  and 
respectability  that  the  ambitious,  progressive  Liberal  in  the  ranks  will  seek  mem- 
bership for  the  honor  the  association  will  bring  to  him. 

Instead  of  making  it  an  association  which  any  one  may  join  for  the  asking  or 
urging,  let  us  make  it  an  organization  which  men  will  aspire  to  join  of  their  own 
accord.  A  quick  growth  is  not  lasting.  I  believe  that  the  membership  will 
increase  more  rapidly  by  this  process  than  by  general  solicitation,  and  more 
unanimity  and  harmony  prevail. 

Every  precaution  should  be  taken  at  the  very  beginning  that  the  foundations 
of  organization  be  substantial  and  permanent. 

All  over  England  and  America  are  run-down  Freethought  organizations  and 
societies.  It  is  almost  useless  to  attempt  to  reconstruct  a  run-down  organization. 
Like  an  old  man  bankrupt,  it  can  never  rekindle  the  fires  of  its  earlier  years. 
Therefore,  if  we  would  build  a  great  international  Freethought  organization,  see 
to  it  that  its  foundations  are  firm  and  strong. 

See  to  it  that  interest  is  kept  alive  and  that  it  does  not  lapse  into  indifference 
and  discouragement.  I  have  had  four  years  of  practical  official  experience, 
standing  at  the  head  of  the  leading  liberal  organization  of  my  country,  and  I  find 
general  solicitation  of  membership  to  be  a  flat  failure. 

It  proved  a  failure  also  with  my  predecessors  in  office.  I  believe  it  useless  to 
attempt  to  effect  a  purely  Freethought  organization  of  numerical  importance.    In 


116  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

every  station  of  life,  the  believer  may  be  organized,  because  he  will  submit  to  be 
led.  The  Freethinker  is  directly  different  in  this  respect.  It  is  further  useless 
because  the  great  majority  of  Freethinkers  are  only  Freethinkers  in  degree. 
Like  every  other  class  we  have  an  infinite  variety  of  adherents.  Some  have-just 
picked  the  orthodox  shell.  Some  are  religiously  free,  but  have  not  thrown  off 
their  political  and  racial  superstition.  Some  place  great  value  upon  their  own 
liberty,  but  are  indifferent  to  the  liberty  of  others.  These  are  only  Freethinkers 
in  degree,  and  cannot  be  organized.  Besides,  they  should  not  be  eligible  in  a 
great  international  deliberative  body  like  this  should  be.  Their  presence  would 
only  produce  confusion,  and  prove  a  weakness  rather  than  a  strength.  A  few 
leading  spirits  working  in  harmony  will  prove  a  more  effective  working  body. 

There  are  a  great  many  wealthy,  educated  and  influential  Freethinkers,  who, 
for  divers  well  known  reasons,  will  not  affiliate  with  the  active  workers.  Neither 
can  this  aristocratic  element  be  organized.  Owing,  therefore,  to  the  many  existing 
species  of  Freethinkers,  I  would  advise  a  judicious  exclusiveness  on  the  part  of 
this  organization.  It  will  prove  more  substantial  and  will  be  honored  and 
respected  in  the  end. 

I  do  not  know  of  a  single  Freethought  society  composed  of  an  indiscriminate 
membership  that  has  lived. 

It  is  my  experience  and  observation  that  whatever  work  is  to  be  done,  either  as 
individuals  or  as  an  organized  body,  must  be  done  by  the  enthusiastic,  active  few. 

The  man  who  is  fearless,  who  works  for  the  advancement  of  mankind  simply 
because  his  heart  is  in  the  work,  he,  and  he  only,  among  Liberals  may  be 
organized. 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  great  mass  of  Liberals  are  indifferent  to  the  cause. 
Far  from  it.  Many  patronize  our  journals,  distribute  literature,  and  when  called 
upon  readily  contribute  to  worthy  enterprises,  and  also  manifest  a  warm  interest 
in  the  woik  of  the  leaders,  but  they  cannot  be  drawn  into  organization,  and  it  is 
useless  to  attempt  it. 

Therefore,  let  this  body  remain  as  it  now  is,  a  representative  body,  an  assembly 
of  generals  and  diplomats,  acting  independently  of  the  ranks.  Let  us  not  aim  in 
the  beginning  at  numerical  strength,  but  rather  at  quality  Let  us  bring  together 
our  best  scientific  and  representative  thinkers  and  workers  and  let  these  keep  in 
touch  with  each  other  the  world  over. 

Let  this  body  be  of  such  intellectual  dignity  that  ambitious,  progressive,  and 
worthy  Liberals  will  seek  it  of  their  own  accord,  and  let  none  such  be  barred. 
The  most  honorable  and  useful  member  often  is  the  man  who  does  things,  rather 
than  the  man  who  speechifies  ;  the  man  who  plans  rather  than  the  man  who 
theorizes. 

The  objects  of  organization  should  be  thoroughly  discussed,  and  practical 
plans  of  propaganda  outlined.     Not  only  the  subject  of  education,  but  that  of 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  117 


Legislation  should  be  taken  up,  and  also  means  employed  by  which  we  may  gain 
admission  to  the  columns  of  the  press.  The  methods  of  "The  American  Press 
Association  "  might  be  looked  into  with  profit. 

I  wish  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that  the  National  Liberal  Party  of  the  United 
States  sends  hearty  greetings  to  this  great  Congress.  It  has  sent  me  here  as  its 
representative,  because  it  believes  that  this  Congress  marks  an  epoch  in  the 
history  and  progress  of  mankind. 

It  is  indeed  the  most  important  event  that  has  taken  place  since  the  Reforma- 
tion, surpassing  even  the  conquests  of  nations,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires. 
It  affects  alike  all  nations  of  men. 

We  are  bearding  the  wolf  of  superstition  in  his  very  den.  The  possibility  of 
such  a  meeting  is  the  triumph  of  centuries  of  human  struggle,  persecution  and 
sacrifice.  But  a  few  years  ago,  such  a  Congress  would  have  been  the  occasion, 
of  a  riot  and  s'aughter. 

This  Congress  is  the  victory  of  a  million  martyrs  who  have  suffered  at  the- 
hands  of  Rome,  of  great  souls  who  bravely  went  to  the  rack  and  stake,  or  who 
starved  and  burned  their  lives  away  in  dungeon  gloom. 

It  is  the  victory  of  that  long  line  of  Pagan  orators,  moralists  and  lawmakers, 
whose  wealth  of  wisdom  the  modern  world  still  takes  as  its  standard  and  its  guide. 

Their  godlike  voices,  which  once  fed  Rome,  are  to-day  re-echoing  in  the 
Eternal  City. 

It  is  the  victory  of  Hypatia  and  Coj^ernicus  and  Galileo  and  Bruno  and 
Vanini  and  Voltaire,  and  of  all  brave  and  loving  souls,  since  their  day,  who 
have  given  the  thoughts  of  their  brains  to  make  men  free. 


H  la  "Xacon." 

BY     WINNIPEG. 

:o: 


About  a  century  or  so  ago  (the  "so"  to  be  endowed  with  much  latitude),  the 
Rev.  Somebody  Colton — if  my  memory  serve  me  not  awry — published  a  small 
volume  entitled  "  Lacon."  This  work,  as  its  name  vaguely  implies,  dealt  briefly 
with  many  subjects.  No  particular  plan  was  adopted  ;  not  even  alphabetical 
order,  'i'he  writer,  as  his  fancy  led  him,  offered  his  opinion  upon  a  variety  of 
things  ;  thus,  in  speaking  of  one  who  commits  suicide,  he  defined  him  as  "  a  man 
who  relinquishes  earth  to  forfeit  heaven."  I  regret  to  add,  the  reverend  gentle- 
man relinquished  the  one  and,  presumably,  forfeited  the  other.  The  '*  Lacon  " 
style  is  an  easy  way  of  airing  one's  opinions  upon  a  variety  of  subjects. 

Most  people  are  eager  to  obtain  wealth  ;  but  the  majority  of  those  who  hanker 
after  riches  adopt  methods  to  obtain  them  which  are  often  laborious  and  fre- 
quently unsuccessful.     Naw,  I  am  in  a  position  to  point  out  a  way  which  never 


118  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


fails  ;  and  is,  moreover,  as  simple  as  it  is  efficacious.  This  is  no  sharper's  ad.  ; 
and  it  is  not  a  hoax.  As  surely  as  God  speaks  to  his  erring  children  through  the 
mouths  of  his  holy  ministers,  so  true  is  this  plan.  I  claim  no  credit  for  it,  dear 
reader  ;  my  great  desire  is  to  render  you  a  multimillionaire,  and  increase,  in  like 
proportion,  the  bank-balance  of  the  Almighty.     Let  me  explain. 

It  is  not  often  that  I  read  church  news  in  the  papers  ;  but  the  other  day  I 
chanced  to  glance  at  a  Sunday-school  lesson.  For  the  Lord's  sake  !  What. a 
tremendous  caper  my  spirit  did  cut  !  I  learned  an  infallible  method  of  making 
men  wealthy  ;  whether  they  will  acquire  health  and  wisdom  as  well,  as  undoubt- 
edly they  would  do  by  going  to  bed  early  and  rising  before  dawn,  is  another 
question.  But,  not  to  keep  the  readers  of  Secul.ar  Thought  any  longer  in 
suspense,  let  me  unfold  the  plan  :  give  God  half  your  income.  I  am  not  in  a 
position  to  state  positively  that  a  letter,  registered  in  Canada  and  containing  a 
P.O.O.,  would  reach  heaven's  mighty  potentate.  There  have  been  so  many 
robberies  committed  lately  by  post-office  officials  in  this  country  that  perhaps  it 
would  not ;  but  most  certain  I  am,  that  if  you  hand  the  half  of  your  monthly 
salary  to  an  ordained  minister  of  God's  holy  church,  the  reverend  gentleman  will 
merkly  undertake  to  convey  your  gift  to  the  great  J  AH.  But,  reader,  if  you 
should  follow  this  plan,  deferentially  I  beseech  you  not  to  be  "  curious  in  unne- 
cessary matters."  Don't  ply  the  holy  man  with  questions  as  to  the  methods  he 
will  adopt  to  place  the  money  in  the  hands  of  him  whom  you  wish  to  benefit. 
Be  convinced  that  God  will  get  it. 

In  the  S.S.  lesson  alluded  to  I  read  that  a  certain  youth,  drawing  precisely  ten 
dollars  a  week,  gave  God  exactly  half  of  it.  The  terrestrial  biped's  income  was 
soon  doubled.  Continuing  the  good  plan,  the  youth,  in  a  very  short  time,  was 
making  several  thousand  dollars  per  mensem.  Then,  with  a  sickening  thud,  the 
callow  youth  fell  from  grace  !  He  considered  it  rather  hard  to  part  with  half  his 
pelf;  he  refused  to  divvy  up  his  money  with  God  !  O  the  wicked  young  man  ! 
Righteously  was  he  punished  !  Down  flopped  the  income  to  ten  dollars  a  week ! 
Then,  with  anguish  wrinkling  his  brow,  he  penitently  acknowledged  the  value  of 
a  sleeping  partner  !  Again  he  resumed  paying  fifty  per  cent,  upon  all  his  gains  to 
the  unseen  celestial  drummer.  Forthwith  the  income  rose  in  geometrical  pro- 
gression, doubling  itself  monthly.  With  a  delirious  bang  of  delight  it  soon 
reached  a  fabulous  sum  ;  and  quickly  the  young  man  and  the  good  Lord  became 
multimillionaires  ! 

Reader,  try  the  plan  ;  it  never  fails  But  be  sure  the  good  Lord  gets  his  fifty 
per  cent,  commission,  otherwise  you'll  be  left  in  the  soup  ! 


She  —There  are  some  people  who  use  religion  simply  as  a  cloak.  He — I 
know  it.  She— What  will  they  do  in  the  next  world,  do  you  think?  He— Oh, 
they  won't  need  any  cloak  there. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  119 


InQcraoU,  tbe  leioquent ''  pagan;' 

:o: 

[The  following  appeared  as  an  editorial  in  the  Quincy,  111.,  Daily  Journal^  and 
is  from  the  pen  of  B.  F.  Underwood,  editorial  writer  for  that  newspaper.] 

During  more  than  two  decades  Robert  G.  IngersoU,  of  whom  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  said  that  he  was  "  the  most  brilliant  speaker  of  the  English  tongue  of 
all  men  upon  this  globe,"  was  the  most  familiar  and  picture-que  figure  upon  the 
American  j)]atform.  No  other  speaker  could  draw  such  crowds  as  he.  The 
capacity  of  the  largest  halls  in  our  great  cities  was  insufficient  to  accommodate 
the  people  who  were  anxious,  at  a  dollar  a  head,  to  hear  the  eloquent  "  pagan.'* 
Caustic,  as  well  as  eloquent,  in  his  criticism  of  religious  beliefs,  and  of  the 
clerical  profession,  his  views  and  even  his  personal  characteristics  became 
legitimate  subjects  for  discussion  by  the  clergy.  But  his  criticisms  were  largely 
criticisms  not  so  much  of  current  beliefs  as  of  dogma"?,  formulated  in  the  old 
creeds,  but  practically  outgrown  by  the  people,  who  had  long  been  ready  for  that 
revision  of  the  articles  of  faith  which  is  now  going  on.  When  the  clergy  said, 
"  We  do  not  believe  these  things  now,"  IngersoU  triumphantly  quoted  from  the 
written  creeds  and  thereby  put  into  an  awkward  position  his  antagonists,  who 
were  not  permitted  to  repudiate  specifically  with  their  tongues  what  they  utterly 
disbelieved  in  their  hearts.  The  annou  cement  lately  that  a  minister  of  this  city 
wou'd  reply  to  the  *'  infidelity  "  of  Col.  IngersoU,  which  seems  like  a  sound  from 
the  past,  suggests  some  remarks  as  to  the  views  and  methods  of  the  distinguished 
heretic. 

IngersoU  was,  by  temperament,  a  partizan.  His  mind  was  not  judicial  With 
him  one  side  was  all  right  and  the  other  side  was  all  wrong.  He  was  a  great 
rhetorician,  word-painter,  prose-poec  and  orator,  rather  than  a  great  thinker.  He 
was  too  often  loose  in  his  statements,  and  with  him  amusing  illustrations,  hyper- 
bole and  byplays  of  fancy  and  sentiment,  were  frequently  more  conspicuous  than 
real  argument.  While  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  he  made  any  thought  contribu- 
tions to  religious  discussion,  he  certainly  enlivened  it  with  a  wit  and  eloquence 
that  were  all  his  own.  He  had  a  wonderful  sense  of  the  ludicrous  and  of  the 
grotesque,  and  the  character  of  certain  dogmas  sacred  to  many  only  excited  his 
merriment  and  called  forth  his  ridicule.  His  views  were  sometimes  only  surface 
views,  but  he  presented  them  in  a  way  that  was  original,  which  held  the  attention 
of  the  crowd.  He  touched  the  feelings  of  his  hearers,  for  he  was  himself  full  of 
emotion,  and  excited  sympathy  or  aroused  indignation  and  contempt,  where 
others  had  appealed  to  the  intellect,  and  had  tried  to  impress  the  understanding. 

IngersoU's  mind  was  more  intuitive  than  formally  logical,  and  he  did  not  care 
to  be  tied  down  to  exact  statements  or  to  close  reasoning.  He  was  discursive, 
and  could  not  easily  be  confined  strictly  to  a  given  line  of  thought.  His 
"infidelity"    was   that  of  the   eighteenth  century.       He   early   read    Voltaire, 


120  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

Helvetius  and  Paine,  and  from  them  he  took  such  arguments  and  objections  as 
impressed  him  most,  and  presented  them  in  his  own  unique  way.  such  as  was 
never  used  before,  thus  stamping  them  with  his  own  individuality. 

The  conception  of  evolution,  unfortunately,  did  not  enter  into  the  formation 
of  his  views.  Early  in  the  seventies  he  argued  with  the  writer  of  this  article 
(who  knew  him  well  for  a  third  of  a  century)  against  Darwin's  conclusions.  Later 
he  accepted  them  in  a  general  way,  but  his  acceptance  of  evolution  was  too  late, 
and  it  was  too  little  assimilated  by  him  to  infuse  his  mind  with  the  reconciliative 
spirit  or  to  make  him  see  the  importance  of  constructive  over  merely  critical  and 
negative  thought. 

He  could  not  understand  and  did  not  appreciate  thinkers  like  Herbert  Spencer. 
Their  philosophical  thought  was  too  abstract  and  complex  for  him  to  grasp. 
Kant  and  John  Stuart  Mill  were  above  him,  in  the  province  of  abstract  thinking, 
and  attempts  to  read  them  only  resulted  in  contempt  for  their  "  metaphysics." 
Ingersoll's  lectures,  however,  were  not  for  this  reason  any  less  admired  by  most 
of  his  hearers,  for  his  audiences  were  for  the  most  part  made  up  of  persons  at- 
tracted by  the  popular  qualities  of  the  orator. 

If  Ingersoll's  mind  had  been  more  reverent,  more  constructive,  and  more 
thoroughly  modern,  he  would  have  commanded  the  attention  of  a  higher  class, 
intellectually,  but  he  would  have  been  less  attractive  to  the  crowds  whom  he 
convulsed  with  laughter  by  his  anecdotes  and  stories,  and  melted  to  tears  by  his 
pathos  and  touching  descriptions  of  sorrow  and  suffering.  His  dogmatism, 
which  was  equal  to  that  of  any  preacher,  added  to  his  popularity,  for  the  people 
like  to  have  their  favorite  speakers,  as  well  as  their  family  doctors,  always  speak 
with  confidence  and  certainty  of  things  doubtful,  as  well  as  of  things  known. 

After  all  the  criticism  of  Ingersoll  that  may  be  made,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
he  voiced  many  truths  which  needed  to  be  spoken,  and  in  a  most  forceful  and 
effective  manner.  In  Ingersoll's  writings  are  numerous  prose-poems  not  surpassed 
in  English  literature,  many  of  them  being  replete  with  the  finest  thought  and 
marked  by  unsurpassed  beauty  of  expression. 

Ingersoll  did  good  work  in  vindicating  the  right  of  free  discussion  He  helped 
to  make  people  more  forbearing  and  more  tolerant.  He  contributed  to  the 
work  of  intellectual  liberty  and  intellectual  hospitality. 

He  set  an  example  of  intellectual  honesty  and  of  moral  courage.  He  uttered 
his  views  in  his  own  way,  when,  by  listening  to  the  advice  of  well-meaning  friends 
not  to  do  so,  he  could  easily  have  been  governor  of  Illinois.  Later,  Garfield  was 
dissuaded  from  appointing  him  minister  to  Berlin  by  those  who  were  opposed  to 
his  religious  attitude.  If  the  time  needed  men  with  the  courage  of  their 
convictions,  then  Ingersoll  did  useful  work  in  giving  to  the  world  a  splendid 
•example  of  loyalty  to  one's  own  self,  where  bowing  at  the  shrine  of  expediency  is 
the  common  rule. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  121 

In  politics,  as  well  as  in  religion,  Ingerso'l  was  one-sided,  and  his  speeches 
were  usually  those  of  an  undiscriminating  partizm.  Yet  the  re[)ublicans  were 
glad  to  avail  themselves  of  this  kind  of  political  advocacy.  Indeed,  it  has  been 
common  in  most  popular  contests.  Ingersoll  was  a  product  of  the  generations 
that  preceded  him,  as  well  as  of  his  environment.  He  was  exceptional,  not  in 
his  spirit  and  methods,  but  in  the  genius  and  eloquence  which  made  him  illus- 
trious and  which,  in  his  case,  fixed  attention  upon  intellectual  defects  which  are 
the  rule. 

Personally,  Ingersoll  was  a  man  of  most  attractive  qualities,  a  devoted  husband 
and  father,  a  loyal  friend,  a  patriotic  citizen,  a  genial  companion,  a  generous, 
large-hearted  man  He  was,  in  his  way,  the  greatest  genius  that  this  country  has 
produced,  but  his  limitations  were  as  marked  as  were  his  exceptional  gifts. 

Col.  Clark  Carr,  in  his  "  lUini,"  Speaks  of  Ingersoll  as  "the  greatest  of 
American  orators,"  and  adds  :  "Nj  man  can  estimate  the  power  and  influence 
of  Ingersoll  in  arousing  the  American  people  to  a  sense  of  their  solemn  responsi- 
bility when  the  war  came  upon  them,  or  in  awakening  them  to  a  sense  of  jus. ice 
and  the  proper  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  men.  One  must  have  heard  him 
before  a  great  audience,  in  the  open  air,  as  we,  in  Illinois,  often  did,  to  appreciate 
his  great  power.  Every  emotion  of  his  sou),  every  pulsation  of  his  heart,  was 
for  his  country  and  liberty.  And  no  other  man  has  ever  been  able  in  so  high  a 
degree  to  inspire  others  with  the  sentiments  that  animated  him.  No  just  history 
of  Illinois  can  be  written  without  placing  high  upon  the  scroll  of  fame  the  name 
of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll." 


CORRESPONDENCE 


"WORKED  UP  TO  A  STA'i  E  OF  MIND." 
Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir, — I  see  you  are  working  yourself  up  to  a  state  of  mind  over  the  school 
question  in  the  North  West — as  though  there  were  not  any  number  of  greater 
anomalies  and  injustices  in  our  polit'cal  and  social  affairs  nearer  home  better 
worth  your  attention.  As  a  matter  of  principle  I,  of  course,  believe  in  secular 
education,  but  as  we  can't  have  it,  do  not  see  the  fairness  of  compelling  Catholics 
to  send  their  children  to  schools  where  there  is  more  or  less  of  di>tinctively 
Protestant  teaching.  Moreover,  there  is  another  phase  of  the  question  which 
you  have  singularly  overlooked.  Our  public  schools  are  hotbeds  of  Imperialism 
and  flag-worship,  with  their  military  drills,  celebrations  of  battle  anniversaries 
and  exhortations  to  loyalty  to  the  piratical  and  plunder-grabbing  Empire.  There 
is  little  or  none  of  this  in  the  Catholic  schools.  If  children  must  be  taught  to 
worship  anything,  it  is  better  that  they  should  adore  the  Virgin  Mary  or  Mr. 
Sarto  of  Rome  than  prostrate  themselves  before  the  great  god  Jingo  or  the  flag 
that  is  the  emblem  of  class  and  caste  rule  at  home  and  pillage  and  spoliation 
abroad. 


122  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Tne  great  danger  to  such  measure  of  liberty  as  we  possess—  not  much  to  boast 
of — is  Imperialism,  and  any  counteracting  influence  is  warmly  to  be  welcomed. 
1  was  therefore  heartily  rejoiced  when  the  Government  showed  its  subserviency  to 
French  influence  by  delivering  the  stunning  slap  in  the  face  to  the  fanatical 
Orange  jingo  and  loyalist  element  involved  in  the  proposed  legislation.  1  am 
under  no  illusion  as  to  Laurier  and  his  followers,  however,  and  fully  realize  the 
hypocrisy  and  lack  of  principle  among  the  politicians,  both  Grit  and  Tory,  who 
are  simply  doing  in  this  matter  what  they  must  do  to  hold  their  jobs. 

All  the  same,  this  latest  indication  of  a  solid  Quebec  and  an  Ontario  honey- 
combed with  subserviency  to  the  increasingly  influential  French  vote  is  auspicious 
of  a  turn  in  the  tide  so  far  as  Imperialism  is  concerned.  What  folly  it  is  to  expect 
politicians  or  editors  who  are  the  creatures  and  flunkeys  of  capitalism  to  heed  the 
squeals  and  shrieks  of  papers  like  the  Teles^ram  and  other  fanatics,  when  tbeir 
whole  lives  have  been  spent  in  the  balancing  of  chances  to  see  how  they  could 
secure  most  votes  or  the  biggest  returns  !  How  can  anybody  expect  sacrifice  for 
principle — whether  the  said  principle  be  good  or  bad— from  a  gang  who  had  to 
put  principle  and  honor  and  consistency  behind  them,  as  a  useless  and  cumber- 
some burden,  before  they  had  even  a  chance  of  obtaining  the  positions  they 
occupy  ?  Phillips  Thompson. 

[VVe  totally  dispute  Mr.  Thompson's  assertion  that  there  are  "  greater  ano- 
malies and  injustices,  .nearer  home,"  than  those  of  the  present  education  dis- 
pute. In  our  view,  the  matter  of  education  is  of  supreme  importance  for  every 
nation,  and  the  present  moment,  when  a  gross  injustice  is  being  attempted,  is 
the  proper  and  indeed  the  only  available  time  for  action.  Whether  we  are  more 
*'  worked  up  to  a  state  of  mind  "  than  is  Mr.  Thompson  may  be  questioned,  but 
hi§  letter  would  seem  to  show  that  he  is  in  a  very  bellicose  condition. 

VVe  do  not  deny  the  existence  of  many  injustices  and  anomalies  among  us, 
and  one  of  the  most  striking  we  have  seen  for  some  time  is  that  of  a  pretended 
Liberal  and  noisy  advocate  of  peace  becoming  delirious  because  he  imagines 
Orangeism  has  received  a  "stinging  slap  in  the  face"  at  the  hands  of  a  hypocri- 
tical Premier  and  his  Je:5uitical  allies.  He  forgets,  perhaps,  though  Orangemen 
may  be  fanatics,  that  he  owes  much  of  the  liberty  he  possesses  to-day  to  the 
bigotry  and  ^  etermination  of  Orangemen,  as  well  as  of  others  who  fought  priest- 
crafi  in  days  gone  by,  and  whose  services  to  freedom  may  again  be  required  if 
wiiat  Mr.  Thompson  himself  says  be  true. 

It  may  tickle  iVIr.  Thompson  to  see  a  so^lid  Catholic  Quebec  and  a  corrupt 
Ontario  sell  Cana  la  to  the  Jesuits,  because  he  sees  in  thai  event  the  decline  of 
Imperialism  ;  but  it  only  shows  how,  little  justified  we  are  in  expecting  honesty 
or  consistency  in  a  man  who  has  once  had  his  fingers  in  the  political  pie.  It  is 
a  poor  chick  that  dirties  its  own  nest.  According  to  Mr.  Thon)pson,  all  politi- 
cians are, corrupt  self-seekers.      Is  he  the  "  white  hen  ?" 

Mr.  Thompson  is  perhaps  right  in  saying  that  we  have  not  much  liberty  to 
boast  of.  Does  he  think — it  would  seem  so  — that  the  way  to  increase  that  little, 
liberty  is  to  increase  the  power  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Canada  and  help  it  to 
crush  out  what  little  education  we  have  been  able  so  far  to  get  ?  He  says  there 
is  little  or  no  Imperialism  in  the  Catholic  schools,  and  is  satisfied,  so  long  as  this 
continues,  that  the  children  should  be  taught  to  worship  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
the  Pope.  Has  he  forgotten  that  but  five  or  six  years  ago  the  Quebec  Inspectors 
of  Schools  reported  that,  beyond  learning   by  rote  some  prayers  and  parts  of  the 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  123 


catechism,  there  was  absolutely  no  education  in  most  of  the  Catholic  scho'bls  ? 
Is  this  the  stata  of  things  he  prefers  to  the  conditions  in  Ontario  schools  ? 

Mr.  Thompson  grossly  misrepresents  the  case  when  he  says  that  it  is  desired  to 
compel  Catholics  to  send  their  children  to  Protestant  schools.  We  Freethinkers 
naturally  object  to  all  religious  teaching  in  the  Public  schools,  but  since  1875 
the  Catholics  in  the  Territories  have  been  allowed  to  have  Separate  schools,  with 
reasonable  regulations  as  to  efficiency.  The  question  now  is,  shall  this  compro- 
mise, as  fair  to  Catholics  as  any  conceivable  one,  be  allowed  to  continue,  or  shall 
Dominion  legislation  be  enacted  handing  over  the  schools  entirely  to  the  priests,. 
with  the  right  to  levy  taxes  and  to  demand  a  full  share  of  the  public  lands,  and 
without  any  control  as  to  efficiency  by  the  Governments  of  the  new  Provinces  ? 

Assuming  that  ail  Mr.  Thompson  says  is  true,  how  shall  it  be  changed  for  the 
belter?  Will  howling  against  Imperialism  do  it?  Will  it  mend  matters  to  de- 
nounce all  our  political  opponents  as  thieves  or  to  weep  because  officials  do  not 
show  signs  of  making  "sacrifices  for  principle?"  Is  there  any  other  way  than 
education  and  discussion  of  the  principles  involved  ?  We  think  not  And  we 
decidedly  think  that  such  an  intemperate  and  fanatical  letter  as  that  of  Mr. 
Thompson,  so  far  from  aiding  the  amelioration  of  our  troubles,  wi  1  only  disgust 
those  whg  do  not  laugh  at  it. 


"IS  THERE  INTELLIGENCE  IN  MATTER?" 
Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir, — Permit  me  to  thank  Mr.  Maddock  for  kindly  noticing  my  request,  and 
endeavoring  to  supply  the  help  for  which  I  asked. 

My  question  might  have  been  belter  expressed,  Is  matter  itself  intelligent  ? 
or  is  it  something  else  which  resides  in  every  atom,  and  possesses  volition  or 
will  and  causes  motion  of  the  matter  in  which  it  exists  ? 

If  mind — will — resides  in  the  matter  and  determines  its  course,  it  cannot  be 
subject  to  the  first  law  of  motion.  VVe  know  that  masses  of  living  matter  act 
as  though  guided  by  a  will.  I  want  to  know  how  this  can  be  if  the  will  is  ln 
the  matter?  If  it  is,  how  can  the  first  law  of  motion  be  true?  Living  masses 
of  matter  seldom  move  in  straight  lines. 

I  hope  we  will  not  drop  this  subject  until  we  understand  each  other  and   it. 

Yours,  A.  Elvins. 


FOR  WOxMAN'S  PROGRESS. 
Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir,— I  was  delighted  to  see  among  the  resolutions  passed  at  the  St.  Louis 
Convention  one  introduced  by  Moses  Harman  declaring  that  **  it  is  the  duty  uf 
every  rationalist  to  see  that  every  injustice  to  and  discrimination  against  women 
is  done  away  with." 

I  know  that  one  of  the  greatest  steps  that  could  be  taken  to  aid  the  progress 
of  women  would  be  the  destruction  of  the  religious  superstitions  that  enslave 
their  minds  and  hold  them  to  the  past  and  its  idols,  which  also  assign  them  a 
very  inferior  position  ;  and  priests,  ministers,  and  rabbis  are  those  who  most 
oppose  their  advancement. 

But  I  have  hopes  that  the  F'reethought  papers  will  give  some  small  space  to 
women's  economic  and  personal  freedom,  as  would  seem  likely  from  ihe  resolu- 
tion passed  at  the  convention. 


124  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


This  advance  of  women  is  the  one  great  need  of  Freethought,  since  women 
form  two-thirds  of  the  church  attendance,  and  it  is  only 'their  lack  of  opportunity 
and  development  that  holds  them  there.  Jt  is  the  women,  too,  who  drive  the 
children  into  the  churches.  Sincerely,  Catherine  Regan. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  SPHINX. 

The  greatest  mystery  of  Egypt  has  at  length  been  solved,  it  is  said,  through 
the  exertions  of  Colonel  Ram,  the  well-known  antiquarian.  The  great  image  has 
fallen  from  its  height  of  mighty  mysteriousness,  to  be  shown  by  unassailable 
proof  to  be  nothing  but  a  colossal  portrait  of  Ra-Harmachis,  which,  as  god  of 
the  morning  and  conqueror  of  darkness,  faces  the  rising  sun. 

Col.  Ram,  whose  discovery  has  now  made  him  world  famous,  has  been  for 
sometime  past  making  excavations  around  the  sphinx,  but  not  until  recently  did 
he  succeed  in  finally  uncovering  the  foundations  of  the  great  statue  and  bringing 
to  light  many  interesting  features  which  were  previously  unknown. 

Col.  Ram,  while  he  has  removed  this  fascinating  veil,  has  supplied  the  Sphinx 
with  a  history  the  interest  of  which  quite  makes  up  for  the  loss  of  the  mystery. 

Among  the  heretofore  unknown  features  of  the  stone  figure  which  he  has  just 
brought  t  )  light  is  the  tem|4e  surrounding  the  base,  which  was  intended  for  the 
worship  of  Harmachis,  and  several  chambers,  hewn  in  the  rock,  which  were  the 
tombs  of  kings  and  prie=;ts  devoted  to  his  worship. 

Col.  Ram  has  already  discovered  a  stone  cap  with  a  sacred  asp  carved  on  the 
forehead,  which  once  covered  the  head  of  the  Sphinx  like  a  royal  helmet,  and 
must  have  added  to  its  grandeur,  particularly  if  it  was  gilded,  as  the  colonel 
believes. 

The  Sphinx  is  not  a  monolith.  The  body  and  head  are  actually  hewn  out  of 
the  solid  rock,  but  much  sandstone  masonry  was  built  in  to  make  the  outlines 
perfect  and  cover  defects  in  the  material.  This  re-enforcement  of  the  original 
rock  is  apparent  now  to  a  close  observer,  but  originally  they  were  concealed,  for 
scientists  believe  the  entire  image  was  once  covered  with  enamel.  Indeed,  it  is 
yet  possible  to  find  fragments  still  adhering  to  the  surface  which  resemble  the 
porcelain  tiles  found  in  tombs  and  the  ruins  of  ancient  palaces. 

Several  private  collections  and  some  museums  have  large  blocks  of  most 
brilliant  coloring  and  artistic  design,  from  which  it  can  be  imagined  what  an  im- 
posing spectacle  the  great  statue  must  have  been  before  the  Persians  and 
-Mohammedans  destroyed  its  glory. 


A  REBUFF   FOR    SUNDAY  OBSERVANCEITES. 

On  Feb.  27th,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Canada  at  Ottawa  handed  down  a  deci- 
sion on  the  draft  bill  which  had  l)een  submitted  to  the  court  on  the  authority  of 
the  S  ibbatarian  party.  The  decision  declares  that  the  Provinces  have  not  the 
power  to  adopt  such  legislation  ;  one  judge,  Idington,  dissented  on  some  points. 
On  a  number  of  additional  questions  the  court  as  a  whole  declined  to  give  any 
opinion.  One  of  these  questions  related  to  the  power  of  a  Province  to  pass 
&  law  prohibiting  all  Sunday  work  "  except  works  of  mercy  and  necessity." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  125 


SIMPLON  TUNNEL  PIERCED. 

Gondo,  Switzerlan^l,  Feb.  24. —  Piercing  of  the  Simplon  tunnel  through  the 
Alps  was  completed  at  7.20  o'clock  this  morning.  The  work  was  commenced 
in  1898.  The  meeting  of  the  two  boring  pirties  (Swiss  and  Italian)  was  signalled 
throughout  Switzerland  by  ringing  of  ciuirch  bells  and  salutes  by  cannci.  Many 
unexpected  obstacles  were  encountered,  the  most  s(  rious  being  hot  springs 
which  threatened  to  wreck  the  whole  enterprise,  and  a  temperature  which  at  one 
time  rose  to  131  degrees  Fahrenheit,  making  a  continuance  of  the  work  impossible 
until  the  engineers  found  means  of  cooling  the  atmosphere.  Now  that  the  borers 
have  met  it  will  enable  the  water  accumu'ation  in  the  north  gallery  to  be  drawn 
off  The  work  of  preparing  the  tunnel  for  a  permanent  way  will  be  pushed  as 
rai)idly  as  possible,  and  it  is  hoped  to  inaugurate  the  tunnel  about  March  20th. 
'I'he  length  of  tSe  Simplon  tunnel  from  Briga,  in  Switzerland,  to  Iselle,  on  the 
Italian  side  of  the  mountain,  is  about  12  miles.  The  Swiss  and  Italian  govern- 
ments have  jointly  financed  the  undertaking  at  the  cost  of  $15,000,000.  I'he 
piercing  of  the  Simplon  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  engineering  achieve- 
ments of  the  age. 


PERFECT  IN  KNOWLEDGE  AND  WISDOM. 
Mr.  Ambrose  S.  Ottley,  an  aged  blacksmith,  of  Cecil  County,  in  the  State  of 
Maryland,  U.S.  A  ,  has  accomplished  a  feat  which  probably  has  never  been  [)er- 
formed  by  anyone  else  in  the  world.  For  over  thiity-five  years  he  has  been 
systematically  reading  his  Bible  through  and  through  fr  )m  beginning  to  end.  He 
has  completed  his  iiyih  perusal  of  the  s  icred  book  and  started  again. 


NOTHING  FREE. 
Nothing  is  free  !     A  poll  tax  do  we  pay 

Even  for  the  air  we  breathe.     Religion  ?     No  ! 

Bethink  you  of  collection  plates  that  go 
Adown  the  aisles  !     In  Java  and  Cathay 
,Th' expensive  heathen  who  the  better  way 

Seek  only  at  our  cost  !     The  free  lunch  ?     Though 

Apparently  'tis  free,  yet,  seeker,  know, 
The  drink  you  buy  includes  the  whole  outlay  ! 

Nor  here  nor  anywhere  are  things  quite  fr?e. 
The  freest  manner  has  its  slight  reserve  ; 
Nor  ever  is  this  awful  rule  relaxed. 
Seek  the  wide  forest,  there  alone  to  be, 

To  thought  of  man  ne'er  for  a  moment    swerve, 
And  find  that  e'en  your  enemies  are  taxed  ! 
■New  Orleans  Times  Democrat. 


A  certain  laborer  once  asked  a  country  clergyman  to  write  a  letter  for  him  to 
a  duke,  from  whom  he  wished  to  obtain  aid.  *'  Ikil  you  ought  to  go  yourself 
and  see  his  grace,''  said  the  clergyman.  "  I  would,  sir,"  was  the  nervous  answer, 
**  but,  you  see,  I  don't  like  to  speak  to  the  duke.  He  may  be  too  proud  to  listen 
to  the  likes  of  me.  I  can  talk  to  you  well  enough,  sir ;  there's  nothing  of  the 
gentleman  about  you." 


126  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


ONE  FOR  HIS  REVERENCE. 

"  What  is  the  opposite  of  a  spendthrift  ?  "  inquired  the  school  inspector.  No 
answer.  "  Well,  what  would  you  call  a  man  who  sends  you  on  errands  and  gives 
you  nothing  for  going  ?  "  "  Parson,  sir,"  said  the  show  boy  of  the  class.  Con- 
fusion of  local  clergyman,  who  was  present,  and  had  gained  a  reputation  for 
close-fistedness. 


**  Freak  "  religion  has  claimed  another  victim.  Believing  that  the  millennium 
was  near,  and  that  she  had  received  a  divine  call  to  ofifer  herself  as  a  sacrifice. 
Miss  Frances  Wakley  in  Chicago  a  few  days  ago  poured  oil  over  her  clothing  and 
the  pile  of  torn  books  and  papers  in  which  she  stood,  and  set  the  whole  on  fire. 


Sunday  School  Teacher — "  Now,  Willie,  how  many  commandments  are  there  ?  " 
Willie — '*  Dere  wuz  ten  last  Sunday,  but  Jake  broke  one,  so  1  s'pose  dere's  nine 


Two  Irishmen  who  had  not  seen  each  other  for  a  long  time  met  at  a  fair. 
O'Brien  —  "  Shure,  it's  married  I  am,  an'  I've  got  a  fine  healthy  boy,  which  the 
neighbors  say  is  the  very  picter  of  me."  Malone — "  Och,  well,  what's  the  harrum 
so  long  as  the  child's  healthy  ?  " 


Lady — "Why  don't  you  go  to  work?  Don't  you  know  that  a  rolling  stone 
gathers  no  moss  ?  "  The  Tramp — "  Madame,  not  to  evade  your  question  at  all, 
but  merely  to  obtain  information,  may  I  ask  what  practical  utility  moss  is  to  a 
man  in  my  condition  ?  " 


"  John,"  said  the  Vicar  to  his  man-servant,  "  are  you  a  Christian  ?  "  *'  Why- 
or-yes,  sir,  I  think  so."  "  Do  you  ever  swear,  John  ?  "  "  Well,  sir,  sometimes  I 
am  a  little  careless  like  in  my  talk."  "  I  am  deeply  grieved,  John,"  said  his 
pious  master.  "  But  we  will  converse  about  this  some  other  time.  For  the  pre- 
sent, I  wish  you'd  take  this  money  and  go  and  settle  this  plumber's  bill  for  burst 
pipes — and.  John,  talk  to  the  plumber  in  a  careless  kind  of  a  way  as  if  it  were 
your  own  bill." 


In  a  weaver's  shop  in  Paisley  a  discussion  arose  regarding  the  revolution  of 
the  earth.  One  of  the  weavers,  who  understood  a  little  of  the  subject,  was  en- 
deavoring to  explain  the  motion  to  his  shopmates  with  the  oracular  gravity  of  a 
person  in  whom  all  knowledge  centred.  One  of  the  men,  who  had  very  dim 
notions  on  the  laws  of  gravitation,  struck  in  thus  : 

"  Man,  Wull,"  he  exclaimed,  "  ye  may  baud  yer  tongue,  for  ye  may  as  well  tell 
me  that  a  soo  can  flee.  The  warld  gang  roond  !  Lud,  ye  wud  hae  fowk  to  be 
as  silly  as  Rab  Patterson,  who  went  to  the  tap  o'  Gleniffer  braes  to  see  America. 
Look  here,  Wull.  It's  seven  an'  forty  years  since  I  sat  down  at  this  loom,  an' 
my  face  was  then  to  Laird  Martin's  gavel.  Noo,  if  the  warld  has  been  aye  gaun 
roon\  as  ye  say  it  is,  whaur,  I  wonder,  wad  I  be  by  this  time  ?  " 


A  boy  was  told  to  go  to  the  blackboard  and  write  a  sentence  with  the  words 
"  bitter  end  "  in  it.  This  is  what  he  wrote  :  "  A  dog  ran  into  the  yard  after  a 
cat  and  he  bitter  end." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  127 


WHAT  MIGHT   BE  DONE! 

What  might  be  done  if  men  were  wise  ! 
What  glorious  deeds,  my  suffering  brother  ; 
Did  they  unite  in  love  and  right, 
Ahd  cease  their  strife  with  one  another. 

Oppression's  heart  might  be  imbued 
With  kindling  drops  of  loving  kindness. 
And  knowledge  pour  from  shore  to  shore 
Light  on  the  eyes  of  mental  blindness. 

The  meanest  wretch  that  ever  trod, 
The  deepest  sunk  in  guilt  and  sorrow, 
Might  stand  erect  in  self  respect 
And  share  this  teeming  earth  to-morrow. 

All  slavery,  suffering,  lies  and  wrong, 
All  vice  and  crime  might  die  together, 
And  wine  and  corn  to  each  man  born 
Be  free  as  warmth  in  sunny  weather. 

What  might  be  done?     This  might  be  done  ! 
And  more  than  this,  my  suffering  brother  ; 
More  than  the  tongue  e'er  said  or  sung, 
If  men  were  wise  and  loved  each  other. 

—  Charles  Mackay 


In  a  city  not  a  hundred  miles  from  Dundee  an  American  stepped  up  to  the 
elder  at  the  church  door  and  said  :  "  What's  the  admission  to  this  here  show, 
stranger?"  "  No  charge  for  admission,  sir,"  replied  the  elder ;  *'  this  is  a  church." 
"  Wall,  for  a  free  show  there  don't  seem  to  be  much  of  a  rush,"  said  the  Yankee, 
as  he  took  a  seat  in  a  pew. 


A  beetle  was  lately  depicting,  before  a  deeply  ir>terested  audience,  the  alarming 
increase  in  intemperance,  when  he  astonished  his  hearers  by  exclaiming  :  "  A 
young  woman  in  my  neighborhood  died  very  suddenly  last  Sabbath,  while  I  was 
preaching  the  Gospel,  in  a  state  of  beastly  intoxication." 

'•  De  trouble  wid  de  average  man,"  said  Uncle  Eben,  "  is  dat  when  he  has 
three  meals  a  day  an'  a  warm  fire,  he  can't  see  why  ev'rybody  else  shouldn't  be 
contented." 


*'  Pooh  !  I  don't  believe  in  Valentine's  Day  T"  "  Oo-ooo-ooh  !  you  wicked 
boy  !     I'm  a-goin'  to  tell  your  Sunday  school  teacher  on  you  ! " 

A  lady  entered  a  railway  station  not  a  hundred  miles  from  Edinburgh  the 
other  day,  and  said  she  wanted  a  ticket  for  London.  The  pale-looking  clerk 
asked,  "  Single  ?  "  "  It  ain't  any  of  your  business,"  she  replied.  *'  I  might  have 
been  married  a  dozen  times  if  I'd  felt  like  providin'  for  some  poor  shiftless  wreck, 
of  a  man  like  you." 


128 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


■iSligiilii^ 


iD^lSlfgJ      In  the  press,  and  will  be  published  shortly, 

NTSSIA. 


an   ©lb  MorlC)  ©tor?. 


By  M.  C.  O'BYRNE, 

:lnfhor  of  "  Song  of  the  !4ges  and  Other  Poems,' 
151^^1  "  Love  and  Labor r 


Upon  This  Rock; 


TORONTO,    CANADA : 

C.  M.  Ellis,  Printer  and  Publisher,  185K  Queen  St.  West. 


In  this  work,  Mr.  O' Byrne  has  woven  an 
old-world  story  into  a  poem  of  intense  in- 
terest and  of  wonderful  grace  and  power. 

We  think  that  since  the  days  when  *'  The 
Corsair,''  ^'The  Giaour,"  ^'The  Cenci," 
and  their  companion  works  startled  and 
delighted  a  world  of  critics,  there  has  not 
appeared  a  poem  the  equal  of  Mr.  O' Byrne's 
new  work. 

*^  Nyssia  "  forms  a  neat  volume  of  about 
90  pages  post  8vo.  ;  it  is  printed  with  new 
type  on  heavy  paper,  and  will  be  handsomely 
bound  in  blue  cloth  with  gold  lettering, 
price  $1.00,  post  free;  an  edition  in  heavy 
paper  wrapper  will  be  issued,  price  60c. 


SEC  UL AE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  fl.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  5.  TORONTO,  MARCH    18,1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Hri0totle'6  Evolution* 

:o: 

Nature  passes  so  gradually  from  inanimate  to  animate  things, 
that  from  their  continuity  their  boundary  and  the  intermediate 
forms  are  indistinct  or  indeterminate.  The  race  of  plants  suc- 
ceeds immediately  that  of  inanimate  objects,  and  these  differ 
from  each  other  in  the  proportion  of  life  in  which  they  partici- 
pate ;  for  compared  with  other  objects  they  appear  to  possess 
life,  yet  when  compared  with  animals  they  appear  inanimate. 
The  change  from  plants  to  animals,  however,  is  gradual,  as 
I  before  observed.  For  a  person  might  question  to  which  of 
these  classes  some  marine  objects  belong ;  for  many  of  them 
are  attached  to  the  rock,  and  perish  as  soon  as  they  are  sepa- 
rated from  it.  The  pinnae  (mollusk)  are  attached  to  the  rocks, 
the  solens  (shell-fish)  cannot  live  after  they  are  taken  away 
from  their  localities  ;  and,  on  the  whole,  all  the  testacea  re- 
semble plants,  if  we  compare  them  with  locomotive  animals. 
Some  of  them  appear  to  have  no  sensation  ;  in  others  it  is 
very  dull.  The  body  of  some  of  them  is  naturally  flesh-like, 
as  in  those  called  tethides  (gastropod)  ;  and  the  medusae  and 
the  sponges  entirely  resemble  plants.  The  progress  is  always 
gradual  by  which  one  appears  to  have  more  life  and  motion 
than  another. — Aristotle  (History  of  Animals^  translated  by 
Cresswell). 

[This  and  the  following  passages  from  the  able  work  by  Prof.  Oslx^rn,  Columbia 
University,  "  From  the  Greeks  to  Darwin,"  are  quoted  from  "  Ethi.cs  of  the 
Greek  Philosophers,"  by  Prof.  James  H.  Hyslop,  Columbia  University.] 

With  Aristotle  (384-322  b.c.)  we  enter  a  new  world.  He 
lowered  above  his  predecessors,  and  by  the  force  of  his  own 
genius  created  Natural  History.     In  his  own  words,  quoted 


130  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

lately  by  Romanes,  we  learn  that  the  centuries  preceding  him 
yielded  him  nothing  but  vague  speculation  : 

**  I  found  no  basis  prepared,  no  models  to  copy.  . .  .Mine  is 
the  first  step,  and  therefore  a  small  one,  though  worked  out 
with  much  thought  and  hard  labor.  It  must  be  looked  at  as 
a  first  step  and  judged  with  indulgence.  You,  my  readers  or 
hearers  of  my  lectures,  if  you  think  I  have  done  as  much  as 
can  fairly  be  required  for  an  initiatory  start,  as  compared  with 
more  advanced  departments  of  theory,  will  acknowledge  what 
I  have  achieved  and  pardon  what  I  have  left  for  others  to 
accomplish.".  ... 

He  was  attracted  to  natural  history  by  his  boyhood  life  upon 
the  seashore,  and  the  main  parts  of  his  ideas  upon  Evolution 
were  evidently  drawn  from  his  own  observations  upon  the  gra- 
dations between  marine  plants  and  the  lower  and  higher  forms 
of  marine  animals.  He  was  the  first  to  conceive  of  a  genetic 
series,  and  his  conception  of  a  single  chain  of  evolution  from 
the  polyps  to  man  was  never  fully  replaced  until  the  beginning 
of  this  [19th]  century.  It  appeared  over  and  over  again  in 
different  guises.  In  all  his  philosophy  of  Nature,  Aristotle 
was  guided  partly  by  his  preconceived  opinions  derived  from 
Plato  and  Socrates,  and  partly  by  convictions  derived  from  his 
own  observations  upon  the  wonderful  order  and  perfection  of 
the  universe.  His  ^*  perfecting  principle"  in  Nature  is  only 
one  of  a  score  of  his  legacies  to  later  speculations  upon  Evo- 
lution causation.  Many  of  our  later  writers  are  Aristotelians 
without  apparently  being  conscious  of  it 

We  can  pass  leniently  by  errors  which  are  strewn  among 
such  grand  contributions  to  biology  and  to  the  very  founda- 
tion stones  of  the  Evolution  idea 

While  Plato  had  relied  upon  intuitions  as  the  main  ground 
of  true  knowledge,  Aristotle  relied  upon  experiment  and  in- 
duction. **  We  must  not,"  he  said,  '*  accept  a  general  prin- 
ciple from  logic  only,  but  must  prove  its  application  to  each 
fact ;  for  it  is  in  facts  that  we  must  seek  general  principles, 
and  these  must  always  accord  with  facts.  Experience  furnishes 
the  particular  facts  from  which  induction  is  the  pathway  to 
general  laws."  (Hist,  Animals^  i.  6.)  He  held  that  errors  do 
not  arise  because  the  senses  are  false  media,  but  because  we 
put  false  interpretations  upon  their  testimony 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  131 


Aristotle's  theories  as  to  the  origin  and  succession'  of  life 
went  far  beyond  what  he  could  have  reached  "by  the  legitimate 
application  of  his  professed  method  of  procedure 

Aristotle  believed  in  a  complete  gradation  in  Nature,  a  pro- 
gressive development  corresponding  with  the  progressive  life 
of  the  soul.  Nature,  he  says,  proceeds  constantly  by  the  aid 
of  gradual  transitions  from  the  most  imperfect  to  the  most 
perfect,  while  the  numerous  analogies  which  we  find  in  the 
various  parts  of  the  animal  scale  show  that  all  is  governed  by 
the  same  laws  ;  in  other  words.  Nature  is  a  unit  as  to  its 
causation.  The  lowest  stage  is  the  inorganic,  and  this  passes 
into  the  organic  by  direct  metamorphosis,  matter  being  trans- 
formed into  life.  Plants  are  animate  as  compared  with  mine- 
rals, and  inanimate  as  compared  with  animals  ;  they  have 
powers  of  nourishment  and  reproduction,  but  no  feeling  or 
sensibility.  Then  come  the  plant-animals,  or  Zoophytes:  these 
are  the  marine  creatures,  such  as  sponges  and  sea  anemones, 
which  leave  the  observer  most  in  doubt,  for  they  grow  upon 
rocks  and  die  if  detached. .  .  .The  third  step  taken  by  Nature 
is  the  development  of  animals  with  sensibility  ;  hence  desire 
for  food  and  other  needs  of  life,  and  hence  locomotion  to  fulfil 
those  desires.  Here  was  a  more  complex  and  energetic  form 
of  the  original  life.  Man  is  the  highest  point  of  one  long  and 
continuous  ascent.  Other  animals  have  the  faculty  of  thought; 
man  alone  generalizes  and  forms  abstractions ;  he  is  physically 
superior  in  his  erect  position,  in  his  purest  and  largest  blood 
supply,  largest  brain,  and  highest  temperature 

These  passages  seem  to  contain  absolute  evidence  that  Aris- 
totle had  substantially  the  modern  conception  of  the  evolution 
of  life,  from  a  primordial  soft  mass  of  living  matter  to  the  most 
perfect  forms,  and  that  even  in  these  he  believed  Evolution  was 
incomplete,  for  they  were  progressing  to  higher  forms.  His 
argument  of  the  analogy  between  the  operation  of  natural  law 
rather  than  of  chance,  in  the  lifeless  and  in  the  living  world,  is 
a  perfectly  logical  one,  and  his  consequent  rejection  of  the 
hypothesis  oi  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest  a  sound  induction 
from  his  own  limited  knowledge  of  Nature.  It  seems  per- 
fectly clear  that  he  placed  all  under  secondary  natural  laws. 
If  he  had  accepted  Empedocles'  hypothesis,  he  would  have 
been  the  literal  prophet  of  Darwinism. — Prof.  Osborn. 


132  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


EDITORIALS 


"  CHRIST  AND  Ef  the  God  Idea  is  an  inscrutable  mystery  of 

HIM  CRUCIFIED."  unreason  in  a  civilized  age,  what  are  we  to  say 
to  the  idea  of  "  Christ  ?"  It  seems  easy  to  trace 
the  development  of  supernaturalism  from  barbarous  fetichism  to  mono- 
theism, by  a  process  of  elimination  of  the  more  obvious  crudities  of 
idolatry,  owing  to  the  increasing  intelligence  of  mankind  ;  but  how  shall 
we  account  for  the  development  of  the  ultra-irrational  Christ  Idea  out 
of  the  story  of  Jesus  ?  Whether  Jesus  ever  lived  or  not  does  not  con- 
cern us  here.  The  fact  w^e  have  to  start  with  is  the  undoubted  one  that 
in  early  Christian  times  the  prevalent  idea  of  Jesus  was  that  he  was 
simply  a  great  teacher,  a  prophet,  a  messiah,  it  may  be,  but  a  man  with 
a  divine  message,  yet  still  essentially  a  man.  The  Arian  heresy  seems, 
indeed,  to  have  been  the  common  belief  in  the  early  Christian  church, 
and  only  to  have  been  reduced  from  that  position  by  the  persecutions 
of  its  vindictive  and  active  opponents.  At  an  epoch  when  literature  and 
general  intelligence  had  made  much  progress — the  Augustan  Age  and 
the  immediately  succeeding  centuries — when  men  had  learnt  to  laugh  at 
the  family  relationships  of  the  gods,  it  seems  almost  inexplicable  that  a 
new  Holy  Family  should  have  been  able  to  secure  the  reverence  and 
worship  of  the  Western  world. 

It  is  an  added  mystery,  too,  that  the  extravagant  and  unnatural  pre- 
tensions of  this  new  Holy  Family  were  not  only  put  forward  in  a  com- 
paratively intelligent  age,  but  that  its  absurdities — not  overlooked  and 
accepted  merely  on  the  authority  of  the  priests — were  freely  canvassed 
and  exposed  by  intelligent  disputants,  comprising  many  of  the  leading 
men  in  the  church.  The  difiSculties  of  the  Virgin  Birth  and  the  other 
mysteries  of  the  Trinity  were  as  clearly  seen  then  as  they  are  seen  in 
our  day,  and  yet  for  nineteen  centuries,  through  every  phase  of  mental 
progress,  they  have  been  accepted  as  "  gospel  truth  "  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing portion  of  Christendom. 

The  Higher  Critics  bring  reason  to  bear  upon  the  difficulties  of  the 
older  portions  of  the  Bible,  but  they  seldom  allow  their  reason  to  inter- 
fere with  their  professed  belief  in  a  Divine  Man  or  a  Man-God  who  i& 
at  once  a  lineal  descendant  of  David  and  the  son  of  a  married  virgin* 
and  a  ghost,  though  "the  man  Christ  Jesus  "  is  a  familiar  phrase  in  the: 
Kew  Testament- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  133 


The  facts  seem  to  show  that  these  religious  mysteries  that  appear  so 
incomprehensible  are  the  result  of  the  still  defective  development  of  the 
human  mind.  We  hear  men  laugh  at  ancient  Papias  for  wishing  there 
were  even  more  unbelievable  things  in  the  Scriptures,  so  that  he  might 
have  the  more  credit  for  believing  them,  but  in  reality  Papias's  philo- 
sophy is  ihe  philosophy  of  the  mass  of  Christians  to-day.  Belief  is  the 
foundation  of  all  religious  or  moral  merit,  no  matter  whether  the  dogma 
propounded  be  believable  or  not,  and  unless  a  man  professes  belief  in 
the  supernatural  character  of  Jesus  he  is  anathema,  notwithstanding 
the  manifest  fact  that,  while  much  of  the  alleged  teaching  of  Jesus  is 
ethically  defective,  there  is  not  a  sentence  in  the  whole  of  it  that  is  not 
equalled  or  surpassed  by  similar  teachings  by  more  ancient  men. 

"  CHRIST-LIKE  A  good  sample  of  one  of  the  present-day  views  of 

SELF-SACRIFICE"    "Christ"   was  given  by  Rev.  Harlan  P.  Beach, 
AT  WVCLIFFE  educational  secretary  of  the  Students'  Volunteer 

COLLEGE.  Movement,  who  came  from  New  York  a  week  or 

two  ago  to  lecture  to  the  professors  and  students 
of  Wycliffe  College,  Toronto.  His  text  was  the  sneer  of  the  Jews  at  the 
crucifixion — ''  He  saved  others  ;  himself  he  cannot  save."  And  Mr. 
Harlan's  enthusiasm  led  him  to  utter  these  sentiments  : 

"  No  other  great  leader  of  thought,  no  founder  of  other  religious  sys- 
tems could  compare  with  the  Christian's  Savior  in  answering  all  the 
needs  of  men.  And  Christ's  saving  power  found  its  very  highest  influ- 
ence in  his  vicarious  sacrifice.  He  had  sacrificed  the  glory  of  heaven 
and  borne  the  sorrows  of  all  human  conditions,  had  suffered  hunger  and 
thirst  and  weariness  in  their  most  agonizing  forms.  He  had  suffered  the 
misunderstandings  of  those  for  whom  he  had  lived  and  for  whom  he  gave 
himself ;  he  had  suffered  the  supreme  agony  of  the  cross.  So,  too,  in 
the  history  of  all  the  world's  great  forward  movements,  final  victory  had 
rested  in  the  influence  of  the  devotion  shown  by  the  men  who  gave  up 
their  lives  for  their  fellow-men.  Missionary  history  in  China  and  Japan 
evidenced  the  truth  of  the  Chinese  inscription  placed  over  the  graves  of 
the  devoted  men  who  chose  death  rather  than  renounce  their  faith  : 
*  They  sowed  their  bodies  and  reaped  life.'  " 

Now,  there  is  not  a  sentence  in  this  rigmarole  of  rubbish  concerning 
**  Christ  "  that  should  not  make  an  intelligent  man  blush  for  uttering  it. 
How,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  a  sane  man  can  say  that  Christ's 
teachings  **  answer  all  the  needs  of  man,"  when  at  this  very  moment, 
nineteen  centuries  after  their  alleged  promulgation,  the  Christian  world 


134  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

itself  is  full  of  poverty,  disease,  war,  revolution,  crime,  and  vice,  is  one 
of  those  mysteries  that  hafifle  explanation. 

Even  supposing  that  the  alleged  "vicarious  sacrifice"  of  Jesus  were 
a  legitimate  ethical  factor,  will  Mr.  Beach  tell  us  what  it  has  saved  the 
world  from  or  what  human  needs  it  has  met  ? 

Supposing  that  Jesus  (not  "  Christ ")  did  "sacrifice  the  glories  of 
heaven," — it  was  only  for  a  few  years,  after  all,  and  as  he  was  able  to 
perform  miracles,  it  is  clear  that  he  retained  the  power  if  he  gave  up 
the  glory ;  tliat  is,  he  retained  the  eub&tance  if  for  a  time  he  abandoned 
the  frills, — what  absurd  nonsense  it  is  to  allege  that  he  "  bore  the  sor- 
rows oi  all  human  conditions."  Taking  the  story  at  its  best,  there  is 
no  pretence  that  Jesus  ever  suffered  any  punishment  but  scourging  and 
crucifixion,  both  of  which  had  been  and  since  then  have  been  suffered 
by  myriads  of  other  men,  many  of  whom  have  suffered  unspeakable 
tortures  in  addition.  And  if  it  be  said  that  he  was  an  innocent  person, 
and  that  consequently  his  agony  was  all  the  greater,  then  we  can  only 
reply  that  millions  of  other  innocent  persons  have  been  punished,  but, 
as  Jesus  is  alleged  to  have  been  a  miraculously  endowed  man,  he  was 
well  able  to  bear  more  punishment  than  a  mere  man.  Of  what  use  is 
divine  power  if  it  does  not  enable  its  possessor  to  stop  a  toothache  *? 

The  fact  is,  that  most  of  the  martyrs  for  opinion's  sake  have  been  at 
least  as  innocent  as  Jesus,  and  bore  their  sufferings  without  screaming 
out — as  a  mark  of  lost  faith — "  My  God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?  " 

Mr.  Beach's  sermon  illustrates  the  fact  we  have  already  referred  to — 
that  even  among  cultivated  preachers  the  belief  in  the  paradoxical  doc- 
trines connected  with  the  Christ  Idea  is  still  strong.  For  them,  the 
universality  of  natural  law  is  but  a  meaningless  phrase  when  they  open 
the  Bible  and  preach  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  However  foolish 
when  viewed  from  a  rational  point  of  view,  every  sentence  of  their  fetish 
becomes  a  marvel  of  wisdom  when  seen  through  religious  spectacles, 

THE  GREAT  -'Eevivalism  "  has  been  a  marked  feature  of  the 

TORREY  AND  Christian  religiou  for  the  past  half-century.     Not 

ALEXANDER  "  RE-  that  this  period  has  seen  the  beginning  of  revivals 
VIVAL"  IN  LONDON,  in  religion,  for  with  Huss,  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox, 
Fox,  Wesley,  Whitfield,   and  a  host  of  other  en- 
thusiasts and  fanatics^  there  has  been  a  succession  of  waves  of  religious 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  135 

excitement  all  over  Europe  since  the  days  of  the  Crusades.  But  during 
the  last  half-century  Revivalism  has  been  reduced  to  a  business — and  a 
remarkably  well-paying  business  too. 

This  latter  fact  is  in  our  opinion  one  of  the  most  important  signs  in 
the  whole  business,  and  really  proves  the  small  advance  in  rational 
thought  that  has  been  made  by  the  bulk  of  the  people.  For,  whatever 
changes  there  may  have  been  in  the  theological  creeds  and  dogmas  held 
by  some  schools,  it  is  perfectly  true,  we  think,  that  people  w^ill  not  pay 
for  an  agency  which  they  think  is  useless  or  fraudulent ;  and  the  leading 
features  of  every  revival  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  have  always 
been  the  same — (1)  an  attempt  to  rehabilitate  the  supposedly  discredited 
or  neglected  dogmas  ;  and  (2)  a  vicious  attack  upon  both  the  good  faith 
and  the  morality  of  all  opponents,  more  especially  the  unbelievers,  the 
atheists,  or  the  "  infidel."  The  conclusion  forced  upon  us  is,  that  the 
people  support  the  revivalists  because  they  really  believe  the  old  faith. 
**  Cash  talks,"  it  is  said,  and  the  revivalists  invariably  make  a  big  haul 
— such  a  big  haul,  indeed,  that  sometimes  the  regular  preachers  com- 
plain that  their  own  collections  suffer. 

It  seems  strangely  absurd  that,  while  both  America  and  Britain  send 
out  large  numbers  of  missionaries  to  convert  the  unwilling  heathen,  the 
supposedly  Christian  nations  are  so  full  of  immorality  and  crime,  that 
these  revival  fakers  are  always  able  to  justify  their  missions  by  pointing 
to  these  evils  and  attributing  them  to  unbelief.  And  it  is  equally  ludi- 
crous to  find  the  last  revival  faker,  ignoring  the  many  revivalists  who 
have  preceded  him,  pretending  to  find  the  work  more  urgently  needed 
than  ever,  and  promising  a  wonderful  success — if  only  the  needed  cash 
is  forthcoming. 

Just  now,  one  of  the  biggest  of  these  revival  schemes  is  going  on  in 
London,  England.  Torrey  and  Alexander — these  travelling  fakers  almost 
always  hunt  in  pairs,  a  preacher  and  a  singer  or  a  talker  and  a  buffoon, 
like  Moody  and  Sankey,  Jones  and  Small,  etc. — are  running  a  revival  at 
the  great  Albert  Hall,  and  show  us  all  the  features  of  the  business  in 
the  clearest  fashion.  They  demanded  a  sum  of  i^l7,000  ($85,000)  to 
start  the  game,  and  for  this  sum  promised  that  a  big  stride  towards  the 
**  conversion"  of  London  to  Christianity  should  be  made. 

It  is  a  matter  of  certainty  that  the  good  effect  of  the  revival,  should 
there  be  any,  will  be  imperceptible  in  the  great  metropolis  ;  for  it  is  as 
certain  as  anything  can  be  that  the  bulk  of  those  who  go  to  hear  the 
pair  will  be  of  the  class  who  are  already  supposed  to  be  Christians,  f  his 


136  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

is  always  the  case.  And  some  clergymen  have  already  recognized  some 
of  Torrey's  alleged  *' converts  "  as  full-fledged  members  of  their  own 
congregations  ! 

It  is,  indeed,  hardly,  to  be  expected  that  a  very  large  number  of  non- 
Christians  should  attend  Torrey's  meetings,  for  much  of  his  talk  is  of 
the  old-style  anti-infidel  character,  in  which  he  denounces  "  the  atheist  " 
as  all  that  is  immoral  and  vile.  In  an  announcement  in  the  London 
Daily  Chronicle,  Torrey  asserts  that  "  unbelief  is  rampant "  in  London, 
in  spite  of  many  revivals  during  the  las't  thirty  years.  His  assumption 
is  that  revivals  have  a  moral  tendency,  but  his  facts  seem  to  prove  the 
reverse  of  this.  He  asserts  that,  '*  Hand  in  hand  with  this  wide-spread 
infidelity  has  gone  gross  immorality,  as  has  always  been  the  case  ;"  but 
if  the  immorality  has  become  wide-spread  while  the  revivals  have  been 
going  on,  we  might  more  reasonably  attribute  it  to  the  revivals,  which 
we  know  there  have  been,  than  to  the  infidelity,  about  which  we  can 
only  guess. 

Every  fake  revivalist  makes  the  same  set  of  stereotyped  assertions  on 
this  subject,  and  if  the  ordinary  Christians  were  keen-witted  enough  to 
demand  proof  for  them,  they  would  soon  find  out  that  no  such  proof 
could  be  given ;  they  would  find  out,  indeed,  that  the  revivalist  was  just 
"working"  them  for  what  cash  could  be  squeezed  out  of  them. 

Crossley  and  Hunter,  and  many  another  pair  of  religious  mounte- 
banks, would  gladly  undertake  to  Christianize  London,  or  New  York,  or 
even  Chicago,  in  a  few  months,  if  only  $85,000  were  collected  to  begin 
the  crusade.  Whether  they  succeeded  or  not  would  not  matter  to  them 
if  once  they  grasped  the  $85,000.  When  they  had  to  admit  failure,  they 
could  reasonably  reply  that  they  were  at  least  no  worse  than  their  Mas- 
ter, whose  nineteen  centuries  of  failure  they  were  trying  to  convert  into 
success.  Perhaps  they  might  have  a  better  chance  of  success  if,  like 
Jesus,  they  showed  more  indifference  to  the  money-bags.  At  all  events, 
they  would  have  a  greater  appearance  of  honesty. 

TORREY'S  The  announcement  published  by  Torrey  in  the 

"ANTI-INFIDEL"  newspapers  concludes  with  these  two  alarming 
CRUSADE.  paragraphs,  which  contain  at  least  as  much  false- 

hood as  might  be  expected  from  such  a  man  : 

"  Unbelief  is  rampant.  Many  have  regarded  it  as  a  mark  of  intellectual 
superiority  to  reject  the  Bible,  and  even  faith  in  God  and  immortality. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  187 

Hand  in  hand  with  this  widespread  infidelity  has  gone  gross  immoralit}^ 
as  has  always  been  the  case.  Infidelity  and  immorality  are  Siamese  twins. 
They  always  exist  and  always  grow  and  always  fatten  together.  This 
immorality  is  found  in  domestic  life,  in  the  theatre,  in  our  literature,  and 
in  our  art.  Greed  for  money  has  become  a  mania  with  rich  and  poor. 
The  multi-millionaire  will  often  sell  his  soul  and  trample  the  rights  of 
his  fellow-men  under  foot  in  the  mad  hope  of  becoming  a  billionaire,  and 
the  laboring  man  will  often  commit  murder  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
union  and  keep  up  wages.  Licentiousness  lifts  its  serpent  head  every- 
where. The  moral  condition  of  the  world  to-day  is  disgusting,  sickening, 
appalling. 

"  We  need  a  revival,  deep,  widespread,  general,  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost — a  revival  that  means  not  merely  a  gathering  of  a  large 
number  of  alleged  converts  into  the  churches  and  chapels,  but  a  revival 
that  means  the  purifying  of  the  springs  of  our  moral,  commercial,  social, 
and  national  life  ;  a  wind  from  heaven  that  will  drive  away  the  moral 
pestilence  that  has  invaded  our  atmosphere.  We  need  a  revival  that  will 
bring  in  true  faith  in  God,  in  his  Word,  in  the  eternal  verities.  It  was 
not  discussion,  but  the  breath  of  God,  that  relegated  Tom  Paine,  Voltaire, 
Volney,  and  others  of  the  old  infidels  to  the  limbo  of  forgetfulness ;  and 
we  need  a  new  breath  from  God  to  send  the  modern  infidel  propagandist 
to  keep  them  company.  Thank  God  this  wind  from  heaven  is  beginning 
to  blow."  ^ 

We  wonder  how  Goldwin  Smith  appreciates  the  force  of  his  own  argu- 
ment carried  out  in  this  fashion.  During  recent  years  he  has  himself 
put  forward  exactly  the  same  argument.  The  decline  in  religious  belief, 
he  has  told  us  time  and  again,  has  led  to  the  modern  international  im- 
morality which  has  caused  strong  nations  to  attack  and  crush  weak^ 
ones,  and  has  produced  the  prevailing  militarism  among  all  the  nations 
of  the  world.  Nothing,  in  our  opinion,  could  be  more  fatuous  and  ill- 
founded.  At  the  best,  it  is  formulating  a  general  principle  on  a  basis  of 
but  a  few  instances,  and  doing  this,  too,  by  alleging  as  facts  things  that 
cannot  by  any  possibility  be  regarded  as  more  than  mere  surmises.  At 
the  worst — which  seems  to  be  onr  only  alternative — it  is  a  case  of  totally 
perverting  facts  and  wilfully  ignoring  manifest  factors.  It  may  please 
Goldwin  Smith  to  know  that  his  argument  on  this  matter  is  practically 
the  same  as  that  employed  by  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  in  introducing  his  two 
Autonomy  Bills,  as  well  as  that  used  by  Torrey.  Nice  company  for  a 
philosopher  ! 

Torrey's  manifesto  shows  him  to  be  but  an  ignorant  and  illiterate  cad 
— a  re-hash  of  Talmage,  minus  the  vigor  and  imagination  of  the  vulgar 
and  bombastic  old  faker.     Everything  in  the  world  is  wrong  and  out  of 


138  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

kelter,  and  Torrey  and  Alexander  have  come  as  a  "  breath  from  God  " 
to  set  things  straight.  "  Greed  for  money  has  become  a  mania  with  rich 
and  poor  " — but  not  with  Torrey  and  Alexander  any  more  than  with  the 
rest  of  the  greedy  fake  revivalists.  Only  raise  the  £17,000,  and  "  the 
wind  from  heaven  "  will  begin  to  blow ! 

And  no  doubt,  like  ostriches  with  their  heads  in  the  sand,  many  Chris- 
tians will  believe  Torrey  when  he  says  that  Voltaire,  Volney  and  Paine, 
and  "others  of  the  old  infidels,"  are  forgotten.  It  is  funny  to  observe, 
however,  what  other  preachers  tell  us  of  these  great  men.  While  some 
tell  us  they  have  been  successfully  answered,  others  tell  us  that  the 
church  itself  has  advanced  far  beyond  them.  It  depends  upon  whether 
you  are  an  advanced  Christian  or  a  mossback.  Intellectually,  Torrey  is 
one  of  the  latter,  but  morally  he  is  a  fit  follower  of  Eusebius,  and  says 
just  what  he  thinks  will  catch  the  multitude  and  support  his  cause.  So 
far  as  we  can  judge,  he  amply  justifies  his  own  diagnosis  of  the  present 
moral  condition  of  Christendom — that  it  is  "  disgusting,  sickening,  ap- 
palling." We  might  ask  Goldwin  Smith,  Where  shall  we  find  a  few  of 
those  who  preach  or  practise  his  Vital  Christianity  ? 

THE  ARREST  OF  The  Editor  of  Lticifer  has  again  been  arrested  for 
MOSES  HARMAN.  publishing  objectionable  matter  in  his  paper.  We 
have  read  some  of  the  articles  on  "  sexology"  and 
marriage  that  have  appeared  in  Lucifer,  though  we  must  confess  that 
/)ur  time  is  too  limited  to  enable  us  to  do  more  than  occasionally  skim 
over  its  columns,  but  we  feel  justified  in  saying  that  the  arrest  of  Mr. 
Harman  is  as  gross  a  piece  of  injustice  as  the  imprisonment  of  Charley 
Moore  on  a  charge  of  advocating  '*  free  love,"  though  he  had  distinctly 
opposed  and  denounced  it.  Mr.  Harman  is  an  old  man,  and  has  already 
been  fined  and  imprisoned  on  several  occasions  on  the  same  charge, 
though  there  was  only  one  instance,  we  believe,  where  an  objectionable 
word  was  used  by  him.  Otherwise,  the  discussions  in  Lucifer  have  not 
exceeded  the  limits  that  would  be  necessary  in  discussing  Mormonism  or 
Mahomedanism  ;  and  the  general  character  of  them  has,  in  our  opinion, 
rather  been  crude  and  childish  than  vicious  or  obscene.  As  an  example, 
in  a  recent  issue  Mr.  Harman  advocated  a  system  under  which  married 
couples  would  occupy,  not  separate  bedrooms,  but  separate  houses  in 
different  parts  of  a  town,  only  visiting  each  other  by  written  application 
or  invitation.     "  Familiarity  breeds  dislike,"  was  the  basis  of  the  idea. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  139 

Every  one  to  his  taste,  and  why  not  let  the  suggestion  be  adopted  by 
those  who  approve  it?  But  why  put  a  man  in  prison  for  making  the 
suggestion  ? 

Comstock  should  get  the  President  to  build  a  big  Asylum  for  Cranks, 
and  give  Comstock  an  unlimited  supply  of  lettres  de  cachet,  so  that  he 
could  send  there  every  man  or  woman  who  advocates  opinions  he  disap- 
proves. "  The  Land  of  the  Brave  and  the  Free"  seems  rapidly  being 
converted  into  a  Land  of  Cowardly  Bigots  and  Tyrants. 

THE  CANADL^N  A  committee  of  the  Toronto  City  Council,  under 
RAILWAY  POLICY.  Alderman  Geary,  is  inquiring  into  the  best  plan 
of  dealing  with  the  question  of  the  level  railway 
crossings  within  the  city  limits.  A  conference  was  held  a  week  or  two 
ago  between  this  committee,  the  Board  of  Control,  and  a  deputation  from 
the  Board  of  Trade,  at  which  this  last  body — as  might  naturally  have 
been  expected — strongly  urged  that  the  citizens  should  bear  a  portion 
of  the  expense  of  protecting  themselves  from  the  dangers  introduced  by 
the  railways  at  these  crossings. 

It  is  needless  to  point  out  that^  under  the  English  system,  all  railways 
are  bound  to  provide  whatever  protection  is  needed,  and  there  never  has 
been  any  question  as  to  their  liability  to  pay  the  whole  cost  of  whatever 
protection  was  deemed  necessary.  It  is  their  business,  entered  into  for 
their  exclusive  profit ;  and  the  question  of  public  accommodation  should 
enter  into  it  no  more  than  it  does  into  the  business  of  a  butcher  or  a 
farmer. 

Still,  the  consideration  of  public  accommodation  has  been  allowed 
to  enter  so  far  into  the  bargain  with  the  railways,  that  most  exceptional 
privileges  have  been  granted  to  them  on  this  ground — privileges  which 
have  been  most  unjustly  exercised  in  the  pending  expropriation  of  land 
for  railway  purposes  in  Toronto. 

But  in  Canada,  by  means  of  *'  blufif"  and  false  representations  of  the 
most  flagrant  kind,  not  only  have  private  and  municipal  rights  been  vio- 
lated in  the  most  outrageous  fashion,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  railways  of  this  country  have  been  built  by  subsidies  given 
by  the  Dominion  and  Provincial  Governments  and  the  municipalities 
through  which  the  railways  passed.  Bonuses  and  land  grants  have  been 
the  sources  of  the  wealth  of  nearly  all  the  Canadian  railway  millionaires, 
while  their  excessive  charges  for  transportation  have  gone  a  long  way 


140  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


towards  ruining  the  trade  of  the  country,  which  has  expanded  in  spite 
of  them  rather  than  by  their  assistance. 

The  Canadian  railways,  indeed,  have  practically  been  little  else  than 
a  free  gift  to  the  **  capitalists  "  who  got  in  "  on  the  ground  floor,"  and 
whose  investments  amounted  chiefly  to  the  cash  needed  for  douceurs  and 
subscriptions  to  election  funds.  And  now  these  greedy  vampires  want 
the  public  to  pay  for  their  protection  against  the  reckless  running  of  the 
railway  trains  over  level  crossings  on  the  city  streets !  And  the  chances 
are  that  our  honest  city  officials  will  agree  to  the  proposal,  though  the 
late  Railway  Commission  distinctly  decided  against  the  railways. 

It  always  has  been  so.  It  is  so  easy  for  aldermen  to  make  friends  of 
the  railway  magnates  and  agree  to  give  away  a  few  thousand  dollars  of 
the  people's  money.  The  Board  of  Trade  is  naturally  interested  in  se- 
curicg  the  interests  of  the  moneyed  men,  and  they  are  just  the  men  to 
give  sensible  advice  to  honest  aldermen.  The  fact  is,  with  subsidies  by 
the  Dominion  and  Provinces,  bonuses  by  Jiunicipalities,  land  grants,  and 
sharing  the  cost  of  works  for  public  protection,  Canadians  have  laden 
themselves  with  an  enormous  debt,  with  a  gang  of  capitalists  who  have 
made  their  fortunes  out  of  it,  and  with  a  cloud  of  politicians,  great  and 
small,  who  seem  willing  to  sell  their  fellow-men  for  some  small  share  in 
the  rake-off. 

A  typical  case  occurred  a  few  weeks  ago,  when  a  deputation  waited  on 
the  Premier  at  Ottawa,  to  seek  means  of  relief  from  the  powers  acquired 
by  the  Bell  Telephone  Co.  in  Toronto.  The  Privy  Council  has  decided 
that  under  Dominion  legislation  the  Bell  Company  has  authority  to  tear 
up  the  city  streets  without  authority  from  city  officials.  In  reply  to  the 
deputation,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  expressed  the  greatest  reverence  for 
**  vested  interests,"  and  said  that  if  the  Bell  Company  had  acquired  the 
powers  complained  of,  he  did  not  think  that  there  could  be  any  remedy  ! 
What  outrageous  nonsense  !  Because  a  company,  by  means  of  careless 
or  cunningly-devised  legislation,  secures  manifestly  unjust  or  illegal 
powers,  they  must  be  allowed  to  exercise  those  powers  in  perpetuity  ! 

SEPARATION  OF  On  the  21st  of  March  the  new  French  Govern- 
CHURCH   AND  ment's  measure   for   definitively  separating  the 

STATE  IN  FRANCE.  State  from  the  Church  was  introduced  into  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  The  chief  clause  provides 
that  no  public  money  whatever  shall  be  applied  to  the  maintenance  of 
any  form  of  religion.  A  motion  by  M.  Berry,  a  Nationalist,  to  postpone 
consideration  of  the  bill  till  after  the  general  election  was  rejected  by  a 
vote  842  to  40.  A  majority  of  200  rejected  Abbe  Gayraud's  motion  to 
refer  the  matter  to  a  special  commission  of  the  various  denominations, 
in  order  to  arrange  for  a  mutual  separation. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  141 


Dr.  flDomerie  on  tbe  Beltef  in  (5o^♦ 

:o: 

BY    CHARLES    WATTS. 

:o: 

The  works  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr  Moitierie  are  well  worth  studying,  even  by  those 
who  differ  from  his  views.  Clearness  of  expression,  a  fair  statement  of  the 
position  of  his  opponents,  and  a  sincere  belief  in  his  own  convictions  pervade 
the  whole  of  his  writings.  Dr.  Momerie  held  advanced,  and  in  some  respects 
unique,  ideas  upon  religious  subjects.  With  the  old  notions  of  Christian  Theism, 
the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  a  personal  devil,  and  other  orthodox  teachings,  he 
had  no  sympathy.  Still,  he  adhered  very  tenaciously  to  a  phase  of  Theism 
which,  to  say  the  least,  was  purely  imaginary,  the  coinage  of  his  own  fertile 
brain.  One  of  his  1  test  productions  was  a  book  entitled  "  Belief  in  God," 
written  for  the  purpose  of  justifying  the  claims  of  Theism  as  he  understood  it. 
It  consists  of  five  chapters  under  the  following  headings:  "The  Desire  For 
Ood,"  "Materialism,"  "Agnosticism,"  "Supernatural  Purpose,"  and  "The  Infi- 
nite Personality."  The  Christian  World  considers  that  this  book  furnishes 
"  one  of  the  most  brilliant  arguments  for  the  Divine  existence."  Now,  it  is  very 
difficult  to  discover  a  reason  for  this  eulogistic  commendation,  for  throughout 
the  entire  five  chapters  there  is  not  to  be  found  one  solid  argument  which  proves 
the  existence  of  God,  while  much  valuable  evidence  is  adduced  showing;^  the 
fallacy  of  the  pretensions  urged  on  behalf  of  orthodox  Theism.  Dr.  Momerie's 
essay  is  simply  an  elaborate  criticism  of  Agnosticism  and  a  metaphysical  exam- 
ination of  the  claims  of  Materialism,  but  as  to  demonstrative  proof  of  the 
existence  of  God  there  is  none.  The  Doctor's  Theism  is  purely  subjective, 
without  any  sanction  in  objective  reality. 

Moreover,  his  allegations,  like  his  criticisms,  are  too  general  to  be  of  evidential 
value  to  any  particular  phase  of  Theism.  For  instance,  he  speaks  of  the 
*'  universality  of  the  religious  sentiment,"  overlooking  the  fact  that,  even  if  it 
were  true,  it  would  not  prove  that  his  belief  in  God  was  a  "  logical  necessity," 
for,  as  he  says,  "  men  have  frequently  imagined  their  Gods  to  be  merely  magnified 
copies  of  themselves."  He  also  admits  that  the  "  general  desire  for  God  "  would 
not  prove  his  existence,  but  it  would,  he  asserts,  establish  a  very  strong  presump- 
tion in  favor  of  the  belief  in  such  a  Being.  He  further  says  :  "  Even  when  the 
belief  in  God  has  given  way  before  destructive  criticism,,  the  desire  for  God,  as 
a  rule,  persistently  remains."  Th's,  however,  affords  no  proof  that  Theism  is 
true,  for  numerous  instances  could  be  cited  showing  that  man  desires  many 
things  which  in  all  probability  he  will  never  obtain.  No  doubt  it  would  be 
gratifying  to  believe  in  a  God  if  he  were  a  kind,  loving  father,  possessing  the 
power  and  will  to  supply  his  children  with  that  which  is  necessary  to  promote 
their  physical,  moral  and  social  comfort.     But  the  question  is,  Have  we  grounds 


142  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

for  believing  that  such  a  Being  exists  ?  My  answer  is  in  the  negative.  So  far  as 
man's  physical  organization  is  concerned,  Dr.  Momerie  admits  that  the  rudimen- 
tary or  abortive  organs  found  in  human  beings  *•  are  frequently  a  source  of 
mischief."  It  is  also  an  undisputed  fact  that  there  are  thousands  of  creatures 
born  into  the  world  of  whom  only  few  survive,  while  others  appear  under  such 
conditions  that  they  prematurely  perish  ;  there  are  thousands  also  of  organisms 
which  live  in  and  upon  each  other.  One  half  of  all  animal  life  consists  of  parasites 
—that  is,  of  animals  that  fasten  themselves  to  the  bodies  of  other  animals  and 
live  by  sucking  their  blood.  Those  which  prey  upon  man  are  mentioned  by 
Herbert  Spencer  in  his  "  Principles  of  Biology."  These  parasites  are  adapted  to 
their  peculiar  mode  of  life,  and  are  the  cause  of  great  pain  and  suffer- 
ing to  the  organisms  upon  which  they  feed.  Besides  this,  throughout  all 
past  time  there  has  been  a  constant  preying  of  superior  animals  upon  in- 
ferior ones — a  perpetual  devouring  of  the  weak  by  the  strong  ;  and  the  earth 
has  been  a  scene  of  universal  carnage.  Contemplating  the  cruelty  and  the  in- 
justice by  which  we  are  surrounded — the  success  of  crime,  the  triumph  of 
despotism,  the  prevalence  of  starvation,  the  struggles  for  many  to  get  the  means 
of  mere  existence,  the  appalling  sights  of  deformity  in  children  who  are  born  into 
the  world  so  diseased,  so  decrepit,  that  the  sunshine  of  happiness  seldom,  if 
ev^r,  gladdens  their  lives;  remembering  the  existence  of  these  evils  and  woes, 
we  recognize  the  lack  of  evidence  in  support  of  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  a 
God  whose  "  love  and  benevolence  are  manifested  throughout  all  his  works.'' 

In  his  criticism  of  Agnosticism  Dr.  Momerie  writes  :  "  If  we  can  be  sure  of 
the  existence  of  the- soul,  it  will  follow  that  knowledge  is  not  confined  to 
phenomena."  Just  so ;  but  the  contention  is  that  we  are  not  sure  of  the 
existence  of  the  soul.  He  does  not  prove  that  he  has  any  knowledg^e  of  that 
which  he  says  underlies  and  outlasts  phenomena.  He  uses  ego,  mind,  and  soul 
as  synonymous  terms,  as  representing  an  entity  which  controls  the  material 
organization.  This,  be  it  observed,  is  not  the  opinion  of  modern  scientists.  Pro- 
fessor Ribot  contends  that  the  ego  is  not  an  entity,  but  a  resultant  of  a  materia) 
organization.  The  sanoe  may  be  said  of  the  human  mind,  which  is  not  higher 
than,  but  a  part  of,  matter.  Mind  does  not  always  control  matter,  as  is  evident 
in  cases  of  epilepsy  and  paralysis.  Dr.  Momerie  further  asserts  :  *' Without  a 
permanent  or  persistent  soul  there  could  be  no  memory."  Are  we  to  infer  fron> 
this  that  the  alleged  souls  of  insane  persons  are  dormant  ?  Moreover,  we  are 
told  by  Dr.  H.  Bischoff  and  Max  Muller  that  the  lower  animals  have  memory. 
According  to  Dr.  Momerie  they  have  souls,  which  makes  man  in  this  particular 
not  superior  to  the  "  beasts  that  perish." 

In  Dr.  Momerie's  opinion,  "it  can  no  longeir  be  doubted  that  evolution  is  at 
law,  a  fundamental  law,  of  natural"  Still,  he  contends  that  there  is  "  an  infinite 
and  eternal  Personality  similar  to  our  own."     This   is  his  God„  upon  whose 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  143 

existence  "  our  knowledge  of  the  material  world — nay,  even  the  very  being  of 
that  world — is  dependent."  The  perplexity  and  fallacy  here  iixanifested  should 
be  obvious  to  the  studious  reader.  In  the  first  place,  the  very  thought  of 
personality  is  inconsistent  with  the  theistic  notion  of  infinity.  Experience 
teaches  us  that  a  being  who  feels,  thinks  and  reasons  is  limited  by  an  organism 
that  is  acted  upon  by,  and  that  responds  to,  the  movements  of  an  external 
world.  Besides,  an  Infinite  Being  must  have  infinite  attributes.  Now,  is  it 
possible  for  him  to  be  infinite  in  all  his  attributes  at  the  same  time  ?  I  think 
not,  for,  if  he  is  infinite  in  power,  he  can  do  all  things  ;  but  his  infinite  goodness 
would  prevent  him  doing  evil.     Thus  one  attribute  limits  the  other. 

As  regards  Personality,  it  is  known  to  us  only  as  a  part  of  a  material  organiza- 
tion. Personality  involves  intelligence,  and  intelligence  implies  (i)  acquirement 
of  knowledge,  which  indicates  that  the  time  was  when  the  person  who  gained 
additional  information  lacked  some  wisdom  ;  (2)  memory,  which  is  the  power  of 
recalling  past  events,  but  with  the  infinite  there  can  be  no  past ;  (5)  hope,  which 
is  based  on  limited  perceptions,  and  which  shows  the  uncertain  conditions  of 
the  mind  wherein  the  aspiration  is  found.  The  logical  conclusion  is  that,  if  God 
possesses  these  important  faculties,  he  is  finite  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  they 
do  not  belong  to  him,  he  is  not  an  intelligent  being. 

Further,  Dr.  Momerie's  notion  of  God  does  not  harmonize  with  our  reasoning 
faculties.  Reason  is  based  upon  experience,  but  an  Infinite  Being  must  be 
outside  the  domain  of  experience.  Reason  implies  reflection ;  we  cannot,  how- 
ever, reflect  upon  infinity,  because  it  is  unthinkable.  Reason  implies  comparison, 
but  an  Infinite  Being  cannot  be  compared,  for  there  is  nothing  with  which  to 
compare  him.  These  and  many  more  perplexities  that  surround  the  positive 
claims  of  Theism  justify,  in  my  opinion,  the  Agnostic  position  of  silence  as  to 
the  unknown. — Literary  Guide, 

(Our  readers  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  our  old  friend  Charles  Watts,  who  for 
some  considerable  time  past  has  been  on  the  sick  list  and  in  a  critical  condition, 
is  now  convalescent,  and  is  rapidly  regaining  his  old  health  and  vigor.  We  wish 
him  many  more  years  of  health  and  useful  work.] 


"  PRAYER  BEFORE  FIGHTING."— Stonewall  Jackson's  negro  body  ser- 
vant knew  before  anybody  else  when  a  battle  was  imminent.  '*  The  General  tells 
you,  I  suppose,"  said  one  of  the  soldiers.  "  Lawd,  no,  sir  !  De  Gin'ral  nuvvur 
tell  me  noihin'  i  I  obseverates  de  'tention  ob  de  Gin'ral  dis  way.  Co'se,  he 
prays,  jest  like  we  all,  mornin'  an*  night ;  but  when  he  gits  up  two,  three  times 
in  a  night  to  pray,  den  I  rubs  my  eyes  an'  gits  up  too,  an'  packs  de  haversack — 
'ca'se  I  done  fine  out  dere's  gwine  to  be  de  ole  boy  to  pay  right  away !  " — Mrs. 
Roger  A.  Pryor's  "  Reminiscences" 


Wisdom  cannot  enter  an  unkind  spirit ;  and  knowledge  without  conscience  is 
the  ruin  of  the  soul— Rabelais. 


144  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


fl>a&  nDurbocft'0  Hnimal  Stories. 


THE    HEN. 
They  call  our  folk  "  Barnyard  Fowl,"  "  Poultry,"  and  "  Chickens."  The  butcher 
always  calls  us  that 

"No,  ma'am,"  he  says,  "not  poultry  at  all,  spring  chickens,  ma'am  ;  you'll  find 
'em  nice  and  tender."  And  when  she  has  gone  with  a  pair  at  one  dollar,  he  says 
to  his  boy  :  "  Tom,  put  another  pair  of  old  ones  in  the  window.  No,  only  one 
pair ;  chickens  had  ought  to  be  scarce  this  week."  Later,  when  a  farmer  comes 
in  with  a  few  and  asks  fifty  cents  a  pair,  the  butcher  says  : 

"  Fif.y  cents  ?  Why,  I'll  sell  you  a  wagon  load  of  'em  for  forty."  The  farmer 
is  something  of  a  liar  himself  and  I  don't  know  who  gets  the  best  of  it. 
'  But  about  what  name  to  give  us  as  a  family,  like  "  Ducks,"  *'  Geese,"  or 
"  Sheep,"  there  is  no  name  for  us  in  English.  The  fault  is  not  with  us,  but  with 
the  English  language.  Our  people  are  Canadian,  but  we  came  originally  from 
India,  having  lived  there  in  the  hill  country  before  English  was  invented. 

I  was  sired  by  a  big  chief  of  thn  Brahmas,  and  damned  by  having  to  hatch  out 
young  ducks.  The  heartless  young  scoundrels  left  me  the  second  day  after  they 
were  able  to  be  about,  and  went  in  swirhming.  It  nearly  broke  my  heart,  for  I 
thought  they  would  drown  ;  and  there  were  the  young  wretches  playing  It  apfrog, 
and  ring-around-a-rosy,  and  loop-the-loop,  and  before  they  were  half  grown  they 
all  turned  Baptist.  I  never  knew  who  my  mother  was,  for  I  was  brought  up  in 
one  of  these  infernal  machines  where  a  thousand  can  herd  together  and  can  be 
distributed  to  such  as  need  them  without  breaking  a  mother's  heart. 

If  only  that  humble  worker  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Dr.  Barnardo,  could  get  an 
improved  machine  that  would  hatch  out  10,000  motherless  orphans  at  a  batch, 
how  his  soul  would  be  lifted  up  to  give  all  the  glory  to  godolmity  for  his  un- 
speakable gifts  at  $2  per  head.  And  then  he  wouldn't  break  any  mother's 
heart,  which  is  very  trying  to  the  doctor  ;  I  feel  quite  sure  that  the  worthy  doctor 
would  not  trade  in  little  boys  if  there  was  no  money  in  it. 

A  year  ago  last  March  I  started  to  lay  eggs  with  an  earnest  vigor.  The  old 
lady  put  a  white  stone  thing  in  place  of  my  first  egg  and  thought  she  fooled  me. 
I  had  a  higher  purpose  in  laying,  than  she  had  in  stealing,  my  eggs.  She  didn't 
eat  the  eggs  ;  her  husband,  being  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land,  let  her  keep 
the  house  with  the  balance  of  the  eggs  that  were  left  after  he  had  been  fed.  His 
labor  was  work,  while  that  of  his  wife  was  only  chores  ;  so  he  told  her  and  so 
she  tried  to  believe,  but  her  faith  was  small.  Anyhow,  she  sold  the  eggs  to  get 
an  occasional  print  dress,  and  the  store-keeper  paid  her  a  low  price  in  high  priced 
cotton  print.  At  Easter-tide,  the  eggs  that  had  been  mine  and  for  which  I  had 
labored,  found  their  way  to  a  great  city,  having  changed  hands  three  times,  and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  145 

increased  in  price  from  fifteen  cents  per  dozen  to  thirty  cents.  There  the  whole- 
sale egg  man  mixed  a  few  •'  held  "  eggs  with  my  eggs  and  then  sold  them  to  the 
grocer.  The  grocer  mixed  a  few  more  old  eggs  with  mine  and  put  them  in  a 
basket  with  some  straw  in  it. 

When  Mrs.  Deacon  came  in  and  asked  if  he  had  any  fresh  eggs  he  said  : 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  very  fine  eggs  and  only  twenty  five  cents." 

"  Eggs  must  be  down.  I  got  some  a  couple  of  days  ago,  and  paid  twenty- 
eight  cents  in  a  big  store  down  town." 

"  No,  eggs  are  up  a  little,  but  we  have  been  selling  them  right  along  at 
twenty-five." 

"  Oh  !  what  are  these  in  the  basket  ?     They  look  nice." 

"  Them  are  boiling  eggs,  Mrs.  Deacon,  thirty  cents.  We  get  them  right  from 
a  farmer." 

'•  Well,  it's  for  boiling  I  want  them  ;  wouldn't  these  fresh  ones  do?  " 

"  We  never  hear  no  complaints  about  them,  but  we  couldn't  guarantee  that 
you  wouldn't  find  one  in  a  hundred  just  a  trifle  light  in  the  top,  but  they're  fine 
stock." 

"  Then  why  do  you  call  them  fresh  ?  " 

'•  Well,  it's  like  this,  they  ain't  ben  pickled  and  they're  fresh  all  right,  but 
probably  most  of  'em  have  ben  laid  a  week  or  maybe  ten  days,  but  these  are  all 
from  one  farmer  and  we  get  'em  every  week  and  we  know  they  are  all  right." 

Deacon,  K.C,  liked  a  couple  of  eggs  in  the  morning.     Next  morning  he 

had  them  boiled  soft,  with  coffee  and  muffins.  Putting  his  napkin  across  his 
knees  and  bracing  the  editorial  page  of  the  Morning  Muddler  against  the  spoon 
glass,  he  bent  his  head  over  his  plate,  and  while  Mrs.  Deacon  tried  to  look  pious, 
spoke  thus  in  a  mumbling  monotone  : 

"  Heavenly  Father,  we  thank  thee  for  these  thy  bounties.  Be  graciously 
pleased  to  bless  this  food  that  thou  hast  provided  for  our  bodily  use,  and  sanctify 
our  souls  to  thy  service,  f  Chris'  sake  Amen." 

Then  the  china  clinked  and  Mrs.  Deacon  began  to  tell  who  was  at  the  foreign 
mission  meeting  the  previous  evening,  while  Deacon,  learned  in  the  law,  broke 
an  egg  into  his  glass,  sniffed  it  and  said, 

'*  Fine  egg,  Sarah,"  and  Sarah  said, 

**  Yes,  that  new  grocer  gets  them  straight  from  a  farmer." 

Then  he  cracked  the  second  egg  and  turned  it  into  the  glass.  The  stuff  ran 
out  green  and  yellow.     Then  he  spoke  one  word  with  great  vigor  : 

•♦  Hell !  " 

•*  John  Deacon,  you're  awful  ;  such  blasphemy  !  Suppose  there  were  any  one 
to  hear." 

•'  Suppose  you  look  at  that  egg  !  " 

*'  Is  it  bad  ?     Well,  that's  too  bad  !     I'll  get  some  more  boiled  just  in —  " 


146  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


**  Oh,  damn  the  eggs  !     I  couldn't  look  at  another  for  a  week." 

'*  Well,  don't  use  sacred  words  that  way.  The  girl  will  hear  you  and  tell  the 
neighbors'  girl  that  you're  disrespectful  to  me.  All  the  men  on  this  street  are 
gentlemen  and  never  swear." 

"  Oh,  of  course  not.  I'm  a  brute.  I  want  to  tell  you,  Mrs.  Deacon,  that  I'm 
the  only  man  on  this  street  that  gets  eggs  that  were  too  far  gone  for  the  under- 
taker six  months  ago.  Why.  it's  enougii  to  make  the  neighbors  in  the  next  block 
move  away.  I've  a  great  mind  to  take  this  mess  over  to  your  grocer  and  make 
him  eat  it." 

The  raaid  was  sent  to  the  grocer  and  reported  that  half  of  the  eggs  were  bad. 

Grocer  said,  "  That's  very  queer,  miss  ;  no  one  else  complained  about  them.'' 

Then  the  grocer  rang  up  the  egg  man  and  reported  two  dozen  returned  to 
him  rott-en.     The  egg  man  said  : 

•'  That's  very  queer,  Mr.  Brown  ;  no  one  else  has  complained  about  them." 

Then  he  said  to  his  book-keeper : 

"  Brown  is  a  skin  ;  he's  been  mixing  his  eggs  or  he's  trying  a  game  on  us  ; 
he's  worth  watching.     You  know  we  gave  him  first-class  stock,  eh  ?  " 

The  book-keeper  muttered,  "  'Course  the  stock  was  all  right ;  Brown  is  a  skin 
and  no  mistake  "     Then  he  went  into  the  vault  for  a  ledger  and  soliloquized  : 

"  Brown  crooked  ?  If  he  was  half  as  crooked  as  old  Hunks  a  corkscrew 
wou]dn"'t  be  m  it.  I'm  gettin'  on  to  his  tricks  and  if  he  don''t  give  me  a  raise 
from  ten  to  twenty  per,  I'll  split  on  the  old  Jew.     Damn  a  cheat,  anyway." 

Ail  this  could  be  used  to  show  that  we  hens  are  accessories  before  the  fact  to 
man's  diapRcity ;  for  had  there  been  no  egg  there  would  then  be  no  hen  to  lay 
aged  eggs  over  which  men  might  waste  breath  and  bother  godolmity  for  a 
blessing. 

While  our  net  value  to  the  world  is  countable  in  so  many  eggs,  and  so  much 
canned  chicken  after  our  usefulness  in  the  egg  line  is  gone,  yet  in  another  field 
we  furnish  food  for  mental  research  that  is  the  key  to  the  occult.  "  Which  was 
first,  the  hen  or  the  egg?  "  That  once  solved,  we  can  then  solve  everything.  It 
is  believed  that  then  proof  can  be  found  that  hypnotism  isn't  a  fake,  and  that  the 
exact  date  can  be  given  for  the  floating  of  the  earth  in  space ;  also  that  the 
process  by  which  the  maker  of  the  earth  invented  himself  can  be  formulated.  All 
they  have  to  do  is  solve  the  first  question,  and  they  are  hard  at  it  now,  for  a 
matter  of  thirty  centuries.  The  hen  men  went  to  the  bat  a  few  years  ago  and 
made  one  run.  Then  the  egg  fellows  got  a  run  At  the  'steenth  innings  the  hen 
men  were  put  out  on  a  "  foul,"  at  least  so  the  umpire  decided,  and  got  mobbed 
for  his  meddling. 

By  last  accounts  the  game  is  even,  but,  as  it  is  inconceivable  that  a  debate 
can  be  infinite  the  matter  will  be  settled  some  day.  In  the  mean  time  our  life 
work  is  to  lay  eggs  and  cackle,  while  that  of  the  knowing  ones  from  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  or  Pope  of  Rome,  college  professor  or  able  editor,  is  to 
gather  golden  eggs—and  cackle. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  147 

"  10  flatter  IntelHoent  ?  " 

:o: 

BY    JOHN    MADDOCK. 

:o: 

From  the  view-point  of  the  science  of  Monism,  I  shall  have  to  put  the  answer 
to  the  above  question  of  Mr.  Elvins  as  follows  :  All  matter  has  intelligence  abid- 
ing in  it.  All  matter  is  mind-material  that  can  be  transformed  into  unconscious 
conditions  of  it,  by  its  own  inherent  power,  wherever  such  conditions  are  neces- 
sary to  take  part  in  any  specific  system,  same  as  the  rocks,  trees,  soils,  metals, 
and  all  else  that  is  subjected  to  hard  usage  by^  blasting,  chopping,  melting,  etc., 
within  and  upon  this  earth.  As  all  matter  is  mind-material,  and  the  principles 
of  every  change  reside  in  it,  all  matter  is  subject  to  the  great  cosmic  mind,  which 
is  the  prime,  great  law  of  all  motion  ;  hence  motion  acts  in  accordance  with  will. 
As  all  forms  must  be  structural  and  material,  so  intelligence  must  be  material ; 
that  which  is  immaterial  cannot  exist.  Man's  intelligence  is  material,  and  so 
must  cosmic  intelligence  be.  The  Dualists  have  paid  more  attention  to  the 
assumptions  of  such  men  as  Plato  than  to  the  revelations  of  nature.  Monism 
is  a  rationalistic  view  of  nature,  which  rules  out  all  unsupported  subjiective  vajga- 
ries.  Taking  a  view  of  the  vast  extent  of  the  universe,  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
assume  that  life  was  introduced  here  from  some  other  sooFce.  There  is  uncon- 
scious, but  no  dead  matter.  There  is  in  matter,  inseparable,  that  which  combines, 
evolves,  and  adapts.  When  we  see  beautiful  statuary  coming  out  of  an  artist's 
studio,  we  conclude  that  intelligence  abides  there  ;  when  we  see  artrficial  flowers 
and  ferns  coming  out  of  a  factory  of  that  kind,  we  sajy  the  same.  Reason  cannot 
logically  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  real,  live  animal  forms 
and  the  real  live  flowers,  ferns,  etc.,  that  are  turned  out  from  the  great  cosmic 
material  womb.  The  principle  of  transmutation  from  one  kind  of  matter  to. 
other  kinds  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  evokiiion  of  a  chick  from  an  egg.  The 
principle  of  intelligence  is  also  revealed  there  in  the  ingenious  adaptations  oi 
means  to  ends  which  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the  life  and  bodily  functions 
of  its  species  of  fowl. 

As  this  great  question  leads  to»  many  others,  I  will  leave  the  questioning  to 
Mr.  Elvins,  so  as  to  avoid  taking  up  too  much  space  at  once.  It  takes  time  to 
rid  the  mind  of  the  dualistic  idea.  I  appreciate  the  courtesy  expressed  in  Mr. 
Elvins'  way  of  questioning.  Rationalism  means  reasonableness,  and  the  latter 
means  due  courtesy  whea  it  is  well  known  that  people  naturally  differ  mentally 
as  well  as  physically. 


BY   THE    EDITOR. 

:o: 


The  questions  asked  by  Mr.  Elvins  evidently  call  for  an  answer,,  and  I  am  bold 
enough  to  attempt  one.     It  is  a  field  in  which  speculation  and  dogmatism  have 


148  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


always  been  freely  indulged  in,  mostly  without  any  legitimate  basis  of  fact.  I 
propose  to  go  only  as  far  as  I  think  experience  will  justify  me,  believing  that, 
however  far  we  may  go,  a  final  solution  of  Mr.  Elvins'  difficulty.  How  can  we 
account  for  the  existence  of  life,  mind,  and  will  ?  must  be  altogether  unattain- 
able by  the  human  mind. 

Mr.  Elvins  practically  asks  two  questions— (i)  Does  living  matter  (i.e.,  matter 
plus  inteUigence  and  will)  obey  the  laws  of  motion  ?  (2)  Is  life,  mind,  intelli- 
gence, or  will  an  inherent  quality  of  matter  ? 

For  the  purposes  of  this  discussion,  I  take  it  that  "  intelligence  "  or  '*  will  " 
means  the  ability  to  receive  sensations,  to  record  them  in  memory,  to  compare 
them  and  reason  concerning  them,  and  to  respond  to  them  or  act  as  the  result 
of  the  reasoning  process  ;  in  short,  the  mental  power  we  see  exhibited  in  what 
we  term  "an  intelligent  man  "  or  "an  intelligent  dog."  If  any  other  meaning 
is  to  be  attached  to  the  word,  then  that  meaning  should  be  clearly  defined. 

Mr.  Elvins  says  that  *'  living  masses  of  matter  seldom  move  in  straight  lines." 
His  words  involve  the  assumption  that  there  are  dead  masses  of  matter.  Now, 
if  there  is  dead  as  well  as  living  matter,  unless  we  define  "  living  "  and  "  dead" 
in  a  way  different  from  that  ordinarily  understood,  and  if  life  is  essential  to  intel- 
ligence, then  it  is  clear  that  all  matter  is  not  intelligent  ;  therefore  intelligence 
cannot  reside  inherently  in  matter,  and  the  question  is  settled. 

If,  however,  we  say,  because  all  matter  exhibits  motion,  attraction,  repu'sion, 
that  therefore  it  is  alive,  "  life  "  will  then  need  a  definition  which  will  include 
both  the  atomic  or  molecular  motions  of  a  brickbat  and  the  mental  phenomena 
of  animal  life. 

Mr.  Elvins'  question  may  be  looked  at  in  another  way.  Life  supplies  means 
for  apparently  varying  the  otherwise  strictly  regular  motions  of  non-living  matter. 
Must  we  not  conclude  that,  where  no  such  variations  are  observable,  it  is  jiot 
rational  to  predicate  the  existence  of  life  and  intelligence  ?  Atoms  and  mole- 
cules show  no  signs  of  changing  their  likes  and  dislikes — their  attractions  and 
repulsions.  If  they  did,  science,  industry,  and  commerce  would  be  paralyzed. 
Masses  of  inorganic  matter  make  no  attempt  to  evade  the  laAvs  of  motion.  Must 
we  not  conclude  that  both  are  destitute  of  what  we  term  life  and  intelligence  ? 

T9  attribute  life  and  intelligence  to  some  bodies  because  of  their  uniformity 
of  action,  while  deducing  the  existence  of  those  qualities  in  other  bodies  from 
their  observed  irregularities  of  motion,  seems  like  reducing  science  to  absurdity. 

I  think  it  may  be  better,  for  the  present  at  all  events,  to  continue  our  present 
practice  of  diflferentiating  between  living  bodies  and  non-living  or  inert  bodies; 
the  former  being  those  exhibiting  the  phenomena  of  life — growth,  reproduction, 
sentiency,  decay,  and  death  ;  the  latter  those  exhibiting  inherent  motions  only, 
or  with  such  forms  of  growth  and  multiplication  as  are  seen  in  crystals. 

Leaving  these  questions,  however,  for  a  time,  l^t  us  ask  :  Do  masses  of  matter 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  149 

containing  (or  directed  by)  intelligence  and  will — that  is,  living  matter — obey  the 
laws  of  motion  ? 

I  think  Mr.  Elvins  is  wrong  in  his  answer  to  this  question.  A  spherical  ball 
fired  from  a  cannon  obeys  the  law  of  motion  absolutely.  It  travels  in  a  straight 
line,  except  as  far  as  its  motion  is  varied  by  its  lack  of  homogeneity,  resistance 
and  motion  of  the  air,  and  gravity.  If  we  imagine  the  ball  to  be  a  perfect  sphere 
of  perfectly  homogeneous  material  and  the  air  perfectly  calm,  then  its  trajectory 
would  be  a  parabolic  curve  in  a  vertical  plane.  As  these  conditions  are  always 
more  or  less  wanting,  the  curve  of  the  ball's  flight  is  actually  a  spiral  of  varied 
eccentricity,  commonly  lending  greatly  to  one  side. 

To  overcome  these  variations,  an  elongated  shot  is  used  instead  of  a  ball,  with 
rifling,  which,  turning  the  shot  upon  its  axis,  confines  its  eccentricities  within 
limits,  and  causts  its  trajectory  to  more  nearly  approach  the  desired  straight  line. 
In  both  of  these  cases  there  is  no  question  of  the  moving  body  obeying  tbe  law. 

In  the  case  of  an  explosive  shell,  another  new  element  enters.  The  enclosed 
charge  of  powder  explodes  at  a  certain  point,  and  the  resulting  fragments  take 
entirely  new  courses,  depending  partly  upon  their  direction  at  the  time  of  the 
explosion  and  partly  upon  the  new  impetus  given  to  them,  still  strictly  obeying 
the  law.      An  exploding  meteorite,  a  boomerang,  etc.,  give  other  illustrations. 

When  an  acrobat  jumps  from  a  spring  board  or  swings  from  a  trapeze,  his 
motions  also  correspond  to  those  in  the  preceding  cases.  If  he  varies  his  centie 
of  gravity  by  extending  or  twisting  his  limbs,  he  may  slightly  vary  his  flight,  or 
he  may  do  so  if  he  takes  two  or  three  somersaults  before  reaching  his  goal,  but 
he  is  still  as  fully  under  the  laws  of  motion  as  is  the  shot.  If  the  pieces  of  an 
exploded  shell  could  be  restrained  by  elastic  bands  and  brought  back  to  their 
original  places,  the  shell  would  continue  its  course  in  exactly  the  same  way  as 
the  acrobat. 

The  cases  of  birds  in  flight,  of  children  swinging  themselves,  the  swimming  of 
fish,  etc.,  might  be  instanced  as  examples  of  "  will  "  varying  motion  ;  but  in  all 
cases  the  exercise  of  the  will  in  no  way  protects  the  moving  body  from  the  ope- 
ration of  natural  law.     A  fulcrum  must  be  found   for  every  change  in  motion. 

We  may  say,  indeed,  that  non-living  bodies  never  actually  move  in  straight 
lines  unless  constrained  by  mechanical  devices.  Their  real  motion  is  always  a 
resultant  of — (i)  their  original  impulse,  at  whatever  point  that  may  be  reckoned 
as  beginning  ;  (2)  their  changes  in  shape  and  inequalities  of  substance  :  (3)  the 
resistance  of  the  medium  through  which  they  travel  ;  and  (4)  gravity  and  the 
attraction  or  repulsion  of  outside  bodies. 

I  think  it  must  be  admitted  that  under  no  circumstances  can  any  body,  living 
or  inorganic,  evade  the  operation  of  natural  laws.  ^VhiIe  it  is  clear  that  the 
motions  of  an  acrobat — like  those  of  a  child,  a  bird,  or  an  insect— are  to  some 
extent  controlled  by  a  "  will,"  might  not  a  savage  be  excused  for  thinking  that 


150  ^  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


the  motions  of  an  exploding  shot,  a  kite,  or  a  balloon  were  also  controlled  by  a 
will  ?  Would  not  his  conclusions  be  actually  and  literally  true  ?  The  only  dis- 
pute we  could  have  with  him  would  be  as  to  the  point  at  which  the  will  entered 
as  the  proximate  cause  of  the  phenomenon. 

Mr.  Elvins'  second  question.  Is  matter  intelligent?  seems  to  me  to  be  capable 
of  a  brief  and  conclusive  answer,  if  we  accept  the  definition  given  above  ;  and 
if  the  answer  be  affirmative,  then  all  matter  must  exhibit  intelligence.  Is  this 
the  case? 

When  gas-coal  is  converted  into  coal-gas  in  a  retort  where  all  traces  of  life  are 
necessarily  destroyed,  can  the  actions  of  the  gas  in  subsequently  showing  its  love 
or  affinity  for  oxygen,  and  thus  producing  light  and  heat,  be  considered  as  intel- 
lig<int  action  ?     My  own  opinion  is,  that  this  would  be  a  total  misuse  of  words. 

I  think  the  evidence  is  conclusive  that  the  further  we  get  away  from  the  highly 
complex  substances  of  the  animal  kingdom,  the  further  away  we  are  from  all  that 
can  legitimately  be  termed  life  and  intelligence,  and  the  nearer  we  are  to  those 
simple  manifestations  of  the  forms  of  motion  termed  light,  heat,  and  electricity. 
It  is,  indeed,  only  in  the  region  of  protoplasmic  organisms  that  we  find  traces  of 
what  may  properly  be  termed  "  life." 

Crystals  grow  and  repair  and  multiply  themselves  ;  but  there  seems  to  belittle 
analogy  between  their  actions  and  those  of  the  worlds  of  animal  and  vegetal 
life,  though  they  may  be  regarded  as  a  step  on  the  road  to  the  production  of 
protoplasm.  Can  we  deny  the  existence  of  life  and  intelligence  in  vegetal  forms 
which  live  and  grow  and  reproduce  themselves  ?  Some  plants  exhibit  sensitive- 
ness which  seems  almost  intelligent,  as  in  the  case  of  insectivorous  plants ;  but, 
as  we  seem  doubtful  about  applying  the  term  "  intelligent  "  to  some  low  forms  of 
animal  life,  it  appears  to  be  far  too  wide  a  stretch  of  imagination  to  apply  it  to 
the  vegetable  kingdom. 

It  is  only  when  we  come  to  the  higher  forms  of  animal  life  that  the  use  of 
the  term  "  intelligence"  is  in  my  opinion  justified  ;  and,  unless  words  are  to  lose 
their  meaning,  i  think  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  restrict  it  to  this  class— the 
class  in  which  a  nervous  system  has  been  evolved.  For,  if  my  definition  of  in- 
telligence can  stand,  a  nervous  system  is  absolutely  essential  to  it. 

For  many  the  question  seems  to  be,  Do  life  and  intelligence  exist  in  the  atoms 
or  upon  or  among  them  ;  are  they  integral  parts  of  the  atoms,  or  a  sort  of  halo 
^  or  spiritual  influence  surrounding  and  controlling  them  ?  Thus  we  have  the  idea 
of  some  that  the  seat  of  consciousness— the  '*  ego  " — exists  in  some  centrally 
located  atom,  which  has  all  the  characteristics  of  the  individual  indelibly  stamped 
upon  it ;  while  others  indulge  in  visions  of  a  "  cosmic  mind,"  which  evidently 
does  its  thinking  in  a  way  that  is  beyond  our  comprehension.  Whatever  may  be 
the  solution  of  such  questions,  the  actual  fact  is,  unquestionably,  that  we  observe 
the  phenomena  of  life,  consciousness,  etc.,  only  in  connection  with  protoplasmic 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  151 

matter,  and  beyond  that  all  is  baseless  conjecture  or  theories  of  imaginative 
minds. 

The  basic  phenomenon  of  life  and  intelligence  is  the  sensitiveness  of  proto- 
plasm—the ability  to  feel  and  respond  to  the  impressions  made  upon  it  by  out- 
side forces.  How  this  sensitiveness  originated  can  only  be  conjectured  ;  though 
it  seems  likely  that  out  of  the  formation  and  disintegration  of  crystalline  bodies^ 
the  transmutation  of  forces,  under  suitable  conditions,  resulted  in  the  production 
of  a  new,  more  highly  energized,  and  more  unstable  substance,  retaining  the  old 
powers  of  reproduction  or  multiplication  with  an  added  quality  of  sensitiveness. 

The  problem  of  the  production  of  protoplasm  may  be  unsolved  or  insoluble, 
but,  with  a  closely-connected  series  of  forms  of  matter  in  the  infinitely  varied, 
states  of  ethers,  gases,  liquids,  solids,  crystalline,  viscous,  and  protoplasmic,  and 
with  the  guiding  principles  of  Evolution,  the  universality  of  natural  law  and  the 
continuity  of  cause  and  effect,  there  seems  to  be  no  alternative  to  the  firm  belief 
that  living  protoplasm  has  been  produced  naturally,  like  all  the  other  forms  of 
matter,  at  a  period  when  suitable  conditions  prevailed. 

The  other  two  propositions — that  life  and  intelligence,  as  we  know  them,  are 
qualities  inherent  in  all  matter,  or  that  they  have  been  introduced  by  some  out- 
side power — are  not  only  unthinkable,  but  offer  insuperable  difficulties. 

To  say  that  you  cannot  have  life  and  intelligence  in  any  form  of  nriatter  unless 
they  had  already  existed  in  all  matter,  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  all  matter  is 
alive  and  intelligent.  The  transmutation  of  forces  becomes  an  unmeaning  and 
useless  phrase  in  view  of  such  a  cont<  ntion. 

While  protoplasmic  matter  maintains  its  organic  integrity  and  vigor,  it  lives  ;, 
that  is,  it  grows,  repairs  its  waste,  and  reproduces  itself.  When,  from  any  cause, 
its  organic  integrity  is  degraded  beyond  a  certain  point,  it  dies.  When  living 
bodies  die,  while  some  portions  may  continue  their  living  functions  for  a  time, 
and  other  portions  become  the  food  of  a  new  series  of  living  forms,  still  other 
portions  lose  their  protoplasmic  form  and  re-enter  the  inorganic  class. 

These  latter,  with  the  great  bulk  of  the  substance  of  the  world,  cannot  truly 
be  said  to  be  either  living  or  dead.  These  terms  can  properly  be  applied  only 
to  masses  of  protoplasmic  matter. 

From  the  single-cell  organisms  of  transparent  jelly  up  to  the  primates,  with 
man  at  the  apex,  there  is  every  grade  of  advance  in  mental  power  and  intelli- 
gence, leaving  no  room  for  doubt  that,  whatever  nnay  have  been  the  origin  of 
protoplasmic  life,  once  that  began,  the  only  progress  has  been  that  depending  on 
an  increase  of  the  delicacy  and  sensitiveness  of  the  neural  substance  and  the 
specialization  of  organs  of  mental  activity. 

Taking  a  broad  glance  at  the  cosmos,  we  see  an  unbroken  succession  of  phe. 
nomena,  exhibiting  in  their  different  formations  every  form  of  force  and  energy 
known  to.  human  investigation.     Is   it  reasonable,  in  view  of  this  almost  infinite 


152  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


variety  both  of  material  substance  and  of  dynamical,  mental,  or  spiritual  mani- 
festations, that  we  should  use  the  same  term  to  describe  these  different  pheno- 
mena ?  As  well  might  we  say  that  all  matter  is  gas,  or  all  matter  is  protoplasm 
or  inorganic  substance,  as  to  say  that  all  motion  is  life  or  mind.  To  say  that  all 
matter  is  alive,  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  all  matter  is  protoplasm. 

In  the  chain  of  existence,  the  question.  Where  does  life,  intelligence,  or  con- 
sciousness begin  ?  may  possibly  be  answered.  The  amoeba  seizing  its  prey,  sur- 
rounding it  with  its  own  substance,  and  thus  digesting  it,  is  performing  about  as 
intelligent  an  operation  as  Elisha  eating  locusts  and  wild  honey.  Intelligence  is 
displayed  by  other  aniinals  than  those  who  print  false  histories  and  murder  each 
other  by  thousands  according  to  the  rules  of  international  law. 

In  my  view.  Evolution  and  the  foundation  principles  of  science— the  reversal 
of  which  it  is  impossible  to  conceive — really  render  unnecessary  any  discussion 
of  these  questions.  But  we  are  not  all  alike,  mentally  or  physically  ;  and  what 
to  one  man  becomes  an  axiomatic  truth  as  soon  as  it  is  comprehended,  will  to 
another  man  appear  doubtful  though  supported  by  elaborate  proof. 

Having  given  my  views,  however,  at  some  length,  I  will  not  hesitate  now  to 
put  them  in  more  concise  and  categorical  form  : 

1.  The  exercise  of  the  intellectual  power  or  will  upon  moving  bodies  cannot  in 
the  slightest  degree  enable  them  to  escape  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  motion. 

2.  Life  and  all  of  its  concomitant  phenomena  are  only  developed  in  masses  of 
plastic  matter  known  as  protoplasm,  the  basic  material  of  all  plants  and  animals. 

3.  Intellect,  consciousness,  will,  etc.,  exist  only  in  connection  with  organisms 
of  the  animal  kingdom  ;  they  are  the  direct  result  of  physical  development,  and 
increase  in  extent  and  power  with  the  in  reasing  delicacy,  complexity,  and  spe- 
cialization of  the  organic  structures. 

4.  Dead  matter  is  that  in  which  the  organic  functions  of  a  living  body  have 
ceased.  Part  of  the  dead  matter  may  continue  to  grow  into  new  vegetable  or 
animal  organisms,  and  part  be  dissolved  into  its  inorganic  non-living  elements. 

5.  The  great  bulk  of  the  substance  of  the  earth  is  inorganic,  lifeless  matter, 
and  cannot  rationally  be  described  as  either  living  or  dead 

6.  Whatever  "  life"  or  "intelligence  "  may  exist  either  in  the  atoms  or  in  the 
cosmos,  it  is  clear  that  it  must  be  of  a  different  order  from  that  observed  in  the 
organic  kingdoms,  and  must  be  inscrutable  to  man.  All  that  men  can  really 
know  anything  about  are  the  energtes  manifested  in  masses  of  matter. 

7.  Life  began  when  the  first  mass  of  sensitive  protoplasm  was  formed. 

8    Intelligence  began  when  the  first  elements  of  a  neural  system  were  built  up. 

9.  Consciousness  began  when  the  first  rudimentary  ganglia  or  brain  organ  was 
developed. 

To  use  these  terms  to  designate  the  attributes  common  to  all  substances  is  to 
empty  them  entirely  of  their  real  and  definite  meaning. 


SECULAE   THOUGHT.  153 


a  la  Xacon* 

:o: 

BY    WINNIPEG. 

:o: 


PRAYER. 

Most  of  us  know  how  great  is  the  importance  attached  to  prayer  by  the  Christian^ 
Church.  "Pray  without  ceasing,"  is  one  of  those  impossible  injunctions  laid 
down  in  the  Holy  Bible  (i  Thess.  5  :  17).  That  such  a  command  is  beyond 
human  power  to  obey  doesn't  trouble  the  mighty  potentate  who  issued  it  one 
little  bit;  nor  does  it  distutb  his  serenity  in  the  least  when,  in  cool  ichor,  he 
thinks  the  matter  over  and  discovers  that  such  a  way  of  passing  one's  time  is  an 
idiotic  waste  of  human  life — admitting,  for  the  nonce,  that  such  a  performance  is 
possible.  * 

Many  of  us  must  have  met  Christians  who,  in  all  seri(jusness  and  good  faith, 
assert  that  they  have  received  great  benefit  from  prayer.  To  tell  such  persons 
that  the  same  benefits  would  have  followed  had  they  addressed  their  petitions  to 
Mr.  Mumbo  Jumbo  or  any  other  respectable  divine  freak,  would  simply  draw 
upon  the  speaker  a  cataclysm  of  imprecations  or  an  avalanche  of  sorrowing  pity. 
Thrice  is  he  armed  who  ensconces  himself  in  personal  experience  when  arguing 
upon  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  Such  persons  cannot  be  touched  by  argument. 
Their  reasoning  power  is  on  a  par  with  that  of  Gaffer  Goosecap,  who  was  sent  to 
interview  Little  Goody  Two  Shoes.  That  young  lady,  wishing  to  benefit  her 
rural  friends,  bought  a  barometer  and  warned  them  when  a  storm  was  coming  on. 
As  many  of  her  predictions  turned  out  to  be  true,  the  wise  folks  of  the  village 
concluded  that  the  two-shoed  damsel  was  a  witch.  They,  therefore,  commissioned 
Gaffer  Goosecap  to  report  upon  the  matter.  The  Gaffer,  when  approaching  the 
cottage  in  which  the  girl  lived,  met  the  young  lady.  She  was  accompanied  by  a 
raven,  a  dove,  a  lamb  and  a  dog,  all  of  which  she  treated  very  kindly  and  three 
of  whom  she  had  saved  from  death.  Here  was  evidence  in  abundance  ;  with  a 
shriek  of  dismay  the  intelligent  Gaffer  fled  to  accuse  the  maiden  of  the  damnable 
sin  of  witchcraft. 

Upon  evidence  equally  convincing,  there  are  persons  who  aver  that  they  have 
asked,  and  they  have  received.  As  I  mentioned  long  ago  in  S.  T.,  a  woman, 
mighty  in  prayer,  besought  the  Almighty  to  fill  her  empty  water-butts.  The 
harvest  was  well-nigh  ready  for  the  sickle.  The  good  Lord  heard  that  poor 
woman's  prayer,  and  sent  rain.  The  water-butts  were  filled  to  the  brim  ;  and  the 
harvest  was  relegated  to  the  next  autumn.  "  Wasn't  the  Lord  good  to  that  poor 
woman  !  "  cried  out  the  farmers  joyfully.  He  was  ;  but  the  Lord's  ways  are  not 
yet  exactly  like  our  ways,  nor  his  definition  of  goodness  like  our  definition  of  that 
word. 

Reader,  let  us  suppose  you  wanted  ten  cents.     You  go  to  Mr.  Morgan  and 


154  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 

address  him  thus  :  "  Mr.  Morgan,  you  know  you  are  a  multimiHionaire  ;  you 
know  you  are  kind  and  generous ;  you  know  you  can  affjrd  to  give  away  ten 
cents,  and  you  know  far  better  than  I  do  how  you  wish  to  spend  >our  money. 
But  for  once  be  advised  by  me;  give  me  a  dime  to  get  a  drink."  Reader,  do 
you  think  you'd  get  that  dime?  I  d  n't.  But  are  not  the  prayers  offered  in 
church  somewhat  in  that  style  ?  Don't  they  run  frequently  according  to  this 
pattern  ? — "  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  thou  art  all-powerful  ;  thou  knowest  that 
thou  art  all-wise  ;  thou  knowest  that  thou  art  a  merciful  and  loving  God.  Thou, 
in  thy  great  wisdom,  O  Lord  !  knowest  far  better  than  we  do  what  things  are 
good  for  us,  for  we  are  but  poor,  ignorant,  crawling  worms  in  thy  sight.  There- 
fore let  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Nevertheless,  because  the 
French  government  is  striving  to  separate  church  and  state,  we  beseech  thee,  O 
Lord,  in  thy  great  mercy,  that  thou  send  no  rain  upon  the  earth  for  the  space  of 
three  years.  Grant  us  this  our  prayer,  O  God,  and  so  shall  thy  wisdom  and  thy 
power  and  thy  mercy  be  made  known  to  the  heathen  and  thy  name  glorified  in 
all  the  earth  !     Amen  " 

Doesn't  it  seem  a  little  illogical  to  tell  the  good  Lord  that  he  knows  a  deal 
better  than  we  do  how  to  manage  the  world's  business,  and  then  slily  advise  him 
to  substitute  our  will  for  his  ?  Just  think  the  matter  over  when  you  feel  inclined 
to  pray.  Even  a  school-reader  will  sometimes  give  good  advice  ;  read,  dear 
reader  : 

"  Suppose  the  world  don't  please  you, 

Nor  the  way  some  people  do  ; 
Do  you  think  the  whole  creation 

Will  be  altered  just  for  you  ?  " 


Morfting  During  SIeep< 

:o: 

BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 


Some  men  have  done  their  best  mental  work  while  "asleep."  Condillac  states 
that  while  writing  his  "  Course  of  Studies,"  he  was  frequently  compelled  to  leave 
a  chapter  incomplete  and  retire  to  bed,  and  that  on  awaking  he  found  it,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  finished  in  his  head.  In  like  manner,  Condorcet  would  some- 
times leave  his  complicated  calculations  unfinished,  and  after  retiring  to  rest 
would  find  their  results  unfolded  to  him  in  his  dreams.  La  Fontaine  and  Vol- 
taire both  composed  verses  in  their  sleep  which  they  could  not  repeat  on  awaking. 
Samuel  Johnson  relates  that  he  once  in  a  dream  had  a  contest  of  wit  with  some 
other  person,  and  that  he  was  very  mortified  by  imagining  that  his  antagonist 
had  the  better  of  him. 

The  work  done  partakes  in  many  cases  nrrore  of  the  nature  of  imaginative  com- 
position than  of  scientific  calculation.     Thus,  a   stanza  of  excellent  verse  is  in 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  155 


print,  which  Sir  John  Herschel  is  said  to  have  composed  while  asleep,  and  to 
hive  recollected  when  he  awoke.  Goethe  often  set  down  on  paper  during  the 
day  thoughts  and  ideas  which  had  presented  themse'ves  to  him  during  sleep  on. 
the  preceding  night.  Coleridge  is  said  to  have  composed  his  fragment  of  Kubla 
Khan  during  sleep 

He  had  one  evening  been  reading  Purchas's  Pilgrim  ;  some  of  the  romantic 
incidents  struck  his  fancy  ;  he  went  to  sleep,  and  his  busy  mind  composed 
Kubla  Khan.  When  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  he  wrote  out  what  his  mind  had 
invented  in  sleep,  until  interrupted  by  a  visitor,  with  whom  he  conversed  for  an 
hour  on  business  matters  ;  but,  alas  !  he  could  never  again  recall  the  thread  of 
the  story,  and  Kubla  Khan  re.nains  a  fragment. 

Still  more  curious,  however,  are  those  instances  in  which  the  sleeper,  after 
composing  or  speculating,  gets  up  in  a  state  of  somnambulism,  writes  the  words 
on  paper,  goes  to  bed  and  to  sleep  again,  and  knows  nothing  about  it  when  he 
awakes.  Such  cases,  the  authe  'ticity  of  which  is  beyond  dispute,  point  to  an 
activity  of  muscles  as  well  as  of  brain,  and  to  a  correctness  of  movement  which 
is  marvellous  when  we  consider  that  the  eyes  are  generally  closed  under  these 
circumstances.  The  late  Rev.  Mr  Spurgeon  in  his  sleep  prepared  a  sermon 
which  he  preached  the  next  dav,  and  he  declared  that  it  was  not  inferior  to  his 
usual  pro  Auctions.  Mr.  Spurgeon's  intellectual  work  on  the  night  referred  to 
was  done  without  that  particular  consciousness  which  was  suspended  when  he 
went  to  sleep,  and  which  returned  when  he  awoke. 

Many  men  have  performed  some  of  their  greatest  intellectual  feats  while  they 
were  asleep.  Zeno  recommended  an  examination  of  dreams  as  a  means  of 
acquiring  knowledge  of  the  true  self.  Although  dreams  are  often,  indeed  in 
most  Cises  probably,  as  Dryden  says,  but  "a  medley  of  disjointed  things,"  they 
sometimes  show  evidence  of  intellectual  capacity  which  surprises  the  waking 
self.  M  thematicians  while  asleep  have  dreamed  the  correct  solution  of  problems 
that  had  baffled  them  while  awake,  and  authors  have  been  in  dreams  directed  to 
authorities  which  they  had  vainly  sought  to  find  when  regularly  engaged  in  their 
work. 

Dr.  Gregory  states  that  ideas  and  phraseology  occurred  to  him  in  dreams  which 
were  so  apt  that  he  made  use  of  them  in  giving  lectures  before  his  college  classes  ; 
and  Sir  Thomas  Browne  comi)osed  comedies  in  his  dreams,  which  amused  him 
greatly  when  he  awoke.  The  dreamer  often  sees  beautiful  pictures,  hears  melo- 
dious strains  of  music,  and  feels,  as  it  seems,  the  presence  of  departed  or  distant 
friends,  as  strongly  and  as  vividly  as  if  the  external  organs  were  in  active  exer- 
cise.    Taste  and  smell   are  in  a  like  manner  excited  in  sleep. 

The  facts  show  that  the  activity  of  the  organs  of  sense  is  not  necessary  to 
excite  those  impressions  which  were  originally  received  through  the  senses,  show- 
ing, too,  that  what  is  perceived  is  not  the  external  object,  but  the  effect  which 
the  object  has  produced  upon  the  mind — a  symbolical  representation  in  con- 
sciousness, mental  in  its  nature,  of  the  externality.  And  thus,  when  the  avenues 
of  the  b  )dy  are  closed,  the  impressions  may  be  as  vivid  as  when  the  senses  are 
alive  to  the  outward  world  ;  ani,  what  is  more  wonderful,  the  imagination  may, 
during  this  time,  indulge  in  flights  of  fancy,  the  reasoning  i)Owers  may  be  exerted 
in  solving  the  most  abstruse  problems,  or  memory  may  be  exercised  in  recalling 
from  the  dim  past  some  long-forgotten  incident. 


156  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Where  there  is  thought  theie  is  consciousness.  How  can  the  mind  prepare  a 
sermon,  or  woik  out  a  mathematical  problem,  without  being  conscious  of  the 
process  ?  The  fact  that  it  does  not  come  into  the  ordinary  chain  of  mental 
operations,  would  seem  to  imply  that  there  is  a  deeper  or  a  higher  consciousness 
which  is  active  even  when  the  conscious  life,  as  it  is  known  to  us,  is  suspended 
in  sleep.  The  ordinary  consciousness  may  be  but  a  phase  of  a  larger  life,  the 
more  superficial  aspects  of  which  only  come  above  the  threshold  of  the  "waking 
state  "  into  ordinary  thought  and  conduct. 

Is  not  every  person  largely  influenced  by  the  so-called  unconscious  thinking 
that  is  done  in  sleep  and  in  the  waking  state  ?  How  many  great  discoveries, 
wonderful  inventions,  profound  conceptions,  and  deeds  of  sacrifice  and  heroi^im 
may  be,  to  a  considerable  extent,  attributable  to  the  subliminal  processes  of  the 
mind  ?  In  some  cases,  the  individual  but  carries  out  unconsciously  what  was 
started  in  a  conscious  or  semi-conscious  state,  as  was  probably  the  case  with  Mr. 
Spurgeon,  who  says  that  on  going  to  the  table  he  "  felt  a  train  of  thought  come 
back  "  to  him  with  the  notes,  and  that  a  "  glimmering  consciousness  of  the  truth 
[of  what  had  occurred]  dawned  upon  "  him. 

In  the  depths  of  human  consciousness  are  powers  and  potentialities  of  which 
people  generally  take  no  note.  They  are  manifested  in  a  way  to  attract  attention 
only  rarely,  because  perhaps  such  manifestation  requires  peculiar  conditions  that 
rarely  exist.  The  conditions  must  be  such  as  to  admit  of  the  exercise  uf  a  power 
which  perhaps  all  men  and  women  possess  potentially,  but  with  nearly  all  of 
whom  it  remains  in  a  latent  condition  through  life,  only  here  and  there,  now  and 
then,  flashing  into  the  common  consciousness. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


The  Devil,  to  prove 

That  religion's  a  farce, 
Went  out  to  fish  for  some  Christians. 

He  baited  his  hook 

With  Rock'feller's  purse, 
And  caught  all  the  heads  of  their  Missions. 
New  York,  March  29.  Guns. 


UNIIED  STATES   REPUBLICANISM. 

Travellers  are  proverbially  said  to  meet  strange  bed-fellows,  and  changing 
circumstances  cause  nations  to  make  strange  friendships.  Not  many  years  ago, 
-soon  after  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States,  a  Russian  fleet  visited  that 
country,  and  its  officers  and  crews  were  received  with  open  arms,  and  feted  as  if 
they  represented  a  nation  with  which  citizens  of  the  great  republic  would 
naturally  sympathize.  Here  were  the  citizens  of  the  leading  land  of  liberty,  who 
had  just  consummated  their  belated  act  of  justice  to  the  negroes,  and  thus  wiped 
the  foul  stain  of  legalized  human  slavery  f-om  their  statute-books,  hobnobbing 
with  the  militant  representatives  of  the  most  brutally  tyrannical  autocratic 
government  in  the  world.  At  that  time,  the  great  bulk  of  the  Russian  people 
were  serfs  in  most   abject  dependence  upon  an  aristocracy  which  possessed  not 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  157 


one  redeeming  feature  either  of  culture  or  chivalry.  Grossly  sordid,  tyrannical^ 
cruel  and  superstitious  to  the  last  degree,  the  Russian  nobility,  aided  by  the 
priesthood,  had  for  years  kept  the  people  in  the  lowest  state  of  poverty  and 
ignorance.  While  the  priesthood  robbed  the  peasantry  of  a  large  part  of  their 
meagre  earnings,  the  tax  gatherers  seized  most  of  what  remained  ;  and  in  order 
to  increase  the  imperial  revenues  from  spirits,  the  wse  of  '*  vodka  "  was  greatly 
encouraged.  And  yet  Uncle  Sam  had  nothing  better  to  do  than  to  fraternize 
with  aristocratic  naval  officers  representing  such  a  country  as  this,  because,  at  that 
time,  he  felt  a  little  sore  with  John  Bull  over  the  Alabama  claims  and  olhej^ 
disputes  arising  out  of  the  Civil  War  ! 

-Only  a  few  weeks  ago,  on  Washington's  birthday,  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  upon  President  Roosevelt  and — 
the  German  Emperor  !  Now,  we  have  no  objection  to  the  faculty  of  an  American 
University  doing  honor  to  its  r^ationat  President,  though  we  cannot  help  thinking 
that  it  is  degrading  both  to  the  institution  and  to  the  recipient  to  confer  degrees 
upon  any  person  who  has  not  fairly  earned  them.  But  to  select  such  a  persor> 
as  the  German  Emperor  as  the  recipient  of  an  honorary  degree  is  a  sign-  of 
childish  sycophancy  in  the  faculty  of  a  republican  univer>fty  that  we  should 
think  will  make  many  a  citizen  of  the  republic  blush  for  shame. 

As  we  have  often  asked,  where  shall  we  look  to  find  the  difference  between  a 
republic  and  a  monarchy? 


THE  CYNIC'S  DICTIONARY. 

Pianoforte  (abbreviated  to  Piano),  n.  An  instrument  thoughtfully  provided 
by  American  husbands  and  fathers  for  their  wpves  and  daughters,  in  observance 
of  Bulwer's  dictum  that  "  the  best  way  to  keep  the  dear  creatures  from  playing 
the  devil  is  to  encourage  tbem  in  playing  the  fool."^ 

Piety,  n.  Reverence  for  the  Supreme  Being,  based  upon  his  supposed^ 
resemblance  to  man. 

The  pig  is  taught  by  sermons  and  epistles 
.  To  think  the  God  of  Swine  has  snout  and  bristles. — Hudihras. 

Pleasure,  n.  An  emotion  engendered  by  something  advantageous  to  one^s 
self  or  disastrous  to  others.  In  the  plural  this  word  signifies  mostly  artificial 
aids  to  melancholy  that  deepen  the  general  gloom  of  existence  with  a  par^licuhr 
dejection. 

Plenipotentiary,  adj.  Having  full  power.  A  Minister  Plenipotentiary  is  a 
diplomatist  possessing  absolute  authority  on  condition  that  he  never  exerts  it. 

Plunder,  v.  To  take  the  property  of  another  without  observing  the  decer»t 
and  customary  observances  of  theft.  To  effect  a  change  of  ownership  with  the 
candid  concomitance  of  a  brass  band. 

Plutocracy,  n.  A  republican  form  of  government  deriving  its  powers  from 
the  conceit  of  the  governed — in  thinking  they  govern. — Ambrosi  Bierce,  in  the 
American. 


REVIVAL.  CONVERT  DROPS  DEAD. 

At  a  recent  revival  meeting  at  Glasgow,  an  old  man  named  Grant  fell  dead 
in  the  act  of  resuming  his  seat  after  having  testified  to  his  conversion.  A  doctor 
was  summoned,  but  found  the  man  beyond  help.  The  audience  is  said  to  have 
been  "  profoundly  moved  by  the  tragic  event,"  but  if  their  faith  had  been  as  big 
as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  they  would  hav€  sung  a  hymn  of  praise  at  the  old 


158  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


man's  translation  to  the  realms  of  bliss  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  fully 
prepared  to  go  there  by  throwing  all  his  sins  on  Jesus.  No  doubt,  however,  they 
buspected  the  poor  old  fellow's  death  was  due  to  heart  failure  caused  by  excite- 
ment on  making  his  maiden  speech  "  for  Jesu's  sake." 


NEGRO  MISSIONARY  BECOME  PAGAN  CHIEF. 
Daniel  Flickinger  Wiiberforce,  a  native-born  African,  who  was  educated  in  the 
United  States,  and  for  twenty-five  years  worked  in  the  mission  field  of  his  nati\e 
country,  Imporrah,  in  West  Africa,  has  fallen  from  grace  and  will  be  dropped 
from  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  that  educated  him  and  sent 
him  to  Africa.  Of  late  he  has  become  chief  of  his  tribe,  resumed  his  native 
religion,  and  taken  a  number  of  wives.  He  collected  quite  a  pocketful  of  money 
in  this  country  a  few  years  ago  lecturing  in  behalf  of  his  mission. 


IMMORAL  EFFECT  OF  "BEN  HUR."— Superintendent  Jenkins,  of  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  says  that,  however  religious 
General  Lew  Wallace's  story  of  "  Ben  Hur  "  may  be,  its  effect  is  decidedly  im- 
moral and  corrupting  upon  the  young  girls  who  have  been  appearing  in  the 
play  founded  upon  the  novel.  Of  these,  he  says,  fifteen  have  "  gone  wrong " 
already,  and  have  been  placed  in  the  custody  of  the  society.  Of  course,  it  will 
be  urged  that  this  result  may  have  been  due  to  the  influence  of  the  theatrical 
surroundings  rather  than  to  the  incidents  of  the  play  ;  but,  as  in  the  case  of 
Christianity  itself,  if  it  be  claimed  that  it  has  not  been  the  inciting  cause  of  im- 
morality, we  are  entitled  to  assert  that  the  religious  element  has  in  no  way  acted 
as  a  moral  or  restraining  influence.  It  may  some  day  dawn  upon  common-s.nse 
adherents  of  the  church  that  religious  dogmas  and  beliefs  have  really  no  connec- 
tion whatever  with  morality,  and  that  the  pretence  that  they  have  only  leads  to 
hypocrisy. 


IRISH  GAOL  TURNED  INTO  A  CONVENT.— A  sign  of  the  times  is 
noted  at  Nenagh,  North  Tipperary,  Ireland,  where  the  county  gaol  has  been 
'handed  over  to  a  gang  of  nuns  "for  educational  purposes,"  at  a  nominal  rent 
of  $1  a  year.  By  the  time  the  nuns  have  got  in  their  educational  work,  probably 
the  building  will  again   be  needed  as  a  prison. 


THE  TIRED  FOOT. 

The  potter  stood  at  his  daily  work,  The  potter  never  paused  in  his  work, 

One  patient  foot  on  the  ground  ;  Shaping  the  wondrous  thing  ; 

The  other  with  never-slackening  speed  'Twas  only  a  common  flower-pot. 

Turning  his  swift  wheel  round.  But  perfect  in  fashioning. 

Silent  we  stood  beside  him  there,  Slowly  he  raised  his  patient  eyes. 

Watching  the  restless  knee.  With  homely  truth  inspired  : 

Till  my  friend  said  low,  in  pitying  voice,      "  No,  ma'am  :  it  isn't  the  foot  that  kicks 

"  How  tired  that  foot  must  be,"  The  one  that  stands  gets  tired." 

—The  Co.tinent. 


On  all  hands  there  is  the  announcement,  audible  enough,  that  the  old  erppire 
of  routine  is  ended  ;  that  to  say  a  thing  has  been  is  no  reason  for  its  continuing 
to  be.  —  Thomas  Catlyle. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  159 


HOW  THE  NEGROES  ESCAPED  LYNCHING. 

"  Brf^dren,  I  bring  yo'  good  news  frum  de  souf.  Three  cullud  men  con- 
victed of  murder  has  escaped  lynchin'.  De  promptness  an'  perspicacity  wid 
which  de  cullud  men  has  been  interduced  into  de  mystic  henceforth  is  ap- 
pallin'  to  de  uncultivated  mind.  It  has  been  neck  or  nothin'  wid  us  eber 
since  de  prancipation  moculation.  Not  eben  de  obscenities  ob  good  society  has 
been  observed  towards  us.  We  has  been  jerked  wid  a  free  an'  liberal  han'. 
Jestice  would  not  stretch  a  point,  but  stretched  us.  Now  we  see  de  ebenin' 
ob  hope  risin'  on  de  dawn  ob  despair.     Three  cullud  men  escaped  lynchin'." 

"  How  did  dem  coigns  escape  1 "  asked  Deacon  Drinkwater. 

"Dey  escaped  lynching  bekase  dey  was  hung  by  due  absence  ob  law  by 
de  sheriff.  Pour  some  watah  down  dat  niggah's  back  what's  a-snorin',  an' 
den  take  up  de  collecshun."  • 


Little  Sadie  (after  a  whipping) — I  think    papa   is  dreadful.     Was  he  the 
only  man  you  could  get,  mamma  1 

Mrs.  Waldo-Cecil :  He  has  a  barrel  of  money  ! 

Edith  Waldo-Cecil :    But  is  he  all  right  socially  ? 

Mrs.  Waldo-Cecil :  Oh,  yes;  he  hasn't  the  least  idea  how  he  got  it. — Fuck. 


It  is  Dr.  Field  who  tells  the  story  of  a  Scotchman  who  prayed  earnestl  y 
"  Lord,  keep  me  from  going  wrong,  for  you  know  how  hard  it  is  to  do  any- 
thing with  a  Scotchman  when  once  he  makes  up  his  mind." 

A  man  with  a  shot-gun  said  to  a  bird  :  "  It  is  all  nonsense,  you  know, 
about  shooting  being  a  cruel  sport  I  put  my  skill  against  your  cunning — 
that  is  all  there  is  of  it.     It  is  a  fair  game." 

"  True,"  said  the  bird  ;  "  but  I  don't  wish  to  play." 

"  Why  hot  ?"  inquired  the  man  with  a  shot-gun. 

"The  game,"  the  bird  replied,  "may  be  fair,  as  you  say;  the  chances  are 
about  even  ;  but  consider  the  stake.  I  am  in  it  for  you,  but  what  is  there 
in  it  for  me  !  " 


He  came  to  town  on  Monday  with  his  mind  in  such  condition 

He  might  have  been  induced  to  take  a  salaried  position. 

But  Wednesday  he  was  ready  to  accept  a  situation, 

And  even  be  content  with   rather  small  remuneration. 

On  Saturday  he  studied  o'er  the  "  Male  Help  Wanted  "  pages, 

Then  hustled  out  and  got  a  job  ;  so  now  he's  drawing  wages. 


Boston  Youth  :  Father,  why  do  the  uncultured  provincials  refer  to  an  ig- 
norant person  as  one  who  "  doesn't  know  beans  1  " 

Boston  Father  :  It  is  a  vulgar  way,  my  son,  of  intimating  that  such  an 
individual  is  not  a  native  of  Boston. 


The  maxims  of  wisdom  are  the  pieces  of  glass  in  a  kaleidoscope  ;  they  remain 
forever  unchanged  and  in  the  same  case,  but  every  age  shakes  them  into  a 
new  combination  of  colors. 


160 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


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NYSSIA. 


Hn  ®l&  Morl^  Stori2. 


By  M.  C.  O'BYRNE, 

Author  of  "  Song  of  the  Ages  and  Other  Poems,"  "  Upon  This  Rock,' 
I  " Love  and  Labor." 


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TORONTO,    CANADA  : 

C.  M.  Ellis,  Printer  and  Publisher,  185^  Queen  St.  West. 


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In  this  work,  Mr.  O' Byrne  has  woven  an 
old-world  story  into  a  poem  of  intense  in- 
terest and  of  wonderful  grace  and  power. 

We  think  that  since  the  days  when  **The 
Corsair,"  *^  The  Giaour,"  ^^The  Cenci," 
and  their  companion  works  startled  and 
delighted  a  world  of  critics,  there  has  not 
appeared  a  poem  the  equal  of  Mn  O' Byrne's 
new  work. 

**  Nyssia  "  forms  a  neat  volume  of  about 
90  pages  post  8vo.  ;  it  is  printed  with  new 
type  on  heavy  paper,  and  will  be  handsomely 
bound  in  blue  cloth  with  gold  lettering, 
price  $1.00,  post  free;  an  edition  in  heavy 
paper  wrapper  will  be  issued,  price  60c. 


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SEC  ULAK  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

V^OL.  XXXI.  No.  6.  TORONTO,  MARCH    31,   1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Xife,  2)catb,  an5  IRcIiQion. 

:o: 

The  lives  of  the  majority  of  men  and  women  are  passed  with- 
out any  such  knowledge  of  God  as  can  create  in  them  a  noble 
and  lovable  character.  Myriads  die  as  infants,  before  the 
faculties  with  which  they  are  born  can  even  begin  their  growth 
and  development.  All  humanity  is  divided  into  tribes  and 
nations,  who  live  in  a  perpetual  state  of  armed  truce,  when  they 
are  not  engaged  in  slaughtering  one  another  ;  and  a  vast  por- 
tion of  the  product  of  human  industry  is  wasted  in  preparation 
for  mutual  slaughter  itself.  The  hatreds  of  men  professing, 
and  often  feeling,  a  strong  religious  zeal,  are  frequently  as 
savage  as  those  of  men  who  openly  disclaim  religious  motives; 
and  they  crush,  torture,  and  slay  one  another  for  the  sake  of 
what  they  call  **  religious  truth,"  with  all  the  bloodthirstiness 
of  a  vulgar  murderer.  What  an  awful,  incomprehensible,  and 
terrible  thing  is,  then,  this  life  we  are  living  ;  and  yet,  when 
we  die,  no  one  comes  back  from  the  world  into  which  he  has 
entered  to  tell  us  what  he  has  there  found  to  enlighten  him. — 
Rev.  J.  M.  Caper,  in  Contemporary  Review, 

EDITORIALS. 

CATHOLICISM  AND  Again  it  is  being  demonstrated  that  "a  good 
**  CANADIAN  Catholic  "  cannot  be  a  good  citizen  ;  for  it  is 

STATESMEN."  abundantly  manifest  that,  if  a  man  be  intellec- 

tually free,  honest,  and  independent,  he  cannot 
be  a  good  Catholic.  And  again  are  the  rights  of  present  and  future 
generations  of  freemen  being  bartered  by  corrupt  politicians  to  try  and 
satisfy  the  insatiable  greed  of  a  crafty  and  unscrupulous  priesthood. 


162  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


The  history  of  the  present  Autonomy  Bills  will  be  one  to  make  future 
generations  of  Canadians  blush  for  shame  at  the  duplicity  and  credulity 
of  the  men  in  high  places,  who  are  supposed  to  control  the  destinies  of 
their  country,  but  who  have  proved  their  powerlessness  in  the  hands  of 
the  wily  Catholic  priests. 

The  statement  issued  by  fhe  Hon.  Robert  Rogers,  Minister  of  Public 
Works  in  the  Manitoba  Government — a  statement  which  the  Papal  dele- 
gate admits  to  be  in  the  main  correct  as  far  as  he  is  concerned, — shows 
clearly  that  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  in  Canada  possess  not  only 
the  will,  but  the  power  to  largely  control  Dominion  legislation  in  their 
own  favor.  For  some  years  Manitoba,  a  small  province,  has  fought  for 
a  "rectification  of  her  frontiers,"  and  just  now,  when  the  two  new  pro- 
vinces are  to  be  created  on  her  western  boundary,  seems  the  last  oppor- 
tunity fehe  will  have  of  securing  any  expansion  in  that  direction. 

On  the  13th  of  February  the  Manitoba  Government  were  invited  by 
Premier  Laurier  to  a  conference  on  the  matter  at  Ottawa,  and  the  depu- 
tation sent  reached  Ottawa  on  the  16th,  meeting  Sir  Wilfrid  by  appoint- 
ment next  day.  The  matter  was  discussed,  but  no  decision  was  reached, 
and  the  deputation  was  requested  to  remain  in  Ottawa  for  a  few  days, 
when  some  settlement  might  be  arrived  at.  Three  days  later  a  letter 
was  received  from  Mr.  Sbarretti,  the  Pope's  special  delegate  in  Canada, 
asking  one  of  the  deputation  to  visit  him.  At  the  interview,  Sbarretti 
stated  that  the  reason  why  Manitoba's  claims  had  hitherto  been  disre- 
garded was  that  the  Maritobans  had  not  conceded  the  Roman  Catholic 
claims  regarding  separate  schools  ;  and  he  promised,  if  two  clauses  em- 
bodying these  claims,  copies  of  which  have  been  printed,  were  added  to 
the  Education  Act  of  Manitoba,  her  extension  northward  to  James  Bay 
would  be  favorably  considered. 

Naturally,  such  a  transaction  as  this  has  led  to  a  vast  amount  of  dis- 
cussion, explanation,  and  denial ;  but  the  chief  facts  are  admitted  and 
are  undoubtedly  true.  And  a  strange  feature  is,  that  though  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier  repudiates  Sbarretti's  action,  he  has  made  no  effort  to  keep  his 
promise  to  state  what  the  Government  was  prepared  to  do.  He  asserts, 
indeed,  that  he  made  no  such  promise,  and  that  the  conference  of  the 
17th  February  was  concluded  by  his  definite  refusal  to  further  consider 
the  Manitoba  claims  at  the  present  time.  We  are  thus  brought  to  a 
direct  charge  of  falsehood  on  one  side  or  the  other,  with  Sbarretti  as. 
the  chief  witness  against  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier. 

In  the  ordinary  way»  we  would  not  believe  a  Papal  official's  testimony 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  1C3 

given  under  fifty  oaths  if  uncorroborated,  but  in  the  present  case  Sbar- 
retti's  admissions  seem  well  supported  ;  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  if  the 
Manitobans  bad  agreed  to  his  terms  without  making  a  fuss,  a  Manitoba 
Boundaries  Extension  Bill  would  have  seen  the  light  within  a  few  hours. 
But  who  can  believe  Sbarretti  when  he  says  his  offer  to  the  Manitobans 
was  made  as  a  private  suggestion,  and  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
Dominion  Government  ?  He  may  write  himself  down  as  a  meddlesome 
ass,  in  order  to  help  himself  and  his  friends  out  of  an  ugly  fix,  but  who 
will  believe  him  ? 

^^^^^^ 

SIR  WILFRID'S  It  is  significant  that  the  Liberal  press  makes  but 

DILEMMA.  a  poor  ghow  of  defending  their  leader,  and  it  is 

still  more  significant  that  Sir  Wilfrid  makes  a 
far  worse  attempt  at  defending  himself.  Placed  in  the  dilemma  of  having 
to  explain  the  duplicity  involved  in  his  assurance,  given  in  a  letter 
to  the  Greenway  Government  of  Manitoba  that  the  settlement  made 
in  the  school  question  was  "  final,"  while  he  had  written  to  Cardinal 
Rampolla  at  Rome  that  it  was  only  "  the  beginning,"  he  first  denies  that 
he  ever  said  the  settlement  was  final,  and  then  claims  that  his  assurance 
given  to  Cardinal  Rampolla  was  only  that  of  a  private  person,  not  the 
authorized  utterance  of  the  Prime  Minister  ! 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  excuse  offered  by  Mr.  Sbarretti  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  given  by  the  Premier.  Sbarretti  says,  in  his 
statement  issued  to  the  press  regarding  the  Manitoba  conference  : 

"  The  Federal  Government  had  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  it.  It  was 
a  private  conversation,  and  simply  intended  to  express  a  suggestion  and 
a  desire  that  the  condition  of  the  Catholics  in  the  respects  mentioned 
would  be  improved.  Any  other  assumption  or  interpretation  is  altogether 
unfounded.  I  think  my  right  of  speaking  to  Mr.  Campbell  in  a  private 
way  and  on  my  own  responsibility  cannot  be  disputed." 

Mr.  Campbell  is  the  Attorney-General  for  Manitoba,  and  was  the 
member  of  the  Manitoba  delegation  to  Ottawa  who  was  specially  invited 
to  a  conference  by  Sbarretti.  Sbarretti  is  the  Pope's  special  representa- 
tive in  Canada,  sent  here  at  the  request  of  the  Canadian  Government  to 
supervise  Catholic  interests  in  a  responsible  manner.  To  describe  a  set 
interview  between  two  such  men  as  a  **  private  conversation  "  can  only 
deceive  those  willing  to  be  deceived. 

This  sort  of  business  is  what  we  naturally  expect  in  a  Catholic  priest, 


164  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


but  ought  we  not  to  be  getting  something  different,   something  bolder, 
more  truthful,  and  more  manly  from  our  "  Canadian  statesmen  ?" 

LOW  STANDARD         Naturally,  no  one  can  expect  a  much   higher 
OF  MORALITY  standard   of    morality   among   politicians  than 

AMONG  OUR  among  the  masses.  Recent  events,  indeed,  would 

POLITICIANS.  seem  to  show  that,  instead  of  being  better,  they 

are  far  worse.  Corruption  of  one  sort  or  another 
seems  to  dominate  the  whole  political  outfit,  from  the  ward-heeler  to  the 
Cabinet  Minister.  During  the  long  life  of  the  late  Dominion  Conserva- 
tive Government,  not  only  was  there  a  constant  succession  of  exposures 
of  corrupt  dealings  with  contractors  and  the  public  funds,  but  charges 
of  a  grossly  immoral  character  were  brought  against  Cabinet  Ministers, 
without  any  other  result  than  causing  a  few  days'  sensation.  **  These 
bands  are  clean  !  "  the  late  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald  could  say,  because 
he  never  robbed  the  public  chest  himself, — he  only  winked  while  his  fol- 
lowers helped  themselves. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  some  honorable  and  patriotic  men  among  our 
public  officials,  but  the  recent  changes  in  our  Dominion  Cabinet  seem 
to  show  that,  with  all  the  party  protestations  of  honesty,  *'  Grab  "  and 
*'  Graft  "  are  the  two  leading  watchwords  in  Canadian  politics. 

Two  or  three  of  the  more  recent  events  exhibit  features  of  unusual 
interest.  The  retirement  of  Mr.  Blair  held  the  public  in  suspense  for  a 
considerable  period  in  the  expectation  of  a  great  exposure  which  never 
came ;  and  the  same  result  has  attended  the  Ministerial  break-up  in 
Quebec.  This  latter  event  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  the 
Conservative  party  retired  from  the  contest  at  the  last  election,  leaving 
the  Liberals  to  make  almost  a  clean  sweep  of  the  constituencies.  The 
Parent  Government  had  an  almost  unanimous  Legislature  at  its  back, 
and  yet  it  struck  a  rock  before  the  Legislature  met.  Up  to  this  time  the 
cause  of  the  trouble  has  not  been  announced,  but  after  seVeral  weeks* 
negotiation  M.  Parent  resigned,  and  M.Gouin  has  formed  a  new  Govern- 
ment. Under  such  circumstances,  a  turnover  like  this  assumes  a  most 
sinister  aspect.  Of  course,  an  explanation  may  be  forthcoming  at  some 
future  time  ;  but  the  truth  ?     That  will  depend  on  circumstances. 

Then  there  is  the  Sifton  resignation  at  Ottawa.  While  it  is  possible 
that  Mr.  Sifton  has  attempted  to  make  political  capital  out  of  his  pro- 
fessed  objection  to  the  school  clauses^  it  is  certain  that  his  opposition- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  165 

was  not  at  all  strong,  or  he  would  not  have  returned  so  soon  to  his  party 
allegiance,  if  not  yet  to  his  office.  There  is  a  whispered  explanation  of 
a  scandalous  nature,  but  Dame  Rumor  has  yet  to  make  out  a  clear  case. 
What  seems  clear  is,  that  Sifton  no  more  opposed  the  coercive  legislation 
than  did  Fielding  or  Mulock,  for  the  new  clauses  proposed  by  no  means 
remedy  the  evil  complained  of — that  the  Autonomy  Bills,  now  as  before 
their  amendment,  fasten  Separate  Schools  like  a  millstone  round  the 
necks  of  the  new  Provinces. 

CATHOLICS  Although  the  Downeyville  school  case  has  been 

CONVERT  PUBLIC  settled  in  favor  of  the  Protestants,  the  priests 
SCHOOL  INTO  giving  up  possession  of  the  school  building,  of 

SEPARATE  SCHOOL,  which  they  had  illegally  obtained  possession  for 
a  sum  of  five  dollars,  another  case  has  occurred 
at  the  village  of  Curran,  Ontario,  in  which  the  Catholics,  having  elected  a 
majority  of  the  public  school  trustees,  decided  to  convert  the  school  into 
a  Catholic  school,  purchased  the  building  from  themselves  for  the  sum 
of  five  dollars,  put  it  in  charge  of  the  priest,  and  refused  to  allow  the 
Protestant  scholars  to  enter  the  school.  The  matter,  however,  was  put 
into  legal  hands,  and  the  trial  of  the  case  was  fixed  to  commence  at 
L'Orignal  on  April  7.  On  the  day  named.  Inspectors  Summerby  (Public 
schools)  and  Rochon  (Separate  schools)  proposed  a  compromise,  which 
the  Catholics  rejected.  The  following  day,  Judge  Teetzel  had  a  private 
conference  with  representatives  of  the  two  boards,  and  a  compromise 
was  agreed  to,  the  Catholics  giving  the  Protestants  a  log  schoolhouse  and 
$350,  and  practically  stealing  the  new  Public  schoolhouse  worth  $2,500, 

CHRISTIANITY  Dr.  Wenyon,  a  returned  missionary,  caused  some 

HAS  NOT  "CAUGHT  consternation  at  a  recent  meeting  of  **  The  Na- 
ON  "  IN  CHINA.  tional  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Free  Churches 

of  England  " — what  a  name ! — by  asserting  that 
Christianity  has  not  "  caught  on  '*  in  China.  This  tardy  acknowledg- 
ment of  A  fact  well  known  outside  of  Christian  missionary  circles  seems 
to  have  struck  the  National  Councillors  as  a  piece  of  news,  though  every 
unprejudiced  man  knows  that  some  centuries  of  Catholic  mission  work 
has  produced  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the  immense  population  of  the 
Flowery  Kingdom. 

Mr.  Wtiuyon  said  that  "  the  most  important  of  the  hindrances  to  the 


166  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


moral  evolution  of  the  Chinese  was  the  sectarianism  which  had  been 
allowed  to  intrude  into  the  missionary  work  ;"  which  is  as  good  as  saying 
that  Christianity  has  no  chance  wliatever  of  improving  the  moral  status 
of  the  Chinese  people,  for  Christianity  without  sectarianism  is  unthink- 
able. But  we  imagine  Mr.  Wenyon  is  somewhat  prejudiced  in  favor  of 
Christianity.  In  our  opinion,  the  real  reason  why  Christianity  is  power- 
less to  improve  the  Chinese  people  is  the  very  same  reason  why  it  is 
powerless  to  improve  the  Christian  peoples.  A  system  of  supernatural 
beliefs  and  superstitions  is  not  likely  to  improve  the  morals  of  any 
people,  and  the  Chinese  are  quick-witted  enough  to  understand  that 
nineteen  centuries  of  Christianity — according  to  the  missionaries  them- 
selves— has  only  had  the  result  of  producing  among  Christians  at  least 
as  much  vice  and  crime  as  exist  among  any  other  peoples. 

Under  such  circumstances,  what  inducement  have  the  Chinese  to  ac- 
cept Christianity^ — to  change  Joss  for  the  Pope  cr  Confucianism  for  the 
Bible  ?  If  mere  repetition  of  homilies  and  precepts  is  of  any  moral 
value,  then,  as  Confucianism  is  at  least  understandable  and  workable,  it 
would  have  a  far  more  beneficial  effect  than  the  missionary's  Sermon  on 
the  Mount — the  essence  of  Christianity  which  Goldwin  Smith  describes 
as  "  Eastern  hyperbole,"  and  which  requires  an  interpreter  to  make  it 
of  any  ethical  value  at  all. 

The  Chinese,  too,  know  that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  Western 
barbarians  whose  merchants  and  soldiers  have  brought  bloodshed  and 
rapine  and  plunder  upon  them,  and  whose  very  missionaries  have  taken 
a  leading  part  in  despoiling  temples  and  palaces  of  their  choicest  gems. 

Probably  the  chief  reason  why  Christianity  will  never  make  much 
headway  in  China  is  that  large  numbers  of  Chinamen  are  now  living  in 
Christian  lands,  where  they  are  fast  finding  out  the  real  value  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

UNDESIRABLE  It  is  undeniable  that  the  regulations  governing 

IMMIGRATION  the  admission  of  immigrants  into  Canada  are  so 

INTO  CANADA.  defective,  that  large  numbers  of  most  undesirable 

persons  have  heretofore  been  permitted  to  become 
our  fellow-citizens ;  and  we  are  glad  to  see  that  far  more  attention  is 
being  given  to  the  matter.  England  for  many  decades  has  made  herself 
the  dumping-ground  for  the  scum  of  Europe,  and  is  possibly  now  paying, 
the  penalty  in  an  excessive  amount  of  pauperism^  vice,,  and  crime. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  167 

We  should  be  the  last  to  propose  the  exclusion  of  any  immigrant  on 
the  ground  of  political  or  religious  opinions.  We  would  not,  indeed, 
object  to  the  entrance  of  the  religious  brotherhoods  and  sisterhoods 
lately  expelled  from  France.  Let  them  come,  so  long  as  they  are  healthy 
and  intelligent  and  have  the  means  of  self-support,  and  if  they  are  will- 
ing to  obey  the  laws  of  the  country.  If  these  laws  are  so  defective  that 
they  permit  religious  bodies,  or  any  other  social  units,  to  acquire  powers 
and  privileges  detrimental  to  the  public  welfare,  that  is  our  fault ;  and 
the  remedy  is  to  amend  our  laws,  so  that  they  cannot  lend  themselves  to 
the  machinations  of  any  social  parasites. 

It  is  the  fact,  not  that  the  Catholic  congregations  have  been  expelled 
from  France  on  account  of  their  religious  opinions,  but  simply  that  they 
have  emigrated  from  France  rather  than  comply  with  the  laws,  which 
require  all  educational  and  religious  establishments  to  be  regularly  in- 
spected by  public  officials,  and  to  render  accounts  of  their  property  and 
financial  condition.  It  is  unfortunate  for  Canada  that,  owing  to  Catholic 
dominance  in  politics,  our  laws  in  this  regard  are  extremely  lax,  and  that 
the  power  of  the  church  is  rapidly  increasing. 

An  Ottawa  Government  report  gives  details  of  the  immigration  into 
Canada,  and  of  measures  taken  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  anfit  persons 
in  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904.  The  total  number  of  immigrants  was 
99,741 ;  and  of  these  1,420  males  and  405  females  were  detained  for 
medical  treatment,  and  270  were  deported  as**  diseased  or  undesirable." 

There  are  a  few  features  about  the  latter  items  that  will  repay  notice. 
Of  the  English-speaking  people  only  35  were  detained  out  of  50,374 ; 
while  of  the  Syrians,  etc.,  from  south-eastern  Europe  and  Asia,  150  were 
detained  out  of  510;  and  of  the  Russians,  624  out  of  a  total  of  1,956 
were  detained.  Many  of  these  last  are  thought  to  have  been  Russian 
Jews,  of  whom  5,247  were  landed.  Of  Italians,  110  out  of  4,445,  and 
of  Galicians,  327  out  of  7,729  were  detained.  The  relative  proportions 
were :  British,  1  in  1,325 ;  Italians,  1  in  40 ;  Russians  and  Russian 
Jews,  1  in  11.6  ;  Syrians  and  allied  races,  1  in  3.4.  The  prevailing  cause 
of  detention  wag  trachoma,  the  chronic  form  of  ophthalmia  so  prevalent 
in  south-eastern  Europe,  Egypt,  etc. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  for  a  long  time  it  has  been  the  practice  of  even 
many  British  as  well  as  the  Continental  authorities  to  bonus  their  crimi- 
nals and  paupers  to  emigrate  to  Canada  and  the  States,  the  question  of 
dealing  effectively  with  this  phase  of  immigrationseems  vitally  important 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Canadian  people. 


168  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

A  side-issue,  too,  crops  up  in  the  fact  that  many  of  those  detained  for 
medical  treatment  are  destined  for  the  United  States,  into  which  they 
have  been  refused  admission  until  cured.  Canada  is  thus  compelled  to 
bear  the  cost  of  the  treatment  of  Uncle  Sam's  prospective  citizens  as 
well  as  that  of  her  own.  Such  a  state  of  things  as  this  should  be  met 
by  at  once  compelling  the  steamship  companies  to  deport  the  diseased 
persons  or  pay  the  cost  of  their  treatment. 

DO  NOT  ADMIT  A  correspondent  of  the  London  Standard  lately 

DISEASED  visited  Hamburg,  the  great  emigration  port  of 

IMMIGRANTS.  Europe,  with  the  object  of  getting  at  the  real  facts 

in  regard  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  people 
who  leave  that  port  for  England,  the  British  Commission  on  Physical 
Degeneracy  having  named  as  its  most  active  factors  a  number  of  diseases 
which  bring  in  their  train  every  kind  of  evil — epilepsy,  lunacy,  tubercu- 
losis, etc.     The  correspondent  says  : 

"  With  these  facts  in  my  mind,  one  of  the  first  questions  I  addressed 
to  the  official  under  whose  guidance  I  visited  the  Emigrants*  Depot  was 
what  percentage  of  the  thousands  of  emigrants  who  every  week  pass 
through  his  hands  and  undergo  the  prescribed  medical  inspection  were 
found  to  be  suffering  from  these  diseases.  His  answer  establishes  the 
monstrous  fact  to  which  I  allude.  '  Of  the  Christian  emigrants  one- 
fourth,  of  the  Jewish  emigrants  three-fourths  are  so  afflicted,'  was  his 
answer  ;  and  he  added  : 

''  *  Evidence  of  such  disease  in  an  emigrant  is  not  a  cause  of  deten- 
tion. America  does  not  exclude  emigrants  on  that  ground.  I  think  that 
the  Americans  are  in  the  wrong,  and  that  if  they  would  make  these  dis- 
eases a  bar  to  admission  it  would  be  greatly  to  their  advantage 

Beyond  noting  each  case  as  an  interesting  fact,  we  do  nothing.  As  the 
countries  to  which  these  people  are  proceeding  do  not  object,  we  have  no 
reason  to  detain  them.  But,  in  any  case,  we  could  not  do  so.  With  what 
funds  could  we  keep  and  doctor  the  patients  in  our  lazarette "?  Occa- 
sionally, in  very  bad  cases,  where  the  disease  shows  itself  on  the  man, 
we  patch  him  up  before  his  further  expedition.' 

*'  If  thu^,  as  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  correspon- 
dent, only  7,500  alien  immigrants  settle  annually  in  England,  it  means 
also  that  only  3,750  fresh  centres  of  the  worst  possible  infection  are  each 
year  installed  in  our  population. 

"  To  any  English  patriot  a  visit  to  the  various  pavilions  of  the  emi- 
grants' halls  is  a  painful  and  humiliating  experience.  Oae  sees  splendid 
specimens  here  of  men  and  women — Russians,  Lithuanians,  Hungarians, 
Slavonians — clean,  sturdy >  open-faced,  sweet  creatures  ;  these  for  Ame- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  169 

rica  and  Canada,  to  work  in  the  fields,  to  work  in  the  factories,  with  their 
strong  arras  and  clean  hearts,  to  be  put  at  the  entire  disposal  of  their 
new  countrv.  One  sees,  too,  the  very  opposites  of  these — filthy,  ricketty 
jetsam  of  humanity,  bearing  on  their  evil  faces  the  stigmata  of  every 
physical  and  moral  degeneration  ;  men  and  women  who  have  no  inten- 
tion of  working  otherwise  than  in  trafficking.  These  are  for  England. 
The  only  morsel  of  comfort  is,  that  these  are  to  be  found  usually  in  the 
pavilions  that  do  not  smell  of  spirits. 

"  One  can  tell  the  class  of  emigrants  in  each  pavilion,  their  religion, 
and  to  some  extent  their  destination,  merely  by  the  smell  which  greets 
your  nostrils  on  stepping  into  the  room.  The  brandy  smell  denotes 
Christians  and  implied  laborers  for  the  new  world.  The  garlic  smell 
denotes  Israelites,  of  whom  a  proportion  goes  to  London." 

Now,  whatever  proportion  of  this  ricketty  refuse  finds  its  way  to  our 
own  land  should  be  rigorously  deported.  We  should  not  allow  Canada 
to  be  made  the  dumping-ground  of  either  Europe  or  the  States ;  nor 
should  we  ourselves  make  it  a  dumping-ground  by  giving  assisted  pas- 
sages to  poor  European  emigrants.  It  is  enough  to  give  them  the  best 
advice  our  emigration  agents  can  afford,  and  a  large  free  grant  of  land 
when  they  arrive  here.     To  do  more  is  to  encourage  pauperism. 

And  diseased  immigants  should  be  refused  admission.  The  only  way 
the  steamship  companies  can  be  taught  not  to  bring  diseased  passengers 
is  to  compel  them  to  take  such  passengers  back  at  their  own  expense. 
The  Hamburg  official  admits  that  the  whole  business  would  be  stopped 
as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  British  and  American  authorities  had 
decided  riot  to  admit  diseased  immigrants  ;  but,  whether  the  British  or 
the  United  States  adopt  such  a  measure — we  believe  it  is  already  par- 
tially adopted  in  the  States — Canada  should  adopt  it  at  once.  Every 
immigrant  should  be  examined  as  if  for  a  life  insurance. 

THE  LAWS  OF  A  curious  item  is  that  relating  to  disease  among 

MOSES  AND  the  Israelites.     W-'e   have  long  been  assured  by 

JEWISH  HEALTH  Christian  Evidence  men  that  the  Hebrews'  strict 
AND  LONGEVITY,  observance  of  the  hygienic  laws  of  Moses  accounts 
for  their  better  health  and  greater  longevity  as 
compared  with  those  of  Christians.  Our  Ottawa  report  shows  that  the 
proportion  of  Russians  and  Russian  Jews  detained  on  account  of  disease 
compared  with  Christians  similarly  detained  was  as  114  to  1.  The  Ham- 
burg official  gives  the  proportion  observed  by  him  as  3  to  1.  Perhaps 
the  difference  in  the  proportion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  former  case 


170  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

garlic  had  to  contend  with  beer,  in  the  latter  only  with  brandy.  The 
undoubted  fact,  however,  of  the  excessive  amount  of  disease  among  the 
Hebrews  may  easily  be  accounted  for  by  the  terrible  conditions  under 
which  the  Hebrew  race  has  bad  for  many  generations  to  live  in  Europe, 
and  more  especially  in  Russia.  We  only  call  attention  to  it  to  show  the 
utter  fallacy  of  the  argument  so  long  put  forward  by  such  men  as  H.  L. 
Hastings,  the  "  Anti-Infidel  "  tract  maker  and  lecturer — that  the  God- 
given  laws  of  Moses  are  the  best  for  humanity. 

REVIVALIST  There  has  been  a  funny  passage  of  arms  between 

TORREY'S  Torrey  and  Ernest  Pack,  a  smart  English  Free- 

"  CONVERTED  thought  writer  and  lecturer,  at  present  contri- 

INFIDELS."  buting  to  the  Agnostic  Journal.    Mr.  Pack  called 

Mr.  Torrey's  attention   to  some  mis-statements 
he  had  made  regarding  "converted  infidels,"  remarking: 

"  You  mention  three  '  representative  Freethinkers '  who  have  been 
converted — (1)  the  Secretary  of  the  Atheist  Society  in  Christchurch,  New 
Zealand  ;  (2)  Robert  Pitman,  who  distributed  20,000  infidel  tracts  out- 
side your  mission  ;  (3)  Musgrave  Reade,  of  Manchester,  at  one  time  a 
writer  for  the  Clarion.     I  have  made  very  careful  inquiry,  and  found — 

'*  1.  There  never  was  an  *  Atheist  Society'  in  Christchurch,  New  Zea- 
land. 

**  2.  There  never  was  a  representative  Freethinker  in  Bristol  named 
Robert  Pitman,  and  there  is  no  Freethought  publishing  firm  from  which 
any  Robert  Pitman  has  ever  had  20,000  tracts  ;  neither  has  any  leading 
English  Freethinker  ever  heard  of  any  Freethinker  by  this  name,  repre- 
sentative or  otherwise. 

"  3.  Musgrave  Reade  was  never  a  writer  for  the  Clarion,  edited  by 
Robert  Blatchford  ;  nor  has  he  ever  written  for  the  Freethought  press  or 
spoken  on  any  Freethought  platform." 

The  chief  part  of  Mr.  Pack's  letter  refers  to  Mr.  Torrey's  refusal  to 
meet  in  debate  a  representative  Freethinker,  on  the  ground  that  he 
"  will  not  give  up  speaking  to  10,000  in  order  to  convert  one  infidel." 

In  a  reply,  Torrey  simply  re-asserts  his  statements.  He  says  he  was 
in  New  Zealand  and  knows  the  Atheist  Society  existed  ;  though,  if  so,  it 
is  the  first  one  we  have  heard  of.  We  well  remember  the  strong  efforts 
made  some  thirty-five  years  or  so  ago  to  colonize  Christchurch  with  Eng- 
lish Church  emigrants,  and  doubt  the  existence  of  even  a  Freethought 
society  there.     Torrey  discreetly  withholds  the  secretary's  name. 

As  to  a  man  distributing  20,000  tracts  outside  Torrey's  mission,  those 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  171 

who  know  the  work  involved  in  printing  and  distributing  20,000  tracts 
will  ask  for  some  more  substantial  evidence  than  Torrey's  mere  word. 

Torrey  admits  that  Mr.  Blatchford  denies  that  Musgrave  Reade  was 
ever  connected  as  a  writer  with  his  paper,  but  says  he  saw  Reade's  own 
card  as  a  writer  for  the  Clarion — which  by  no  means  proves  him  to  have 
been  a  Freethinker,  for  at  first  the  Clarion  was  a  purely  Socialist  jour- 
nal, and  Christian  Socialists  have  written  for  it  as  well  as  Freethought 
Socialists. 

So  that,  coming  down  to  actual  facts,  Torrey's  many  years  of  anti- 
infidel  preaching  has  resulted  in  converting  three  alleged  Freethinkers  : 
One  unnamed  man  in  New  Zealand,  one  man  unknown  to  Freethinkers 
at  Bristol,  England,  and  a  man  who  may  have  written  a  letter  to  a  So- 
cialist paper.  At  this  rate,  how  far  will  even  §85,000  go  towards  over- 
coming the  "  wide-spread  infidelity  "  of  London  ? 

If  Torrey  was  anything  but  a  conscious  faker  and  greedy  fraud,  a  man 
*'  out  for  the  stuff"  and  nothing  else,  he  would  not  let  the  grass  grow 
under  his  feet  in  his  efforts  to  convert  Ernest  Pack,  Charles  Watts,  G. 
W.  Foote,  Saladin,  or  some  of  the  real  representative  Freethinkers,  in- 
stead of  fooling  his  hearers  with  stupid  stories  of  mythical  conversions. 

A  TORREY  LIE  The  London  Daily  Express  recently  contained 

NAILED.  one  of  Torrey's  latest  stories.     It  stated  that  a 

canvass  had  recently  been  made  at  the  large 
seed  establishment  of  Messrs.  Sutton,  at  Reading,  and  600  professed 
infidels  were  found  among  the  employees.  These  were  all  taken  up  to 
London  to  hear  Torrey  at  Albert  Hall,  and  many  of  them  were  converted 
by  Torrey's  eloquence.  A  gentleman  interested  in  the  story  wrote  to 
Messrs.  Sutton  about  it,  and  received  this  reply : 

"  The  Royal  Seed  Establishment,  Reading,  March  7,  '05. 
"  Dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  yesterday's  date,  the  paragraph 
you  refer  to  had  no  foundation.     No  such  visit  was  ever  made  or  even 
thought  of.  "  We  are,  dear  sir,  yours  faithfully, 

"  Sutton  and  Sons." 

This  letter  is  published  by  Mr.  Foote  in  the  London  Freethinker,  in 
which  are  also  exposed  several  other  falsehoods  related  by  Torrey  of 
alleged  converted  infidels.  One  of  the  converts,  he  said,  was  a  "  Hyde 
Park  lady  lecturer,"  but  such  a  lady  is  unknown  to  any  Freethinker, 
and  Torrey  wisely  withholds  her  name.    Torrey  also  claims  to  have  con- 


172  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

verted  four  English  Church  clergymen  !  This,  of  course,  is  not  impos- 
sible, as  there  are  many  sceptics  in  church  pulpits,  and  even  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  was  formerly  denounced  as  a  heretic. 

Imagine  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  being  converted  to  Christianity  ! 
Perhaps,  after  all,  this  may  not  be  so  difficult  to  imagine  if  we  consider 
what  Christianity  really  is.  Christianity,  for  "  the  faithful,"  means  the 
acceptance  of  what  the  parson  preaches  and  paying  the  church  dues  ; 
for  the  parson,  it  means  capturing  the  biggest  available  salary  and  the 
highest  pulpit.  In  this  view,  the  Archbishop's  conversion  to  Christianity 
is  an  accomplished  fact ;  but  imagine  him  or  any  other  English  Church 
preacher  being  converted  to  Torreyism  !  We  can  understand  what  there 
is  in  it  for  Torrey,  but  what  would  there  be  in  it  for  the  convert  ? 

Torrey  seems  to  be  as  strange  a  mixture  of  fool  and  rogue  as  might 
be  found  in  Christendom.  And  his  followers  and  dupes,  what  of  them  ? 
They  are  just  plain  Christians  ;  they  listen  and  sing,  10,000  strong, 
and  shout  and  pray,  and  pay  the  piper,  while  Torrey  fills  their  ears  with 
lying  stories  of  his  conquests  and  his  pockets  with  cash. 

LONG  OR  SHORT  Time  was — and  well  within  our  memory — when 
SERMONS  ?  a  sermon  of  from  45  to  75  minutes  was  the  rule 

rather  than  the  exception  even  in  some  English 
Church  services  ;  and  not  many  years  ago  we  heard  W.  T.  Stead  hold 
forth  for  considerably  over  two  hours  in  St.  James's  Church,  Montreal — 
the  big  church  with  the  big  debt.  But  times  have  changed.  Though 
the  same  old  doctrines  are  generally  professed  and  preached  throughout 
Christendom,  people  are  gradually  acquiring  a  taste  for  something  more 
lively  than  a  theological  discourse ;  and  it  is  only  an  occasional  loud- 
mouthed revivalist  or  sensational  preacher  who  can  draw  a  big  crowd  of 
enthusiasts  to  hear  the  old  story. 

We  are  apt  to  misjudge  the  significance  of  the  bursts  of  enthusiasm. 
When  Bible  Class  Newell  was  here  about  a  year  ago,  one  lady  told  us 
that  she  had  not  missed  one  of  his  meetings.  We  have  no  doubt  the 
same  remark  could  have  been  truthfully  made  by  a  large  minority  of  the 
attendants  at  all  such  gatherings.  So  that,  while  4,000  persons  attend 
Newell's  meetings  in  Toronto  and  10,000  Torrey's  in  London,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  those  numbers  represent  the  great  bulk  of  the  persons  in  each 
case  likely  to  be  influenced  by  such  methods. 

It  seems  certain,  indeed,  that  ordinary  people  have  largely  ceased  ta 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  173 


go  to  church  for  theological  instruction,  which  they  can  get  in  far  better 
shape  from  the  printer  than  from  the  preacher  ;  and  amusement,  in  the 
form  of  music,  is  gradually  taking  the  place  of  devotion,  so  that  a  long 
sermon  has  become  an  anachronism.  When  the  congregation  is  waiting 
to  hear  Miss  Soprano's  new  song  or  Mr.  Kornitt's  new  solo,  the  parson's 
opinions  about  original  sin  are  felt  to  be  in  the  way.  Besides,  dinner 
time  is  handy,  and  cook  may  grumble  if  her  dinner  is  spoiled.  So  the 
sermon  has  been  curtailed,  until  one  of  fifteen  minutes  is  regarded  as  a 
pretty  lengthy  one. 

A  limit,  however,  has  been  reached  where  the  people  interested  have 
at  length  protested.  Eev.  G.  H.  Smyth-Piggott,  a  Somersetshire  rector, 
has  broken  the  record  by  introducing  a  series  of  one-minute  sermons, 
and  his  parishioners  have  appealed  to  the  bishop,  who  has  appointed  a 
commission  to  deal  with  the  matter.  The  people  want  either  a  sermon 
of  five  minutes  or  none  at  all,  and  one  witness  gave  this  as  a  full  report 
of  a  recent  sermon  by  the  rector  : 

"  Our  text  this  morning  is :  *  Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  gates,  and  be 
ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors,  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in ; ' 
and  it  is  very  suitable  for  this  morning's  service,  as  David,  who  wrote 
this,  little  thought  he  was  foretelling  the  ascension  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ !  " 

We  cannot  wonder  that  the  Toronto  Telegram,  from  which  we  quote  it. 
calls  this. sermon  a  sample  of  the  Rev.  Piggott's  **  lubrications,"  for  it  is 
as  much  like  a  streak  of  greased  lightning  as  anything  we  have  ever 
seen  in  the  shape  of  a  sermon.  We  are  astonished,  though,  at  the  com- 
plaint of  the  Somersetshire  rustics.  Piggott  is  evidently  a  man  with  a 
keen  sense  of  humor,  and  if  he  gives  his  parishioners  longer  sermons, 
these  may  be  even  less  to  their  taste  than  the  short  ones. 

Only  the  other  day  I  showed  how  the  Daily  Telegraph,  owned  by  a 
Jew,  made  shekels  by  some  ''  Do  We  Believe  ?  "  fudge  in  regard  to 
Christ.  Christian,  a  Jew  will  not  eat  pig  with  you,  but  he  will  buy  with 
you,  and  sell  with  you,  and  sell  you.  The  Jew  will  not  worship  Christ, 
but  he  has  no  objection  to  making  money  out  of  him.  The  Christians, 
too,  make  money  out  of  him,  and  believe  in  him  just  about  as  much  as 
does  the  Jew.  "  Do  we  believe?  "  Not  one  of  us  who  is  worth  his  salt 
believes  ;  but  then  the  difficulty  is,  if  he  openly  say  he  does  not  believe 
he  is  not  likely  to  get  salt,  whether  he  be  worth  it  or  no.  For  we  live 
in  a  world  of  sham,  and  this  Christ  of  the  vulgar  is  the  world's  biggest 
bogie,  and  the  most  shameful  of  all  our  shams. — Saladin. 


174  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


When  you  see  an  advertisement  offering  big  wages  and  no  experience  necessary, 
don't  answer. 

When  somebody  advertises  that  he  will  give  either  advice  or  medicine  free, 
don't  answer. 

Don't  jump  at  a  job  because  it  looks  very  easy,  there  will  be  a  fly  in  the 
ointment. 

Don't  put  off  a  hard  looking  task  until  you  feel  more  able  for  it  than  now.  It 
will  be  harder  to-morrow. 

Don't  go  about  doing  good  works,  so  as  to  set  a  good  example  to  others.  The 
world  is  very  sinful,  and  your  good  example  might  not  be  followed,  and  you 
would  make  nothing  out  of  it. 

Don't  flatter  :  even  if  your  words  of  praise  be  true,  they  are  better  unsaid,  as 
flattery  is  the  meanest  form  of  cheating. 

Don't  drink  strong  waters  unless  you  really  feel  that  you  require  them,  and 
when  you  feel  that  way  buy  your  own  whisky. 

Don't  offer  advice  :  rather,  if  you  would  help  and  please  others,  ask  them  for 
guidance. 

"  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work,"  and,  don't  you  forget  it,  you 
can't  dodge  the  task  by  going  about  helping  godolmity  to  rest  on  the  seventh. 

Say  not  to  a  politician,  "  Lo,  I  did  plump  for  my  lord  ; "  for  then  will  he  say, 
"  I  wist  not  what  thou  sayest.     Wert  thou  not  also  seen  on  Brown's  platform  ?  " 

When  thou  seest  a  politician  say  after  this  manner,  if  thou  wouldst  prosper  in 
the  land  that  the  Bosses  have  left  unto  thee  :  *'  My  lord,  if  thy  servant  have 
found  grace  in  thy  sight  bid  the  captain  of  thy  host  to  provide  me  armor  for  the 
battle,  and  grease  for  the  wheels.  Thy  servant  hath  seven  sons,  four  brethren, 
and  fourteen  nephews,  all  men  that  can  bear  the  sword,  and  they  all  look  to  me 
for  counsel."  Then  shall  that  politician  fall  upon  thy  neck  and  embrace  thee, 
and  shall  say  unto  thee,  "  Now  know  I  that  we  shall  prevail  against  the  adversary, 
for  THOU  art  with  me.  I  pray  thee  dine  with  me  this  night  and  I  will  take 
counsel  with  thee  regarding  this  war."  And  to  his  chiel  officer  he  will  say, 
"  Give  this  fellow  a  shekel  of  silver  and  a  cigar,  and  open  for  him  a  skin  of  new 
wine,  but  see  thou  to  it  that  it  be  done  privily,  so  that  I  may  be  kept  in  ignorance 
of  the  matter."  And  thou  shalt  sup  with  him  and  he  with  thee,  and  it  shall  be 
well  with  thee  to  the  extent  of  a  shekel  and  a  stomachful. 

Honor  thy  tailor  and  draper,  that  the  days  may  be  long  ere  he  send  up  th^ 
spring  overcoat  C.OD. 

If  thou  art  a  contractor  say  not  to  an  alderman  :  "  Hast  thou  considered  my 
tender  that  it  is  low  and  my  work  that  it  lasteth  well  against  the  weather  ?  "  Say 
rather,  "  Wilt  thou  join  me  in  a  Habana  Flor  Fina  ?  "  and  as  he  stirreth  up  the 
sugar  at  the  bottom  thou  shalt  shove  a  fat  envelope  into  the  pocket  of  his  coat 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  175 

and  do  thou  say  that,  were  it  not  for  such  as  he,  the  City  Hall  would  ere  this 
time  be  given  over  to  the  beasts  of  the  field.  This  do,  and  thy  contracts  shall 
expand  in  number. 

When  thy  infant  son  or  daughter  crieth  aloud  in  the  night  and  spareth  not,  if 
thou  gropest  for  the  matches  and  bumpest  the  point  of  the  rocker  with  the  upper 
part  of  thy  naked  foot,  thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  anything  in  vain,  if  it  can 
be  avoided. 

Remove  thy  hind  foot  from  thy  neighbor's  footrail  and  thine  elbows  from  his 
bar  if  thou  have  not  the  squidge,  lest  he  weary  of  thee  and  so  hate  thee. 

Answer  Her  not  when  she  arraigneth  thee,  reminding  her  that  there  are  others  ; 
but  go  thou  and  clean  up  the  yard,  and  as  thou  art  starting  down  town  say  thou, 
that  thou  wouldst  be  home  in  good  time  even  this  night  wert  thou  sure  of  some 
more  of  that  pudding  of  yesternight.  And  immediately  there  will  be  a  great 
ca'm,  and  the  thing  that  thou  hast  for  a  soul  shall  be  filled  with  pudding. 

Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled.  You  believe  in  yourself ;  believe  also  in  the 
lie  of  another. 

When  thou  doest  thine  alms  let  not  thy  right  hand  neighbor  know  what  thou 
givest  to  thy  left  hand  neighbor — if  the  sum  be  very  small. 

When  thou  prayest,  stand  not  in  the  market  place,  but  enter  in*o  thy  closet 
and  pray  for  thy  neighbor  ^^hose  dog  worried  thy  hogs  when  they  disported 
them  midst  his  corn. 

He  that  meddleth  in  a  dispute  between  a  man  and  his  wife  deserveth  to  have 
a  wife  himself. 

There  be  three  things  too  wonderful  for  us,  yea,  four  that  we  would  like  to  get 
some  light  on  :  The  way  a  politician  remembereth  a  last  year's  pledge,  the  way 
of  a  theatre  goer  on  five  dollars  per  week,  the  way  the  foreign  mission  fund  goeth, 
and  the  way  of  an  editor  without  shears  and  paste-pot. 

Rob  not  the  poor,  because  he  is  poor ;  but  rob  them  that  have  the  stuff,  then 
endow  a  cot  in  a  hospital  and  it  shall  be  well  with  thy  soul. 

Do  not  try  to  see  thyself  as  thou  appearest  to  thy  neighbor,  for  the  picture  will 
be  such  as  thou  wouldst  hang  in  the  garret. 

A  thirty-six-inch  yard  and  four  pecks  to  the  bushel  are  an  abomination  to  them 
that  would  stand  before  kings. 

When  thou  goest  to  the  synagogue  order  thy  way  in  a  pious  and  seemly 
manner.  Let  thy  outer  garment  depend  from  thy  left  arm  with  the  silk  lining 
apparent,  hold  thy  silk  tile  in  thy  left  hand,  grasp  thy  cane  about  a  cubit  from 
the  knob  with  thy  right  hand,  in  which  also  hold  thy  kid  gloves,  and  thus  in  a 
godly  manner  follow  the  usher  to  thy  seat.  Put  thy  garment  over  the  pew  in 
front  of  thee,  deposit  thy  tile,  stick  and  gloves  ;  then  bow  thy  head  for  a  space 
in  silent  prayer;  then  pick  out  thy  handkerchief,  which  shall  be  of  fine  linen,' 
and  blow  through  thy  proboscis  that  the  people  may  be  edified. 

Better  is  ten  dollars  subscribed  to  a  testimonial  or  to  a  college  than  ten  cents 
subscribed  to  a  tramp.  For  while  the  tramp  may  satisfy  his  soul  and  not  reward 
thee,  the  ten  dollars  shall  come  hack  to  thee  with  interest. 


176  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


Momen  'IHnber  Cbrietianiti?* 

:o:-^ — 

BY    G    J.   HOLVOAKE. 

:o: 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  original  works  issued  b}^  the  Ra- 
tionalist Press  Association  is  "  The  Beligion  of  Woman,"  by  Mr.  Joseph 
McCabe.  In  novelty  of  conception  and  easy  grace  of  execution  it  will 
be  considered  by  the  reader  to  hold  a  distinctive  place.  It  is  wonderful 
seemingly  that  half  the  Christian  race  has  been  opinionless  as  to  their 
right  to  equal  opportunity  of  progress  with  man.  They  have  not  only 
suffered  him  to  act  as  the  dominant  partner,  but  have  permitted  him  to 
impose  his  religion  upon  them.  At  last  they  are  arousing  themselves. 
Eve  must  have  been  a  sleepy  lady,  seeing  how  drowsy  her  daughters 
have  been.  After  six  thousand  years  they  are  but  just  awakening.  If 
we  remember  rightly,  the  material  of  which  Eve  was  made  was  asleep 
when  Adam  furnished  it.  No  wonder  the  descendants  of  her  sex  have 
proved  somnolent.  They  need  arousing,  and  Mr.  McCabe's  book  is  well 
calculated  for  the  purpose.  Mdlle.  Pelletier,  of  Paris,  on  the  part  of  the 
Feminists  of  France,  contends  that  the  subjection  of  women  in  the  Code 
Napoleon  arose  in  the  hateful  doctrines  of  force  born  of  militarism  and 
empire.  If  she  reads  Mr.  McCabe's  book,  she  will  learn,  more  completely 
than  from  any  other  writer,  that  the  pernicious  paramountcy  of  man  had 
a  far  earlier  origin. 

The  book  opens  with  a  luminous  account  of  the  unsuspected  mortality 
of  ecclesiastical  systems  which  had  their  day  and  were  superseded  by 
different  ones.  The  evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  the  architectural  facts 
discernible  in  the  crypts  of  York  Minster.  One  aim  of  the  author  is  to 
show  women  of  this  generation  that  they  are  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
Christianity  has  been  an  advantage  to  them.  Their  pagan  sisters  fared 
better  than  Christian  women  ever  have.  About  the  time  when  Eve  was 
wandering  in  misgiving  nudity  in  the  fireless  Garden  of  Eden,  Egyptian 
women  were  living  in  well-devised  dwellings,  in  possession  of  rights, 
privileges,  and  honor  which  Christian  women  in  no  age  have  known. 

It  is  shown  by  Mr.  McCabe  that,  more  than  two  thousand  years  before 
the  dawn  of  Christianity,  woman  was  more  free  and  honored  in  Egypt 
than  in  any  country  of  the  world  to-day.  She  was  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  equal  in  dignity  with  her  husband,  whose  position  was  that  of  a 
privileged  guest.  She  had  the  same  rights  as  man  ;  she  inherited  pro- 
perty equally  with  her  brothers  ;  she  could  bring  actions  and  plead  them 
in  the  court ;  she  could  practise  medicine ;  as  priestess  she  had  autho- 
rity in  her  own  house.  While  nearly  nineteen  centuries  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christianity  a  wife  could  not  hold  any  property  in  England 
or  America,  although  she  had  earned  it,  without  a  legal  contract,  as  it 
became  the  property  of  her  husband  when  married.  Her  husband  could 
will  away  the  property  he  received  with  her,  and  leave  her  penniless. 
She  was  not  recognized  as  a  citizen.     She  could  hold  no  office  of  trust 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  177 

or  power.  Married,  her  position  was  little  better  than  that  of  a  domestic 
servant.  Her  husband  was  her  master  ;  he  could  punish  her  with  a 
stick  if  it  were  **  no  bio;ger  than  his  thumb."  A  man  and  woman  who 
were  married  were  held  to  be  one  person,  and  that  person  w^'is  the  man. 
He  was  the  owner  of  all  her  real  estate  and  her  earnings.  She  could 
make  no  contract  and  no  will  without  his  consent.  She  did  not  own 
even  a  rag  of  her  clothing  ;  bhe  had  no  personal  rights;  and  the  husband 
might  rob  her  of  her  fortune  as  well  as  of  her  rights. 

In  all  the  early  co-operative  stores,  a  drunken  husband  could  compel 
the  savings  of  his  wife  to  be  paid  to  him  to  squander  in  thepublichouse.. 
This  was  the  condition  of  subjection  to  which  Christianity  had  reduced 
woman  until  the  middle  of  la^^t  century. 

Intelligent  women,  reading  these  astounding  facts,  will  ask  :  "  How 
could  we  have  been  so  misled  as  to  go  on  believing  in  Christianity  under 
the  impression  that  it  had  brought  good  to  women,  and  that  under 
paganism  women  were  ill-used  and  degraded?  "  Early  Christian  priests 
were  no  doubt  sincere  believers,  but  they  were  ignorant  of  history.  They 
were  not  quacks,  but  they  acted  like  quacks,  and  disparaged — as  Paul, 
who  ought  to  have  known  better,  did — every  system  but  their  own,  so 
that  ignorant  believers  never  inquired  what  went  before. 

Mr.  McCabe  explains  that  Christian  women  to-day  are  misled  by  the 
habit  of  preachers  always  dwelling  on  the  errors  and  customs  of  the 
lowest  class  of  pagans,  and  never  telling  their  congregations  of  the  lofty 
principles  of  their  philosophers  and  the  wisdom  of  their  laws.  If  any- 
one were  to  judge  Christianity  by  its  Bill  Sykes,  by  its  Christian  clergy 
who  commit  suicide,  by  its  murderers  who  carry  their  Bibles  about  in 
their  pockets,  and  go  to  the  gallows  with  the  sure  and  certain  belief  that 
they  will  be  received  into  the  arms  of  Jesus,  and  were  to  declare  these 
to  be  the  effects  of  Christianity,  he  would  be  denounced  as  libellous, 
vicious,  and  wilfully  unfair.  Yet  this,  as  Mr.  McCabe  shows,  is  what 
Christian  advocates,  from  St.  Paul  to  Mr.  Spurgeon,  have  done.  No 
wonder  women  have  been  misled  and  imposed  upon. 

Astonishment  cannot  but  be  excited  at  the  efifrontery — there  is  no  other 
name  for  it — with  which  modern  apologists  of  Christianity  claim  that  it 
saved  Christianity  in  the  Dark  Ages  from  the  darkness  which  their  sys- 
tem undoubtedly  created.  No  one  who  reads  Mr.  McCabe's  book  will 
ever  be  imposed  upon  by  this  misrepresentation.  In  a  striking  passage 
he  describes  how  Continental  philosophers,  and  J.  S.  Mill  in  England, 
began  to  stretch  their  hands  across  the  gulf  of  Christian  domination,  and 
to  take  up  afresh  the  work  of  Plutarch  and  Seneca. 

The  respect  in  which  Mr.  McCabe's  book  differs  from  any  other  upon 
women  with  which  I  am  acquainted  is,  that  it  delineates  the  position  of 
women  before  Christianity  began,  and  how  the  Canon  Law  of  the  Chris- 
tian system  had  reduced  them.  The  author  shows  what  the  position  of 
women  was  under  Pagan  culture  ;  then  what  it  was  under  early  Chris- 
tian teaching  and  in  the  long  dreadful  night  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and, 


178  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

further,  how  little  the  Reformation  did  for  them  and  the  heterodox 
advocacy  which  has  hrought  about  the  improvement  in  their  condition 
which  at  last  happily  set  in. 

Neither  Egyptian  nor  Roman  religion  preached  the  inferiority  of  wo- 
men as  the  Christian  religion  has.  Hebrew  ignorance  and  fanaticism 
supplanting  Grecian  and  Roman  philosophy  was  a  calamity  that  women 
have  still  to  deplore.  Let  feminine  believers  look  to  the  advantages  en- 
joyed by  women  in  Egypt,  in  Japan,  in  Greece  and  Rome,  before  the 
blight  of  Christianity  fell  upon  the  world.  They  will  read  with  wonder 
the  facts  recorded  in  Mr.  McCabe's  pages.  Let  anyone  compare  the 
grand  and  tolerant  sentiments  towards  women  with  the  sensuous  and 
tyrannous  polygamy  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  utter  barrenness  of 
the  New,  as  to  any  inspiration,  or  even  recognition,  of  the  equality  of 
women. 

If  women  are  to  rise  in  the  social  scale,  they  must  choose  a  religion 
of  progress.  Their  subjugation  has  been  effected  by  a  spurious  piety. 
Mr.  McCabe  is  right  in  saying  that  the  cause  of  the  economic  and  social 
■^emancipation  of  women  has  been  conspicuously  advocated  by  persons 
independent  of  the  churches.  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  his  first  Newark  ad- 
dress, 1832,  rightly  owned  that  slavery  was  justified  by  the  Bible.  No 
man  could  be  the  friend  of  the  slave  or  of  women  without  discarding 
the  divine  authorities  of  Church  scripture. 

I  began  in  1847  to  show  what  steps  women  could  take  to  assert  their 
independence.  This  may  be  why  this  book  was  sent  to  me  to  review.  It 
is  inscribed  to  Mr.  George  Anderson,  to  whom  the  reader  will  be  grateful 
for  suggesting  so  instructive  a  work. 

The  author  has  an  ecclesiastical  mind  and  a  wide  range  of  theological 
knowledge.  Mr.  McCabe  is  one  of  those  converts  from  Catholicism  who 
owe  their  views  neither  to  passion  nor  to  resentment,  but  to  the  simple 
force  of  reason.  Like  Cardinal  Newman,  he  has  changed  his  faith 
without  losing  his  fine  taste,  and  he  is  a  controversialist  who  never 
deflects  from  fairness.  He  has  the  power  of  analyzing  facts,  and  is  free 
from  exaggeration  in  inference  or  in  statement  of  their  significance.  His 
style  is  unpretentious,  but  everywhere  logical,  fresh,  and  virile.  His 
pages  resemble  a  vinery,  in  which  the  grapes  of  thought  hang  in  clus- 
ters, tempting  all  who  see  to  pluck  them. — Literary  Guide. 


NEW  YORK'S  GREAT  WATERWORKS  DAM.— One  of  the  greatest 
engineering  works  ever  undertaken  in  the  world  has  just  been  completed— the 
new  Crolon  Waterworks  Dan),  for  supplying  water  to  New  York  city.  This  new 
dam  has  been  buiilt  lower  down  the  valley  than  the  old  dam,  and  rises  30  feet 
above  the  old  level.  It  is  estimated  that  it  will  take  two  years  for  the  reservoir 
to  fill  up,  when  it  will  form  a  lake  sixteen  miles  long  and  contain  30,000,000,000 
gallons  of  water.  The  dam  and  connected  works  have  taken  ten  years  to  build 
and  have  cost  $9,000,000.  The  reservoir  covers  the  sites  of  half  a  dozen  towns 
and  villages.    Tor  the  Future,  it  is  now  proposed  to  tap  Lake  Erie. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  179' 


1?cU9(on  ae  lEmotion  mt>  Boctrinc 

:o: 

BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

I  CONCEIVE  religion  under  two  aspects — primarily  as  a  predisposition  or  tendency 
to  worship,  to  reverence  the  enseen  cause  of  phenomena,  and  secondarily  as  a 
body  or  system  of  belief  and  doctrine  in  regard  to  the  unseen  and  unknown. 

Religion,  both  as  a  predisposition  and  as  doctrine,  is  experiential — is  a  product 
of  observation  and  reflection,  and  in  the  latter  aspect,  also  of  heredity. 

The  predisposition,  connate  in  the  civilized  man,  was  an  emotion  caused  in 
the  savage  ancestral  mind  by  the  impressions  produced  upon  it  by  the  forces  of 
the  external  world. 

The  religious  aptitude,  a  priori  in  the  individual  of  to-day,  was  experiential  in 
his  ancestors. 

Religion,  the  recognition  of  unseen  causes  of  phenomena,  and  the  correspond- 
ing emotions,  is  universal  or  almost  universal,  because  man's  nature  and  environ- 
ment are  everywhere  essentially  the  same. 

There  are  a  few  tribes  that  seem  not  to  have  grown  up  to  the  point  of  thinking 
at  all  on  the  mystery  of  being,  and  that  have  no  religion — at  least,  none  strong 
and  well-defined  enough  to  be  perceptible  to  travellers  like  Moffatt  and  Livingston. 

Whether  religion  is  universal,  as  Lubbock  observes,  depends  upon  the  definition 
given  to  religion.  The  baying  of  a  dog  at  the  moon  is  as  religious  as  are  the 
performances,  supposed  to  be  religious,  of  some  savage  tribes. 

Religion  from  its  inception  is  subject  to,  or  rather  is  the  product  of  evolution- 
ary processes.     It  is  always  and  everywhere  natural  ;  nowhere  supernatural. 

Civilized  man  was  evolved  from  savagery,  and  savage  man  was  evolved  from 
lower  animals.  The  whole  process  has  been,  viewed  from  a  broad  outlook,  an 
orderly  one.  There  has  been  no  intrusion  of  powers  that  are  not  a  part  of 
Nature. 

All  conceptual  gods  and  all  book  revelations  are  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the 
human  mind. 

Fueurbach  says  :  *'  God  is  the  projectivity  of  man*s  subjectivity."  That  is  to 
say  man,  the  subject,  thinks  of  God,  the  cause  or  basis  of  phenomena,  as  an 
object  in  terms  of  humanity.  As  Schiller  observes  :  ''  Man  paints  himself  in  his 
gods."    The  greatest  of  poets  says  : 

*'  Imagination  bodies  forth 
The  forms  of  things  unknown,  the  poet's  pen 
Turns  them  to  shapes,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing 
A  local  habitation  and  a  name." 

"  An  honest  god  is  the  noblest  work  of  man,"  says  Ingersoll. 

Henotheism,    Polytheism,,  Monotheism^.  Cosraism,   Agnosticism,    eighteenth. 


180  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


century  Materialism — represented  by  Baron  de  Holbach — all  represent  phases 
and  stages  of  religion  whirh,  however  different,  are  equally  natural  and  necessary. 

Animism,  Spiritism  and  Spiritualism,  "Christian  Science,"  Theosophy,  etc., 
are  so  many  forms  of  natural,  mental  and  moral  conditions. 

Religion,  in  the  developed  mind,  does  not  mean  necessarily  belief  in  divine 
personality.  Ancient  Buddhism  "had,"  as  Max  Mueller  says,  "  no  altars,  not 
even  an  altar  to  the  Unknown  God." 

There  is  no  difference  between  superstition  and  religion,  except  that  one  is 
discarded  and  the  other  is  still  in  vogue.  One  of  the  dictionaries'  definitions  of 
superstition  is  :  "  Belief  in  a  religious  system  regarded  (by  others  than  the 
believer)  as  unreasonable  and  without  support  ;  a  false  religion  or  any  of  its  rites." 

Paul's  words  on  Mars  Hill,  "  too  superstitious  "  (as  given  in  the  authorized 
version  of  the  New  Testament),  should  be  rendered  "very  religious,"  or  "exces- 
sively religious." 

Hobbes  said  that  religion  is  superstition  in  fashion,  and  that  superstition  is 
religion  out  of  fashion.  This  seems  to  be  about  the  only  actual  difference.  Out- 
grown superstitions  are  seen  to  be  such  by  those  who,  nevertheless,  cherish  other 
superstitions  which  they  insist  are  religion,  and  the  true  religion,  the  pure  article 
with  the  divine  stamp  on  it. 

To  me,  all  dogmas  assuming  knowledge  of  what  may  lie  beyond  the  phe- 
nomenal world  are  superstitious.  But  superstition  is  wholly  natural,  as  natural 
as  ignorance  is  among  the  millions,  or  as  science  is  among  the  few. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  conflicting  conceptions  and  definitions  of  religion. 
Religion  was  viewed  by  Miss  Nesbii  in  "  Dred  "  in  the  light  of  a  ticket  which, 
being  purchased  and  snugly  laid  away  in  a  pocketbook,  is  to  be  produced  at  the 
celestial  gate,  thus  securing  admission  into  heaven. 

Theodore  Parker  thus  refers  to  the  popular  religion  :  "  A  man  is  a  Christian 
if  he  goes  to  church,  pays  his  pew-tax,  bows  to  the  parson,  and  is  as  good  as 
other  people." 

Emerson  says  :  "  Fashionable  religion  visits  a  man  diplomatically  three  or  four 
times — when  he  is  born,  when  he  is  married,  when  he  falls  sick,  and  when  he 
dies,  and  for  the  rest  never  interferes  with  him." 

These  are  mere  caricatures  of  religion. 

The  higher  aspects  of  religion  were  defined  by  Matthew  Arnold  as  "  Morality 
touched  by  emotion,"  and  by  James  Martineau  as  "  The  culminating  meridian  of 
morals." 

Among  the  philosophical  definitions  of  religion  is  that  of  Schelling,  who 
defines  it  as  the  "  union  of  the  subjective  and  the  objective  ;  "  of  Schleiermacher, 
who  declares  that  religion  is  "  the  immediate  self-consciousness  of  the  absolute 
dependence  of  all  finite  upon  the  infinite  ; "  of  Shelley,  who  speaks  of  it  as 
"  man's  perception  of  the  finite  and  the  infinite."     Other  definitions  are  :  "  The 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  181 

recognition  of  an  ideal  ;  "  "  The  expression  of  man's  relation  to  the  universe  ;  " 
"  The  recognition  of  the  power  behind  phenomena." 

Neither  in  thought  nor  in  conduct  are  religion  and  morality  necessarily  united. 
In  ancient  Rome  the  thief  prayed  for  success  in  his  crime,  and  made  an  offering 
of  the  first-fruits  of  his  plunder ;  a  youth  entreated  Hercules  to  expedite  the 
death  of  a  rich  uncle  ;  the  adultress  implored  Venus  for  the  favor  of  her  paramour. 
Mommsen  says  :  "  A  wager  might  be  laid  that  the  more  lax  any  woman  was,  the 
more  piously  she  worshipped  Isis." 

"Do  we  excel  in  intellect  and  learning,  in  decency  and  morals ?"  asked 
Melancthon.  "  By  no  means.  But  we  excel  in  true  knowledge  and  worship  of 
God." 

Dr.  Schaff  (in  the  Princeton  Review,  Sept.,  1879)  remarks  : 

"The  negroes  are  very  religious  by  nature,  and. infidelity  is  scarcely  known 
among  them  ;  but  their  moral  sense  of  honesty  and  chastity  is  very  weak." 

Schleiermacher  says  : 

"  Religion  belongs  to  the  domain  neither  of  science  nor  of  morality,  is  essen- 
tially neither  knowledge  nor  conduct,  but  is  emotion  only,  specified  in  Nature 
and  inherent  in  the  immediate  consciousness  of  each  individual  man.  Hence 
comes  the  vast  variety  of  religious  conceptions  and  religious  systems  observed  in 
the  world — variety,  not  only  thus  to  be  accounted  for,  but  apprehended  as  a 
necessity  of  human  nature." 

Commenting  upon  the  above  passage.  Dr.  Willis,  Spinoza's  biographer,  ob- 
serves : 

"This  view  of  Schleiermacher  was  an  immense  advance  on  all  previously 
entertained  ideas  of  the  nature  and  true  worth  of  the  religious  idea,  and  has  not 
yet  been  generally  appreciated  in  all  its  significance.  When  we  recognize  it, 
however,  we  readily  understand  how  religious  emotion  may  be  associated  with 
crime  and  immorality  as  well  as  with  the  highest  moral  excellence  ;  how  a  Jacques 
Clement  and  Balthazar  Gerard  may  confess  themselves  to  the  priest,  and  take 
the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Savior  by  way  of  strengthening  them 
in  their  purpose  to  commit  the  crimes  that  have  made  their  names  infamous  ; 
how  punctilious  attention  to  Bible  reading  and  devout  observance  among 
criminals  of  a  less  terrible  stamp  do  not  necessarily  imply  hypocrisy  and  cunning, 
as  so  commonly  assumed,  when  these  unhappily  constituted  beings  are  found 
again  engaged  in  their  objectionable  courses.  The  piety — the  religion— displayed 
is  a  perfectly  truthful  manifestation  of  the  emotional  element  in  the  nature  of 
man  which  seeks  and  finds  satisfaction  in  acts  implying  intercourse  with  Deity, 
but  neither  seeks  nor  finds  satisfaction  in  acts  of  honesty  and  virtuous  life  in  the 
world.  We  have  here  an  explanation  of  how  it  happens  that  our  penitentiaries 
are  filled  with  the  worst  sort  of  criminals,  whose  lives,  prior  to  the  detection  of 
their  crimes,  were  characterized  by  eminent  piety  and  a  strict  regard  for  religious 
observances." 

The  extract  from  Dr.  Willis  will  help  us  to  understand  what  the  learned  and 
profound  writer,  Lange,  means  when  he  says  : 


182  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 

^'  Unusual  piety  is  in  the  popular  eyes  either  genuine  saintship  or  a  wicked 
cloak  for  all  that  is  vile.  For  the  psychological  subtlety  of  the  mixture  of  genuine 
religious  emotions  with  coarse  selfishness  and  vicious  habits,  the  ordinary  mind 
has  no  ai)preciation." 

The  mere  stimulus  of  religious  emotion  and  the  revival  of  religious  beliefs 
may  do  more  harm  than  good.  What  is  needed  is  the  development  of  the 
moral  nature,  as  well  as  the  intellectual,  so  that  the  manifestations  of  religion  will 
be  in  accordance  with  justice  and  wisdom.  With  the  mental  or  moral  nature 
undeveloped,  reh'gious  zeal  is  dangerous  in  proportion  as  it  is  unrestrained. 


Some  lt)iew6  on  Clergi^men  an&  of  ClerQijmen^ 

:o: 

MY   A.    CORN,    SR.,    STRATFORD. 

:o: 

For  the  past  eighteen  or  twenty  years — ever  since  Rev.  Peter  Wright  took  his 
departure  for  "  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new,"  Rev.  M.  L.  Leitch  has  had  charge 
of  the  souls  of  the  very  large  congregation  of  KnoK  Church  of  this  city.  The 
congregation  has  materially  increased  and  the  church  has  been  enlarged  during 
his  incumbency,  but  whether  this  is  due  to  his  efforts  or  to  an  increasing  birth- 
rate— Scotch  families  are  proverbially  large — we  are  not  certain.  At  all  events, 
to  do  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leitch  justice,  he  has  labored  very  assiduously  in  the  cause 
of  Knox  ChuFch.  Two  years  ago,  thinking  that  he  might  make  a  few  more 
converts,  he  engaged  the  services  of  two  of  the  greatest  religious  fakirs  of  the 
nineteenth  century  :  to  wit,  Crossley  and  Hunter.  For  eight  or  ten  nights  Knox 
Church  was  packed  every  evening  by  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  humanity  to 
hear  these  meagrely  educated  cads  descant  on  matters  fit  only  for  the  lecture 
hall.  Their  flippant  manner  demonstrated  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
jects they  pretended  to  discuss.  They  possess,  to  do  them  justice,  a  certain 
knowledge  of  human  weaknesses,  and  to  these  they  make  their  appeal ;  hence 
their  success  in  drawing  the  crowds  they  do.  What  a  grand  work  they  did  ! 
Many  who  had  not  got  religion  (?)  were  sorry  they  hadn't,  and  numbers  of  those 
who  had  were  sorry  for  it.  They  were  principally  sorry  they  had  parted  with 
their  coin.  As  your  readers  are  probably  aware,  these  "Come  to  Jesus" 
meetings  must  be  paid  for  in  coin  of  the  realm. 

Crossley  and  Hunter  made  money  here,  and  that  is  the  most  that  can  be  said 
in  their  favor.  But  the  pastor  of  Knox  Church,  what  of  him  ?  Oh,  he  has 
resigned,  it  is  said  by  those  in  the  inside  ring ;  while  those  more  outspoken  say 
his  resignation  was  asked  for.  Whatever  the  reason  may  be,  the  Rev.  Leitch  is 
out  of  business  as  far  as  being  a  pulpit  ornament  is  concerned,  and  he  is  now 
engaged  as  a  stockbroker  in  this  city.  As  a  humorous  writer  puts  it :  "  He 
formerly  led  the  band,  and  now  he  is  only  a  third  trombone  player." 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  18a 

A  novel  case  was  tried  at  the  assize  court  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  recently. 
Dr.  A.  Turnbull,  of  that  city,  sued  the  Bell  Telephone  Company  for  libel.  The 
libel  consisted  of  pjblishing  Dr.  TurnbuH's  name  as '*  Rev.  Mr.  Turnbull"  in 
their  directory.  Dr.  Turnbull  thought,  and  very  properly  so,  too,  that  his  repu- 
tation had  suffered  in  consequence,  so  he  instituted  proceedings  for  libel,  laying 
damages  at  $2,000.  The  jury  gave  him  a  verdict  for  $1,000  with  costs.  Com- 
ment is  unnecessary. 

Rev.  \V.  McMullen  delivered  an  address  at  the  Methodist  Theological  Con- 
ference, Toronto,  recently,  on  "  Spiritual  Dynamics."  Searching  for  the  elements 
that  were  impeding  "spiritual  progress,"  multiplicity  of  the  preacher's  duties  was 
predominant.  The  preacher  had  little  time  for  private  devotion  and  thought, 
through  "church  meetings,  conventions,  etc.,  besides  canvassing  for  the  church 
paper,  conducting  local  option  campaign,  and  visiting  without  cessation." 

That  "  spiritual  progress  is  being  impeded,"  is  certainly  an  admission  for  a 
preacher  to  make  ;  and  the  reasons  he  gives  for  this  decline  are  amusing.  Is 
there  an  educated  man  or  woman  in  Canada  that  believes  the  reverend  gentle- 
man's statement  ?  Do  you,  dear  reader  ?  Don't  you,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  see 
something  above  and  beyond  the  cheap  talk  of  the  divine  ?  Do  you  not  see  that 
science  rules  modern  thought  as  completely  as  art  and  learning  ruled  Italian 
thought  in  the  sixteenth  century.  And  the  more  we  can  get  the  public  educated 
up  to  the  idea  of  thinking  for  itself,  the  more  universal  will  this  idea  become. 

The  Presbyterian^  published  in  Toronto,  giving  a  weekly  review  of  Canadian 
church  life  and  work,  in  a  recent  issue,  under  the  heading  "  Pauperizing  the 
Ministry,"  observes  : 

"  It  was-  announced  in  the  press  last  week  that  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
supply  of  clergy  had  fallen  short  of  the  requirements  of  the  Church  in  England, 
it  was  proposed  to  establish  a  college  or  hostel  in  connection  with  the  University 
of  Durham,  at  which  young  men,  sons  of  clergymen,  and  others  who  seem  fitted 
for  the  work,  should  receive  preparation  gratuitously  for  the  Christian  ministry. 
It  was  also  stated  that  Rev.  J.  VVakeham,  a  distinguished  English  clergyman,  is 
now  visiting  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  project  known  and  raising 
the  funds  for  the  purpose.  PVom  many  quarters  there  comes  the  cry  of  a  lack  of 
suitable  young  men  as  candidates  for  the  ministry.  For  this  many  reasons  are 
assigned,  chief  among  them  being  the  great  increase  in  lucrative  openings  which 
make  a  strong  appeal  to  ambitious  and  energetic  young  men,  and  the  decline  \n 
spirituality  in  the  homes  of  the  people.  Whatever  be  the  real  cause  of  the 
shortage  complained  of,  it  is  morally  certain  that  the  plan  indicated  alx)ve  is  not 
the  way  to  remedy  it.  The  general  adoption  of  such  a  policy  would  work  incal- 
culable harm  in  the  lowering  of  the  whole  standard  of  the  ministry." 

"  Pauperizing  the  ministry  "  is  certainly  the  right  description  to  give  of  the 
work  undertaken  by  Mr.  VVakeham.  Begging  always  has  been  the  chief  work  of 
"  the  ministry."  Canadian  preachers  have  for  generations  gone  over  to  England 
to  beg  money  to  establish  new  churches  in  this  country  ;  and  now  Mr.  Wakeham 


184  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


comes  here  begging  for  cash  to  turn  clodhoppers  into  preachers  to  fill  the  useless 
pulpits  their  predecessors  erected.  Well,  if  people  choose  to  give  of  their  hardly 
earned  money  to  further  increase  the  horde  of  social  parasites  called  clergymen, 
we  suppose  that  they  feel  that  it  is  the  right  thing  to  do,  and  we  have  no  ground 
upon  which  to  oppose  their  doing  it.  It  is  a  pity,  however,  that  the  public 
school  teachers  are  not  so  trained  as  to  be  able  to  make  their  pupils  understand 
and  appreciate  the  dignity  and  usefulness  of  an  honorable  commercial  or  indus- 
trial career  compared  with  the  fakerish  character  of  the  calling  of  a  preacher. 

In  a  limited  space  in  this  magazine  we  cannot  publish  as  many  opinions  on 
this  subject  as  we  would  wish,  but  in  this  issue  we  give  enough  to  demonstrate 
that  the  public  is  at  last  awakening  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  bamboozled  long 
enough.     A  healthy  public  spirit  is  growing,  and  all  it  requires  is  nurturing. 


:o: 


Believe  as  I  believe — no  more,  no  less  ; 

That  I  am  right,  and  no  one  else,  confess ; 

Feel  as  I  feel ;  think  only  as  I  think  ; 

Eat  what  I  eat,  and  drink  but  what  I  drink  ; 

Look  as  I  look  ;  do  always  as  I  do  ; 

And  then,  and  only  then,  I'll  fellowship  with  you. 

That  I  am  right,  and  always  right,  I  know, 
Because  my  own  convictions  tell  me  so ; 
And  to  be  right  is  simply  this  :  To  be 
Entirely,  in  all  respects,  like  me. 
To  deviate  a  hair's  breadth,  or  begin 
To  question  and  to  doubt  or  hesitate,  is  sin. 

I  reverence  the  Bible,  if  it  be 

Translated  first,  and  then  explained — by  me. 

By  cHurchly  laws  and  customs  I  abide. 

If  they  with  my  opinions  coincide. 

All  creeds  and  doctrines  I  concede  divine, 

Excepting  those,  of  course,  which  disagree  with  mine. 

Let  sink  the  drowning,  if  he  will  not  swim 
Upon  the  plank  that  I  throw  out  to  him  ; 
Let  starve  the  hungry,  if  he  will  not  eat 
My  kind  and  quantity  of  bread  and  meat ; 
Let  freeze  the  naked,  if  he  will  not  be 
Clothed  only  in  such  garments  as  are  cut  for  me. 

'Twere  better  that  the  sick  should  die  than  live, 

■Unless  they  take  the  medicine  I  give ; 

'Twere  better  sinners  perish  than  refuse 

To  be  conformed  to  my  peculiar  views  ; 

'Twere  better  that  the  world  stand  still  than  move 

In  any  other  way  than  that  which  I  approve.  — Freethinker. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  185. 

''  1kap(olani'0  ©efiance  V* 

:o: 

The  following  Christian  Evidence  story  has  been  recently  going  the  rounds  of 
the  Brainless  Press,  being  used  to  exhibit  the  triumphant  superiority  and  power 
of  the  Christian  faith  over  "  heathen  superstition  :  " 

"  Queen  Kapiolani,  a  noble-looking  chieftainess  of  the  islind  of  Hawaii,  was 
one  of  the  first  converts  to  Christfanity.  She  was  over  six  feet  tall,  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  Hawaiian  womanhood,  with  the  'haughty  air  of  the  ancient  nobility.' 
She  had  immense  power  over  her  fellow-countrymen,  and  resolved,  on  becoming 
a  Christian,  if  possible,  to  break  the  hold  of  grinding  and  degrading  superstitions 
that  had  long  enslaved  them.  She  knew  that  in  no  other  way  could  she  do  this 
than  by  defying  Pele,  the  goddess  of  the  awful  volcano  of  Kilauea,  who  had  her 
abode  in  the  very  crater  itself. 

"  Her  approach  and  her  defiance  were  most  dramatic,  for  she  wished  to  im- 
press her  awe-stricken  subjects  with  the  powerlessness  of  Pele  and  the  onmipo- 
tence  of  the  true  God.  Slowly  and  in  state  she  made  her  way  up  the  mountain 
side,  while  the  people,  frightened  and  trembling  at  her  audacity,  followed  at  a 
distance.  The  priestess  of  Pele  warned  her  aw!5y,  but  she  kept  on  undaunted. 
On  the  edge  of  the  crater  a  shelter  had  been  built,  where  she  passed  the  night, 
within  sight  and  smell  of  the  seething,  boiling  hell  of  fire. 

**  In  the  morning  she  rose,  descended  into  the  crater  as  far  as  it  was  possible 
to  go,  and,  standing  upon  the  *  black  ledge,'  in  full  view  of  the  amazed  spectators, 
who  expected  every  minute  to  see  her  scorched  and  withered  by  the  angry  god- 
dess, she  deliberately  ate  a  bunch  of  ohelo  berries,  which,  as  sacred  to  the  god- 
dess, no  one  had  hitherto  dared  to  touch,  and  flung  the  stones  into  the  awful 
fiery  lake  as  she  cried  out,  '  Thus  do  I  defy  thee,  O  Pele  !  Jehovah  is  my  god. 
He  kindles  these  fires,  and  he  preserves  me  in  breaking  your  tabus.^  Then,  by 
herself  and  a  few  Christian  followers,  a  hymn  of  praise  was  sung,  a  prayer  offered 
to  the  true  god,  and  the  dread  power  of  the  goddess  Pele,  and  with  it  that  of 
many  lesser  divinities,  was  shattered  for  ever." 

If  Kapiolani's  successful  experiment  caused  her  subjects  to  drop  their  faith  in 
the  power  of  the  mythical  Pele,  it  only  shows  that  they  were  were  as  easily  led, 
if  they  were  not  so  bigoted  as  their  Christian  friends.  The  innocent  savages 
saw  the  point,*'  if  they  had  not  mental  training  enough  to  carry  the  lesson  to 
lis  logical  conclusion,  and  defy  Jehovah  as  well  as  Pele.  Naturally,  the  result 
would  have  been  the  same  had  Pele's  supposed  power  been  attributed  to  Yaveh, 
and  had  he  failed  to  burn  up  his  defier. 

But  the  Christians  have  had  a  multitude  of  opportunities  to  observe  that  no 
god— Jehovah  any  more  than  Pele — interferes  to  save  foolish  people  from  the 
effects  of  their  folly,  or  takes  any  notice  of  platform  or  other  challenges  ;  and  yet 
they  pray  to  their  god,  and  say  they  believe  he  does  interfere,  notwithstanding 
their  want  of  evidence,  and  are  ready  and  willing  to  punish  with  everlasting  fires 
all  and  sundry  who  dare  to  doubt  the  truth  of  their  assertion. 

There  is  not  a  more  immoral,  stultifying,  brain-muddling,  or  hypocritical  belief 
than  that  in  a  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe.     "  Kapiolani's  defiance"  is  a,  case 


186  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

m  point.  It  was  all  very  well  to  defy  a  mythical  goddess,  but  if  Kapiolani  and 
the  Christians  with  her  really  believed  in  the  povver  and  will  of  Jehovah  to  save 
them,  they  would  have  more  clearly  proved  their  faith  by  jumping  into  the  fiery 
crater  and  depending  upon  their  god  to  keep  them  from  harm.  As  it  was,  they 
had  just  as  much  faith  as  the  Chicago  parsons,  who  refused  to  go  out  into  the 
lake  a  few  miles  in  a  boat  and  depend  upon  prayer  to  bring  them  safely  home 
without  oars  or  sails,  though  they  might  have  eaj-ned  $i,ooo  by  doing  so. 

Fancy  the  devout  missionaries  lending  themselves  to  such  a  piece  of  mere 
stage.play  as  this,  in  which  they  themselves  could  have  had  no  faith  ;  but  then, 
as  it  ever  has  been,  all  things— even  lies  and  frauds — are  good  if  they  can  be 
used  to  the  advantage  of  God  and  the  Church, 


^be  IRomieb  Cburcb  anb  progreee* 


:o:- 


Said  Bishop  Matz,  at  Logan  Avenue  Chapel,  Denver,  Colo.,   on  Easter  Sunday 
of  last  year : 

"  In  the  name  of  society,  in  the  name  of  progress,  we  must  hurl  an  anathema 
against  any  system  (call  it  Socialism,  Collectivism,  Communism,  or  by  whatever 
name  you  please)  which  threatens  to  impair  or  remove  the  eternal  foundations  of 
charity,  justice,  and  authority  whereon  society  rests.  We  hurl  an  eternal  anathema 
against  the  nefarious  agents  who  are  propagating  such  systems  by  their  speeches, 
their  literature,  their  associations,  disseminating  their  anti-social  and  subversive 
doctrines,  deceiving  their  unsuspecting  victims  into  a  social  vortex  by  their  delu- 
sive hopes  of  wealth  and  happiness.  We  denounce  them  as  fiends  of  humanity, 
whom  society,  for  its  own  salvation,  should  condemn  to  the  dungeon  or  to  the 
gallows.  We  call  upon  all  friends  of  humanity  to  rally  around  the  standard  of 
Charity,  Justice,  and  Authority,  society's  only  safe  foundations,  and  there  defend 
humanity,  if  needs  be,  w^ith  the  last  drop  of  their  blood." 

I  know  full  well  that  in  the  shadow  of  the  churchly  edifice  stands  the  capitalist 
with  his  millions.     I  know,  too,  that  the  Catholic  clergy  has  ramified  its  position 

his  country  until  it  is  the  practical  master  of  the  political  situation  As  a 
significa«t  evidence  of  the  potent  and  wide-spread  influence  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  in  American  politics,  the  following  list  of  appointments,  taken  from  the 
American  Herald,  the  leading  Democratic  Catholic  periodical  of  the  country,  is 
reproduced : 

«  HE  IS  GOOD  ENOUGH  FOR  US. 

**  WHY    OUR    PEOPLE   LIKE    ROOSEVELT. 

"  Appointed  Archbishop  Ryan,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Chas.  J.  Bonaparte 
of  Baltimore,  on  the  Indian  Commission. 

"  Appointed  Bishop  J.  L.  Spaulding,  of  Peoria,  on  Coal  Strike  Commission. 

"Appointed  Lawrence  O.  Murray,  D  C.L.,  of  New  York,  assistant  secretary 
of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  18T 


"  Bill  restoring  the  rations  to  the  Catholic  Indian  Mission  schools  passed  by 
Congress  and  signed  by  President  Roosevelt. 

"  Appointed  ex-Secretary  of  State  John  T.  McDonough,  of  New  York,  as 
territorial  judge  for  the  Philippine  Islands. 

"  Appointed  Wm.  A.  Byrne,  of  Delaware,  assistant  U.  S.  District  Attorney. 

"Appointed  Joseph  Murray,  of  New  York,  Dep.  Superinten't  of  Immigrationi 

"  Appointed  E.  A.  Philbin,  of  New  York,  Dist.  Attorney  of  N.  Y.  County. 

"Appointed  E.  J.  Sullivan,  of  New  York,  U.  S.  Consul  to  Trebizonde. 

"Appointed  Charles  H.  McKenna,  of  Pittsburg,  as  judge  in  Porto  Rico. 

"  .Appointed  Dominick  I.  Murphy  secretary  oi  the  Panama  Commission. 

"Appointed  full  quota  of  army  and  navy  chaplains  to  which  Catholics  were 
entitled,  the  first  lime  in  the  history  of  this  country. 

"Appointed  a  majority  of  Catholics  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Phiilippines. 

"  Appointed  Catholic  Secretary  of  Education  of  the  Philippines,  and  3.^700 
Catholic  teachers  out  of  a  total  of  4,500. 

"  Appointed  20  Catholic  Governors  of  Provinces  of  the  Philippines  out  of  a 
total  of  26." 

This  article  was  sent  by  the  million  to  the  working-class  members  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Church  whose  votes  were  wanted.  It  is  noted  that  the  humble  members 
of  the  church  did  not  share  in  the  emoluments.  The  perquisites  of  office  were 
reserved  for  the  well-groomed  and  well-fed  "  leaders." 

You  can  begin  to  understand  the  concern  of  Bishop  Matz  at  the  prospect  of 
the  party  which  had  been  so  good  to  his  friends  being  turned  out  for  all  time, 
as  the  Socialists  propose  shall  be  done 

In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to  recall  that  on  February  25,  '03,  the  late 
Senator  Hanna  sent  a  telegram  to  the  Haverhill  Gazette^  in  which  he  outlined 
the  campaign  which  the  Republican  National  Committee  proposed  to  wage 
against  Socialism.  After  enumerating  various  agencies  to  be  used,  he  added 
significantly  that  "  there  were  other  effective  means  at  hand." 

The  "  other  effective  means  "  proves  to  be  the  Catholic  clergy. 

The  Boston  Evening  Globe,  one  year  later  (Feb.  23,  '04),  reprinted  the  follow- 
ing extract  fiom  a  conversation  between  the  late  President  McKinley  and  Senator 
Hanna.     Hanna  said  : 

"The  day  is  coming  when Socialism  will  become  rampant,  and  in  that 

hour,  Mr.  President  (and  I  am  not  afraid  to  say  it  here  and  elsewhereX  the  ffag 
must  rely  on  its  staunch  friends,  and  amf>ng  them,  in  my  opinion,  our  greatest 
protectors  will  be  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church." 

On  another  occasion,  speaking  on  the  same  subject  to  P.  J.  O'Keefe,  of  the 
New  World  (CatholicX  Hanna  said  : 

"  1  believe  the  best  friend  and  protector  the  people  and  the  flag  of  our  country 
will  have  in  its  hour  of  trial  will  be  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  always  con- 
servative,  and  fair,  and  loyal  !  That  is  the  power  I  look  to  to  save  the 
nation  ! " 

Now  you  begi»  to  see  the  connection,  do  you  not  "^—Appeal  to  Reascm. 


188  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


LITTLE  LESSONS  FROM  LIFE. 

Men  are  righteous,  men  are  bad,  Whether  the  world  is  kind  or  cold 

According  to  the  meal  they've  had.  Depends  upon  the  job  you  hold. 

Pursuing  things  we  think  will  bless,  Toiling's  useless  or  worth  while 

We  lose  the  blessings  we  possess.  According  to  your  store  of  bile. 

How  can  life  be  reckoned  sweet  The  future's  drear  and  dark  or  bright. 

By   him   whose   new  shoes    pinch  his     To  match    the    dreams    you  had   last 
feet  ?  night. 

— S.  E.  Riser, 


HERCULANEUM  TO  BE  EXHUMED.— A  mine  of  great  wealth  now 
awaits  the  pick  and  spade  of  the  archseologist,  and  the  prospects  are  that  the 
explorations  will  commence  in  the  near  future.  All  other  discoveries  among  the 
ruins  of  ancient  cities,  s )  far  as  practical  results  are  concerned,  will  be  small  in 
comparison  to  these.  That  mine  is  no  less  than  the  resurrection  of  Herculaneum, 
only  eight  miles  distant  from  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  and  buried  at  the  same  time, 
in  the  year  79.  Pompeii  was  covered  with  hot  ashes,  scoria  and  cinders  from 
Mt.  Vesuvius  ;  but  a  torrent  of  mud  spread  over  Herculaneum,  to  which 
additions  have  subsequently  been  made,  until  now  from  80  to  120  feet  of  debris 
overlies  the  buried  city. 

Pompeii  was  a  commercial  town.  Not  a  single  manuscript  was  found  while 
making  the  explorations.  In  the  sister  city,  the  home  of  Grecian  art  and 
literature,  1,750  papyri  were  found  while  exploring  one  small  villa.  It  is  believed 
a  vast  amount  of  ancient  learning  will  be  restored  to  the  world  in  exhuming 
Herculaneum  ;  and  it  is  hoped  the  lost  books  of  Livy,  giving  a  history  of  the 
Roman  empire,  which  originally  embraced  140  books,  only  25  of  which  remain, 
will  come  to  light.  A  sea  of  mud  from  the  volcano  overwhelmed  the  city,  and 
buried  all  in  a  common  ruin,  the  very  site  being  lost  until  within  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  hence  everything  must  remain  as  it  was  when  the  calamity  came. 
And,  best  of  all,  no  priestly  hands  have  had  access  to  what  is  buried  there  to 
manipulate  in  the  interest  of  the  church  and  a  more  modern  faith. 

As  Italy  is  unable  to  meet  the  great  expense  of  unearthing  the  lost  city,  it  is 
proposed  the  present  literary  nations  unite  in  the  undertaking,  and  jointly  pursue 
the  work  of  exhumation. 

Pompeii  added  greatly  to  our  knowledge  of  a  remote  civilization  ;  but  Hercu- 
laneum will  give  us  treasures  of  which  the  world  has  no  conception. 


BURMESE  DIVORCES.— Divorce  procedure  in  Burmah  is  simple.  If  a 
husband  and  wife  decide  that  life  together  is  an  impossibility  she  goes  out  and 
buys  two  little  candles  of  equal  size,  made  especially  for  the  use  of  the  unhappily 
wedded.  She  brings  the  candles  home  and  then  she  and  her  husband  sit  down 
upon  the  floor,  placing  the  candles  between  them.  The  candles  are  lighted  at 
the  same  moment,  and  one  represents  the  husband,  the  other  the  wife.  The  pair 
watch  the  burning  tapers  anxiously,  for  custom  declares  that  the  owner  of  the 
one  which  goes  out  first  is  at  once  to  leave  the  house.     The  second  candle  may 


SECULAB  THOUGHT.  189 


only  flicker  out  a  moment  later,  but  its  possessor  remains  owner  of  the  house 
and  all  its  contents,  his  or  her  late  partner  going  away  with  nothing  but  the 
clothes  worn  at  the  moment. 


ANOTHER    "INFIDEL    STRUCK    DEAD"    FALSEHOOD.— In    the 

Truth  Seeker  of  March  i8  we  alluded  to  a  story  concerning  a  Mr.  Bossy  of 
Winamac,  Ind.,  who  is  said  to  have  fallen  dead  in  church  under  the  powerful 
influence  of  a  Mr.  McCarey,  revivalist.  The  story  ran  that  the  Rev.  James 
McCarey  was  conducting  a  protracte  1  meeting,  and  just  before  the  congregation 
was  dismissed  he  began  a  fervent  exhortation  to  sinners  to  repent.  While  he 
was  talking,  Richard  Bossy,  a  confessed  unbeliever  in  religion,  stepped  into  the 
church.  As  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCarey's  eyes  rested  on  the  Infidel,  he  exclaimed  r 
"There  is  one  unbeliever  in  this  congregation,  a  sinner  who  canro:  be  saved 
from  death  unless  he  becomes  a  Christian."  As  the  words  were  uttered,  there 
was  an  exclamation  of  pain  from  Mr.  Bossy,  and  he  fell  to  the  floor  uttering  the 
single  word  "  Oh  1"  A  member  of  the  congregation  ran  to  him,  but  he  was 
dead  when  the  man  reached  him.  One  of  our  correspondents,  Mr.  H.  \V.  Morse, 
of  Idaho,  read  the  gruesome  tale  in  a  daily  paper,  and  was  sufficiently  in'erested 
to  write  to  the  postmaster  of  Winamac,  who  answered  him  thus: 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  can  find  no  verification  of  the  story.  More  than  likely  it  ori- 
ginated in  the  brain  of  Col.  J.  T.  Hey,  a  newspaper  correspondent  of  this  place. 
If  so,  I  could  not  vouch  for  its  correctness.    Very  resp'y,  H.  W.  McDowell,  P.M.'' 

Thus  is  destroyed  another  of  those  pleasant  aids  to  Christian  revival  work. 
But  there  is  no  probability  that  the  tale  will  be  withdrawn  from  circulation  by 
the  religious  press.  It  will  continue  "  on  its  travels,  going  from  Sunday  school 
to  Sunday  school,  from  pulpit  to  pulpit,  from  hypocrite  to  savage — that  is  to  say, 
from  missionary  to  Hottentot — without  the  slightest  evidence  of  fatigue— fres^ 
and  strong,  and  in  its  cheeks  the  roses  and  lilies  of  perfect  health."  But  we 
wouldn't  like  to  have  the  reputation  Col.  J.  T.  Hey  has  acquired. — New  York 
Truth  Seeker. 

But  how  can  you  expect  a  system  of  ignorant  superstition  to  be  propagated 
except  by  lies  and  humbug?     Could  it  be  helped  by  truth.? 

No  "  revival "  has  ever  succeeded  unless  by  the  resurrection  of  a  number  of 
old  falsehoods  about  non-Christians,  dressed  in  new  clothes. 

How  can  you  expect  revivals  to  be  got  up  except  on  a  basis  of  exaggeration 
and  falsehood  ? 

One  point  in  the  story  will  be  noted.  The  revivalist  said  the  infidel  could  not 
be  saved  "  unless  he  became  a  Christian."  But  the  man  died  instantly — he  had 
no  time  for  conversion.  This  lapse  only  proves  the  folly  as  well  as  the  dishonesty 
of  the  inventor. 


TOTAL  DEPRAVITY.— A  minister  travelling  through  the  West  in  a  mis- 
sionary capacity,  several  years  ago,  was  holding  an  animated  theological  conver- 
sation with  a  good  old  lady  on  whom  he  had  called,  and  in  the  course  of  it  he 
isked  her  what  she  thought  of  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity. 

"Oh,"  the  old  lady  replied,  "  I  think  it's  a  good  doctrine,  if  people  would  only 
live  up  to  it." 


Religion  and  money  mixed  well  together,   and  seasoned  with  a  little  politics,, 
will  produce  the  finest  brand  of  blasphemy. — J,  S.  Odegaard. 


190 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


A  READY-MADE  SPEECH  WHICH 
WON  A  SEAT. 

Campbellton    is    said  to  have  been 
the  scene  of  one  of  the  best  electioneer- 
ing stories  that  are  told  in  Scotland. 
It  was  in  the  days  of  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  that  a  candidate  rose 
to  address  a  crowded  gathering  of  the 
voters  in  that  place  of  the  wine  of  the 
country.     He  was  not  an  orator  ;  he 
did  not  even  write  his  own  speeches  ; 
and  the  enemy  said  that  the  margins 
of  his  foolscap  pages  were  illuminated 
by    such    remarks  as    "  Here    take  a 
drink,"   "  Here    pause   for   applause," 
"  Here    sink   your   voice."     However 
that   may    be,  it   so   befell    that   the 
gentleman  who  composed  this  particu- 
lar speech  introduced  a  few  words  at 
the  head  of  a  page  by  way  of  joke,  that 
had  no  special  bearing  on  the  subject 
matter  of  the  speech  itself.     The  can- 
didate   was    fulminating   against    the 
Turk  when,  turning  the  page,  he  cried 
out  at  the  pitch  of  his  voice,  "  Here 
blow  your    nose  and    take  a  glass  of 
water."       The   effect    was   electrical. 
There  was  a  moment's  pause,  and  then 
the  mirth  began.    The  speaker  himself 
held  on   by  the  table  and  laughed  till 
he  nearly  fell  down.     The  chairman 
doubled  up  and  shrieked.     The  gentle- 
men on  the  platform  leaned  up  against 
one  another,  yelled,  and  wept  copiously 
on  their  own  and  one  another's  bosoms, 
and  the  audience  generally  rocked  and 
raved    in    a    hysteria  of    merriment. 
After    such    an   enjoyable    interlude, 
what  could  the  electors  do  but  vote  for 
the  candidate  who  had  so  written  his 
name  on  an  anecdotage  of  the  burghs  1 
And  to  Westminster  he  went  accord- 
ingly. 


COMMON  SENSE  PHILOSOPHY. 

A  man  buys  a  silver,  gold,  or  lead 
mine  or  an  oil  well  he  has  never  seen, 
and  it  makes  him  a  millionaire. — 
That's  luck. 

A  man  buys  a  yearling  at  a  trotting 
sale  for  $15  that  in  its  three-year-old 
form  develops  a  2.06J  gait. — That's 
judgment. 

A  man  takes  a  hammer  worth  60 
cents,  and  makes  $1.85  per  day, — 
That's  labor. 

A  man  takes  a  farm  worth  $5  an 
acre,  and  by  his  labor  and  knowledge 
makes  it  worth  $50  an  acre. — That's 
farming. 

A  man  takes  a  piece  of  steel  worth 
15  cents  and  makes  of  it  watch  springs 
worth  $100.— That's  skill. 

Tennyson  took  a  worthless  sheet  of 
paper,  wrote  a  poem  on  it,  and  made 
it  worth  $65,000.— That's  genius. 

A  merchant  buys  an  article  worth 
75  cents  and  sells  it  for  $1. — That's 
business. 

Vanderbilt  wrote  a  few  words  on 
a  sheet  of  paper  and  it  was  worth 
$5, 000, 000. -That's  capital. 

The  United  States  bought  an  ounce 
of  gold  (such  as  cannibals  worship), 
stamped  on  it  an  "  Eagle  Bird,"  and 
it  is  worth  $20. — That's  money. 

A  lady  purchases  a  good  hat  for  $5, 
but  she  prefers  a  fancier  one  that  costs 
$25. — That's  foolishness. 


Old  records  in  Genoa  say  that  it  cost 
$7,000  to  discover  America.  No  one 
will  deny  that  America  was  cheap  at 
the  price. 


SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


191- 


WHAT  IS  QOOD? 

"  What  is  the  real  good  ?" 
I  asked  in  musing  mood. 
"  Order,"  said  the  law  court  ; 
"  Knowledge,"  said  the  school  ; 
"  Truth,"  said  the  wise  man  ; 
"  Pleasure,"  said  the  fool  ; 
"  Love,"  said  the  maiden  ; 
"  Beauty,"  said  the  page  ; 
"  Freedom,"  said  the  dreamer  ; 
"  Home,"  said  the  sage  ; 
"  Fame,"  said  the  soldier  ; 
"  Equity,"  the  seer. 
Spake  my  heart  full  sadly^ 
"  The  answer  is  not  here." 
Then  within  my  bosom 
Softly  this  I  heard  : 
"  Each  heart  holds  the  secret ; 
Kindness  is  the  word." 

— John  Boyle  CyReilly. 


A  SYHPOSIUn. 

"  What  is  the  secret  of   success  ?  " 
asked  the  Sphinx. 

"Push,"  said  the  Button. 
"Take  pains,"  said  the  Window. 
"Never  be  led,"  said  the  Pencil. 
"  Be  up  to  date/'  said  the  Calendar. 
"Always  keep  cool,"  said  tlie  Ice. 
"  Do    business   on    tick,"   said    the 

l.M^k. 

X(?ver  lose  your  head,"  said  the 

l'.;u-!vl. 

"Do  a  driving  business,**  said    the 
Hammer. 

"Aspire to  greatf»r  things,"  said  the 
Nutmeg. 

"  Make  light  of   everything,"  said 
^^e  Fire. 

^^B**Make  much  of  small  things,"  said 
^^■Microscope. 
^^^^Wever  do  anything  offhand,"  said 

r 


"Spend  much  time  in  reflection," 
said  the  Mirror. 

"  Do  the  work  you  are  suited  for,'^ 
said  the  Flue. 

"  Get  a  good  pull  with  the  ring," 
said  the  Door-bell. 

"  Be  sharp  in  all  your  dealings," 
said  the  Knife. 

"  Find  a  good  thing  and  stick  to  it„" 
said  the  Glue. 

"Trust  to  your  stars  for  success," 
said  the  Night. 

"  Strive  to  make  a  good  impression," 
said  the  Seal. — Life. 


I  AM  GREAT  AND  YOU  ARE  SMALL. 

A  sparrow  swinging  on  a  branch 

Once  caught  a  passing  fly. 
"  Oh,  let  me  live,"  the  insect  prayed. 

With  trembling,  piteous  cry. 
"  No,"  said  the  sparrow,  "you  must  fall, 
For  I  am  great  and  you  are  small." 

The  bird  had  scarce  begun  his  feast 

Before  a  hawk  came  by. 
The  game  was  caught.      "  Pray  let  me 
live  ! " 

Was  now  the  sparrow's  cry. 
"  No,"  said  the  captor,  "  you  must  fall,. 
For  I  am  great  and  you  are  small." 

An  eagle  saw  the  rogue,  and  swooped 

Upon  him  from  on  high. 
"  Pray  let  me  live  !     Why  would  you  kill 

So  small  a  bird  as  I  ?  " 
"  Oh,"  said  the  eagle,  "  you  must  fall. 
For  I  am  great  and  you  are  small." 

But  while  he  ate  the  hunter  came  ; 

He  let  the  arrow  fly  : 
"  Tyrant,"  the  eagle  shrieked,  "  you  have 

No  right  to  make  me  die  ! " 
"  Ah,"  said  the  hunter,  "  you  must  fall. 
For  I  am  great  and  you  are  small." 

— Ttandatgd  /torn  the  Qenttau. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


In  the  press  and  will  be  published  in  afewdaysJgi'Slni 

iSi 

NTSSIA.        ^ 

an   ®lt)  Morl&  Storij. 


By  M.  C.  O'BYRNE, 

Author  of  "  Song  of  the  !iges  and  Other  Poems,''  "  Upon  This  Rock,'] 
" Love  and  Labor ." 


TORONTO,    CANADA  : 
M.  Ellis,  Printer  and  Publisher,  i85>^  Queen  St.  West. 


iffiid&ififdBiBiiy 


fmi^S^fSJMlSl 


si^if^ 


51^12 


Hi 


In  this  work,  Mr.  O' Byrne  has  woven  an 
old-world  story  into  a  poem  of  intense  in- 
terest and  of  wonderful  grace  and  power. 

We  think  that  since  the  days  when  **  The 
Corsair,"  *^  The  Giaour,"  ^^The  Cenci," 
and  their  companion  works  startled  and 
delighted  a  world  of  critics,  there  has  not 
appeared  a  poem  the  equal  of  Mr.  O' Byrne's 
new  work. 

**  Nyssia  "  forms  a  neat  volume  of  about 
90  pages  post  8vo.  ;  it  is  printed  with  new 
type  on  heavy  paper,  and  will  be  handsomely 
bound  in  blue  cloth  with  gold  lettering, 
price  $1.00,  post  free;  an  edition  in  heavy 
paper  wrapper  will  be  issued,  price  60c. 


5ifflr& 

in 

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SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  H.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

VOL.  XXXI.  No.  7.  TORONTO,  APRIL    15,  1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Zbc  ]fall  of  Superetition  an&  ^^ranni?^ 

:o: 

Fear  not  the  tyrants  shall  rule  for  ever, 
Or  the  priests  of  the  bloody  faith  ; 
They  stand  on  the  brink  of  that  mighty  river 
Whose  waves  they  have  tainted  with  death  : 
It  is  fed  from  the  depths  of  a  thousand  dells, 
Around  them  it  foams,  and  rages,  and  swells  ; 
And  their  swords  and  their  sceptres  I  floating  see. 
Like  wrecks,  on  the  surge  of  eternity. 

— Shelley. 

EDITORIALS. 

THE  KUSSO-  Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world   has 

JAPANESE  WAE.  there  been  such  a  vast  and  thrilling  dramatic 
situation  as  that  presented  by  both  the  naval 
and  the  military  forces  of  the  belligerents  in  the  Far  East.  The  two 
fleets  now  rapidly  approaching,  and  the  immense  armies  confronting 
€ach  other  in  Manchuria,  are  by  far  the  most  powerful  that  have  ever 
been  brought  together  in  such  a  portentous  struggle;  and  literally 
the  whole  world  is  in  a  fever  of  anxiety  to  hear  the  sound  of  the  first 
gun  that  will  announce  the  opening  of  a  conflict  upon  the  issue  of  which 
must  largely  dei^end  the  fate  of  a  great  empire  and  of  a  race,  the  future 
l)eace  of  the  world  and  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  possibly  a  not 
inconsiderable  change  in  the  political  geography  of  the  Orient. 

We  need  not  compare  the  strength  of  the  fleets  or  the  armies  of  the 
l)elligerents.  The  war  so  far  has  shown  that,  while  bravery  and  skill 
have  been  displayed  to  a  remarkable  degree  on  both  sides,  the  spirit  of 
patriotic  devotion  of  the  Japanese  has  carried  them  through  difficulties 


194  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


as  great  as  any  that  have  ever  been  encountered  by  brave  men.  Port 
Arthur,  Liao-yang,  and  Mukden  will  be  names  for  the  military  chronicler 
to  conjure  with  for  many  years  to  come,  even  if  still  more  stirring  events 
should  follow  before  the  Angel  of  Peace  once  more  appears. 

The  Eiissian  fleet  and  its  commander  gained  an  unenviable  notoriety 
by  their  cowardly  slaughter  of  the  Doggerbank  fishermen,  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  since  then  Kojestvensky  has  proved  himself  an  able 
commander,  and  has  his  ships  in  good  condition.  As  for  Admiral  Togo, 
he  has  earned  a  reputation  as  a  brave  and  skilful  man  equal  to  that  of 
any  man  that  ever  sailed  a  ship. 

When  Marathon  and  Salamis  were  fought,  the  tale  was  known  to  but 
a  fraction  of  the  world  ;  when  Alexander  crossed  to  India,  he  practically 
disappeared  for  a  time  from  Western  eyes,  like  Livingstone  or  Stanley 
in  the  African  jungles  ;  even  when  Leipsic  and  Borodino,  Trafalgar  and 
Waterloo  were  fought,  the  curtain  was  raised  but  slowly  to  show  the 
tragedy  to  a  largely  indifferent  world.  Tennyson,  with  a  poet's  licence, 
tells  us  that  "  all  the  world  wondered  "  at  the  little  tragedy  at  Balaclava, 
but  the  gigantic  drama  that  is  in  preparation  in  Manchuria  and  in  the 
China  Sea  is  being  staged  with  all  the  resources  of  two  great  empires 
and  with  the  whole  civilized  world  as  spectators.  In  a  second  of  time, 
a  lightning  flash  will  dart  the  news  to  every  corner  of  the  globe,  and  an 
hour  after  the  curtain  falls,  the  tidings  of  good  or  ill  will  be  known  to 
nearly  every  son  of  man. 

At  this  present  time,  there  is  hardly  a  corner  of  the  world  where  the 
stage  properties  of  the  dreadful  conflict  are  not  being  eagerly  discussed, 
the  chances  of  victory  weighed,  and  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  antago- 
nists shared  almost  as  if  they  were  those  of  the  eager  spectators.  It  is 
felt  that  in  this  terrible  contest  are  involved,  not  only  the  lives  of  thou- 
sands of  brave  men,  but  the  liberties  and  destiny  of  many  millions  of 
the  human  race.  In  the  truest  sense,  all  the  world  is  one  vast  theatre, 
with  a  gladiatorial  show  in  grimmest  earnest  on  the  stage.  There  are  a 
million  of  armed  performers  ready  to  deal  death  and  destruction  to  their 
utmost  capacity,  and  twelve  hundred  millions  of  spectators  awaiting  the 
onset. 

And  the  prospects  of  peace  ?  Nothing  is  clearer  than  the  fact,  that 
while  the  destinies  of  nations  are  in  the  hands  of  the  class  of  politicians 
and  their  allies  the  priests,  and  while  the  mass  of  men  are  so  ignorant 
that  their  passions  can  be  aroused  by  appeals  to  class,  race  and  religious 
prejudice,  permanent  peaee  ia  out  of  the  q^uesiion  ;  and  we  are  justified. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  195 

therefore,  in  saying  that  there  is  not  a  solitary  nation  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  that  is  free  from  the  risk  of  war  on  these  grounds.  When  we  look 
at  nations  like  Russia,  Germany,  Turkey,  etc.,  where  the  question  of  life 
or  death  for  individuals  or  peace  or  war  with  other  nations  can  be  deter- 
mined by  one  man,  backed  by  an  oligarchy,  an  aristocracy,  or  a  power- 
ful priesthood  and  military  caste,  we  can  see  how  utterly  hopeless  is  the 
prospect  of  universal  peace.  Looking,  too,  both  at  Britain  and  at  our 
southern  neighbors,  we  see  how  easy  it  is  for  elected  and  temporary 
rulers  to  play  into  the  hands  of  religious  bigots  and  unscrupulous  and 
greedy  plutocrats  and  monopolists,  and  to  visibly  enhance  the  risks  of 
both  foreign  and  civil  war  ;  nor  can  we  see  much  prospect  of  success  for 
any  policy  but  one  of  temperate  and  rational  language  on  the  part  of 
all  fair-minded  men,  and  an  effort  to  regard  all  matters  in  dispute  from 
an  impartial  standpoint.  A  condition  of  permanent  peace  can  only  be 
brought  about  by  unifying  the  interests  of  all  mankind  ;  and  at  present 
such  an  idea  is  almost  as  far  from  the  minds  of  trade  union  laborers  as 
it  is  from  those  of  the  multi-millionaires. 

**  DIVINE  The  late  earthquake  in  North-western  India  is 

PROVIDENCE  "  said  to  have  caused  the  death  of  over  13,000  per- 

AND  sons.     Jehovah,  say  the  missionaries,  protected 

EARTHQUAKES.  them,  so  that  none  of  them  lost  their  lives.  The 

brutal  stupidity  of  making  any  conscious  being 
responsible  for  this  wholesale  destruction  of  innocent  human  beings  is 
only  equalled  by  the  childish  vanity  which  causes  the  missionaries  (like 
most  Christians)  to  think  themselves  so  superior  to  the  rest  of  mankind 
that  the  supposed  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe  will  hold  out  his  pro- 
tecting hand  to  them,  while  slaughtering  thousands  of  others  equally 
good,  if  not  of  the  same  religious  stripe. 

The  missionaries  continually  bless  God  that  he  has  favored  them  by 
causing  them  to  be  born  in  a  Christian  land.  They  taught  us  at  school 
to  ffljag — 

"  I  thank  the  goodness  and  the  grace  which  on  my  birth  have  smiled, 
And  made  me  in  these  Christian  days  a  happy  English  child." 

But  if  there  is  any  sense  in  such  teaching,  foreign  children  have  just  as 
much  cause  to  thank  their  gods  for  having  made  them  as  they  are.  It 
would  necessarily  be  the  god's  fault,  in  any  case,  if  his  children  deserved 
punishment ;  and  if  they  do  not  deserve  it,  and  if  there  is  a  God,  then 


196  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 


his  pretended  representatives  and  servants  are  nothing   but  a  gang  of 
rapacious  and  conscienceless  parasites. 

^^^^^^ 

THE  EDUCATION        The  Montreal  Presbytery,  at  its  meeting  a  few 
QUESTION  THE  weeks  ago,  passed  a  resolution  calling  upon  the 

NEMESIS  OF  Dominion  Premier  to  withdraw  the  education 

THE  CATHOLICS.  clauses  in  the  Autonomy  Bills.  In  seconding 
the  resolution.  Dr.  Campbell  drew  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  Catholics  to-day  are  demanding  the  very  thing  against 
which  they  protested  at  Confederation.  They  then  demanded — and  ob- 
tained— complete  Provincial  control  of  their  own  schools.  Now  they 
demand,  against  the  constitution  they  then  forced  on,  that  the  question 
shall  be  settled  by  the  Dominion  Parliament — in  their  favor,  of  course — 
and  against  the  wishes  and  constitutional  rights  of  the  new  Provinces 
to  be  created.  In  this  case,  the  Liberals  are  just  about  as  honest  and 
consistent  as  the  Catholics.  Eight  years  ago  the  cry  of  the  Liberals  was 
for  "  Provincial  rights  "  on  the  education  question.  To-day,  in  order  to 
hold  the  support  of  the  Catholics,  which  is  necessary  to  their  continu- 
ance in  office,  they  are  compelled,  at  the  bidding  of  the  Pope's  agent,  to 
trample  under  foot  those  very  rights  the  championship  of  which  enabled 
them  to  scramble  into  power. 

CHEISTIAN  **  The  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood 

BROTHEEHOOD.  of  Man  "  has  been  the  cant  phrase  of  other  men 

than  Goldwin  Smith.  What  it  actually  amounts 
to  in  practice  was  well  shown  at  this  Montreal  Presbytery  meeting.  To 
aid  the  work  of  the  church  a  resolution  was  passed  : 

"  That  sessions  be  urged  to  constantly  seek  the  unchurched,  and  to 
foster  a  spirit  of  Christian  friendliness  among  those  who  are  members  of 
the  same  church." 

At  first  sight,  it  might  seem  that  the  Presbytery  favored  the  idea  of 
the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  but  that  ideal  is  manifestly  far  removed  from 
their  ideas.  **  Come  into  our  church  and  we  will  be  friendly  with  you, 
in  a  Christian  way  ;  if  not,  go  to  —  !  *'  is  their  real  sentiment. 

After  stating  that  in  the  country  districts  most  of  the  people  attend 
church — of  course  they  do  ;  they  have  little  idea  of  going  anywhere  else 
— while  it  was  different  in  the  cities,  the  report  goes  on  : 

"  A  discouraging  feature  was  the  complaint  from  many  localities  that 


I 


SECULAK    THOUGHT.  197 

are  resorts  for  summer  visitors.  One  says  :  *  All  our  people  attend 
church,  but  the  4arge  number  who  come  out  from  the  city  to  reside  here 
never  enter  the  church  ;  they  seem  to  leave  their  religion  behind  them, 
and  their  influence  is  not  good.'  " 

That  hits  the  nail  on  the  head.  People  who  do  not  go  to  church  are 
bad  people — "  their  influence  is  not  good."  Not  good  for  the  preacher, 
they  might  say,  but  do  not,  because  they  are  not  honest  enough  to  speak 
their  mind  fully.  You  have  only  to  get  a  few  preachers  together  to  talk 
business,  and  you  soon  find  that  all  their  talk  of  *'  Christian  Brother- 
hood "  is  only  their  trade  shibboleth.  They  are  "  out  for  the  stuff,"  as 
our  political  friends  say  of  each  other. 

VOTE  OF  THANKS  The  fourth  recommendation  of  this  very  Chris- 
TO  GOD  FOR  tian   committee   took   the   shape   of    a  vote  of 

''  REVIVALS."  thanks  to  God,  or  Christ,  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  we 

don't  know  which  is  at  the  head  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church — we  suppose  it  is  not  the  Devil — for  the  recent  religious 
revivals.     It  ran  in  this  wise : 

**  That  this  Presbytery  expresses  its  thanks  to  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  for  the  indications  of  a  great  religious  awakening  already  seen 
to  be  in  progress  in  so  many  lands:;  that  it  declares  its  belief  in  the  need 
of  such  an  awakening  in  our  own  church  and  country ;  and  that  it  urges 
sessions  and  congregations  to  ti^ait  in  expectant  prayer,  that  all  the  church 
may  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit's  power." 

Imagine  a  vote  of  thanks  to  "  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  " — who 
is  he  ?  where  does  he  reside  ?  who  will  present  the  vote  ? — for  the  reli- 
gious lunacy  that  has  been  afflicting  Wales  for  some  months  past  under 
Evan  Roberts,  and  for  the  money-making  scheme  of  Torrey  and  Alexan- 
der, the  anti-infidel  howlers  in  London  !  Also,  we  suppose,  for  the  new 
revival  in  the  propagandism  of  the  Mormon  religion,  the  New  Thought 
religion.  Spiritualism,  Psychism,  Mother  Eddyism,  and  the  numerous 
other  forms  of  erratic  religious  and  mental  excitement  that  are  the  first 
visible  signs  of  intellectual  awakening  resulting  from  the  recent  spread 
of  knowledge.  "  A  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  said  Pope  ; 
and  we  might  have  expected  that  the  first  effect  of  cheap  literature  would 
be  to  place  the  masses,  even  more  than  previously,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
faker  and  the  fanatic.  We  can  but  hope  that  ere  long  the  schoolmaster 
will  find  means  of  doing  more  effective  work  than  he  has  yet  done. 

It  seems  to  be  an  essential  part  of  the  make-up  of  the  average  Chris- 


198  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

tian  to  profess  a  belief  that  a  vast  amount  of  good  is  being  done  by  the 
brain-fuzzling  screams  of  Roberts  and  similar  fanatics,  and  by  the  vapid 
commonplaces  and  stupidly  false  anti-infidel  stories  of  Torrey.  They 
seem  to  think  some  good  can  come  from  even  the  ravings  and  cake-walk 
dancing  of  the  Burning  Bush  and  the  preaching  of  Piggott.  In  religion, 
nothing  seems  to  be  too  barefacedly  fraudulent  and  absurd  to  meet  with 
the  approval  of  many  sincere  and  pious  Christians,  who  accord  the  privi- 
leges and  stipend  of  a  bishop  to  any  faker  or  fanatic  who  claims  to  have 
a  "  message  from  God." 

WORK  FOR  Talking  to  the  Home  Culture  Club  of  Northamp- 

WEALTHY  ton,  Mass.,  the  other  day,  Andrew  Carnegie  is 

FREETHINKERS.        reported  as  saying  : 

"  Not  under  what  form  he  has  worshipped 
God,  which  troubled  the  early  Puritans  too  much,  but  how  he  has  served 
man,  is  to  be  the  test  in  the  days  to  come ;  and  Franklin's  axiom  will 
be  accepted  :  '  The  highest  form  of  worship  of  God  is  service  of  man.* 
Men  will  dwell  less  upon  *  heaven  our  home,'  and  more  upon  the  duty 
of  making  home  a  heaven  here  on  earth." 

It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  Mr.  Carnegie,  though  he  takes  no  active  part 
in  Freethought  propagandism,  is  not  like  most  of  our  millionaires,  who^ 
though  really  non-Christians,  seem  only  anxious  to  keep  company  with 
bishops  and  aristocrats.  "  Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together,"  we  have 
been  told ;  and  if  we  want  a  generic  term  for  the  members  of  the 
ill-omened  companionship,  we  cannot  find  a  more  suitable  one  than 
**  parasite.'* 

We  may  not  be  able  to  object  strongly  to  the  foundation  of  libraries 
and  colleges  and  scholarships  by  wealthy  men  who  object  to  building 
churches ;  but  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  if  some  of  the  money  that 
during  recent  years  has  been  sunk  in  stone  and  bricks  and  mortar — the 
good  effects  of  which  most  probably  will  not  be  seen  for  generations— r 
were  spent  in  attempts  to  influence  the  thoughts  of  our  fellow-men  of 
the  present  day,  a  far  more  rapid  improvement  would  be  noticeable. 

We  are  not  now  advocating  the  spreading  abroad  of  Freethought  lite- 
rature or  the  free  delivery  of  Freethought  lectures;  but  the  marked 
features  of  the  intellectual  development  of  the  masses  in  our  day — the 
production  of  an  immense  amount  of  nominally  "  scientific*'  or  "  New 
Thought"  literature,  and  the  organization  of  Eddyism  and  other  cults — 
points  unmistakably  to  the  fact  that,,  in  the  process  of  assimilating  tha 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  199 

lessons  of  modern  science,  the  masses  are  as  readily  duped  by  the  scien- 
tific faker  as  they  have  hitherto  been  by  the  religious  faker,  and  need 
the  help  of  reliable  guides  on  the  road  to  true  knowledge. 

Science  needs  popularizing  and  introducing  at  first  hand  and  in  accu- 
rate and  understandable  form  to  the  masses.  There  is  hardly  a  branch 
of  science  that  could  not  be  made  interesting  and  useful  to  the  working 
classes,  if  the  proper  men  were  encouraged  to  do  the  work.  Thoroughly 
mastered,  the  principles  of  science  would  leave  no  room  for  the  brain- 
muddling  nostrums  that  are  to-day  **  holding  up"  the  minds  of  myriads 
of  budding  tiiinkers. 

We  have  no  wish  to  disparage  the  work  of  the  public  library.  In  its 
way  it  is  doing  a  grand  work.  We  cannot  even  join  in  the  hue  and  cry 
raised  against  it  on  the  ground  of  its  encouragement  of  novel-reading. 
The  ethical  lessons  of  the  present-day  novel  are  at  least  as  beneficial  as 
those  of  the  Bible  or  the  sermon.  Some  may  be  good,  others  bad  ;  who 
shall  decide  ?  And  even  if  the  public  library  tends  to  cheapen  the  in- 
tellectual enjoyments  and  education  of  the  upper  classes  of  society,  no 
great  harm  will  be  done.  To  all  who  take  advantage  of  it  there  is  the 
opening  of  new  worlds  of  thought,  the  reflex  effects  of  which  upon  the 
rest  of  society  cannot  fail  to  be  of  immense  advantage  to  progress. 

But  we  are  strongly  of  opinion  that  a  vastly  greater  effect  would  be 
produced  by  more  active  efforts  to  enlighten  the  present  generation  of 
adults.  While  preachers  and  revivalists  can  stuff  immense  audiences 
with  Bible  myths,  traditions  and  romances  as  veritable  history,  we  may 
be  sure  that  those  audiences  occupy  a  very  low  level  of  intellectual  cul- 
ture. They  need  enlightenment  and  a  grounding  in  the  principles  of 
true  science  and  philosophy  ;  and  there  is  only  one  effective  way  to  sup- 
ply their  nesd — cheap  scientific  literature  and  cheap  scientific  lectures, 
with  ample  illustration  and  painstaking  exposition.  And  until  they  get 
these,  they  will  be  unable  to  exercise  an  influence  for  good  over  the  very 
-defective  education  of  their  children. 

A  FOOLISH  While  some  Alaskan  Americans  are  said  to  be 

BOSTON  anxious  for  annexation  to  Canada  because  they 

**  TAIL-TWISTER."      are  denied  representation  in  Congress,  it  seems 
a  foolish  thing  for  other  Americans  to  talk  about 
forcibly  annexing  Canada.     The  Montreal  Star  says  : 

"  A  Bostonian,  who  was  a  guest  of  the  Canadian  Club  at  Hamilton 
the  other  night,  is  reported  to  have  politely  told  his  hosts  that  if  the 


200  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

Americans  could  not  get  Canada's  trade  in  any  other  way,  they  would 
seize  Canada  at  some  time  when  Britain  had  her  hands  tied  by  other 
troubles.  If  he  merely  mentioned  this  as  a  warning,  being  opposed  to 
such  folly  himself,  he  is  unnecessarily  alarmed.  The  United  States  is 
not  mad  enough  to  quarrel  with  her  best  friend  for  the  sake  of  any  trade 
she  could  get  from  a  people  whose  hate  would  by  this  very  act  be  per- 
manently aroused.  If,  however,  the  Bostonian  guest  endorsed  the  threat, 
what  he  chiefly  needs  is  a  short  work  on  gentlemanly  behavior.  No  good 
can  come  of  such  talk  in  any  case.  It  is  by  stirring  patriotic  passion 
that  the  good  work  of  the  preachers  of  good-will  between  two  kindred 
peoples  is  undone." 

The  mildest  peace  advocate,  who  is  ready  to  give  up  everything  in 
order  to  avoid  war,  would  regard  resistance  to  an  inroad  undertaken  for 
merely  mercenary  considerations  as  not  only  justifiable,  but  even  laud- 
able ;  but  if  it  could  be  shown  that  such  views  as  those  of  the  Boston 
gentleman  are  common  in  America,  even  the  most  peaceably  inclined 
men  would  inevitably  feel  distrust  in  all  negotiations  with  diplomats  of 
the  United  States.  The  ethics  of  such  sentiments  are  those  of  pirates 
and  highwaymen.  Nothing  can  so  undermine  confidence  in  the  pacific 
intentions  of  our  neighbors  as  such  views,  and  we  hope  we  shall  seldom 
have  a  repetition  of  them. 

A  BKILLUNT  Dr.  Campbell,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 

BKITISH  COLUM-  Victoria,  B.C.,  is  a  genius.  What  he  does  not 
BIA  PKEACHEE.  know  about  Babylon,  Daniel,  and  Nebuchadnez- 

zar cannot  amount  to  much,  for  he  evidently 
knows  much  more  than  is  recorded  in  Holy  Writ,  and  much  of  that  is 
fishy  enough.  He  recently  entertained  his  congregation  with  an  imagi- 
native sketch  of  the  wonderful  history  of  Daniel,  whom  he  described,  of 
course,  as  vastly  superior  to  the  legislators  of  his  own  province  : 

**  He  was  the  king's  honored  servant  in  the  palace,  but  he  did  not  dis- 
own his  father  and  mother,  and  his  poor  relatives,  as  so  many  contemp- 
tuously do  when  they  rise  to  positions  of  honor  and  distinction.  He  did 
not  change  his  church  or  his  religion  to  get  a  social  position,  as  some 
jelly-fish  Christians  in  this  city  have  done.  Some  in  Victoria  have  given 
up  their  religion  altogether  ;  but  notwithstanding  their  loud  profession 
they  never  had  much  religion  to  give  up.  Daniel  faithfully  rendered  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  what  was  due  to  him,  but  he  would  rather  lose  his  life 
than  render  to  him  what  was  due  to  God.  He  knew  what  was  right  and 
did  it,  and  left  the  consequences  with  God,  and  thus  had  a  conscience 
void  of  offence." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  201 

To  Dr.  Campbell  the  Romance  of  Daniel  is  as  true  a  chronicle  of  real 
events  as,  say,  Macaulay's  History  of  England,  and  he  has  no  hdfeitation 
in  filling  up  whatever  little  items  the  sacred  historian  has  omitted : 

"  Daniel  was  faithful,  honest,  and  capable,  and  rose  to  the  highest 
position  in  the  kingdom,  being,  like  Joseph  in  Egypt,  second  to  the  king 
himself.  He  was  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  hundred  provinces  of  the 
kingdom  of  Babylon,  yet  his  bitterest  enemies  could  not  find  a  blot  in 
his  character  nor  a  flaw  in  his  administration.  He  was  a  statesman  of 
the  highest  mark,  a  statesman  who  did  not  make  honesty  a  matter  of 
policy  but  a  matter  of  principle.  Some  might  say  that  had  there  been 
railway  charters  granted,  and  a  Land  and  Works  Department  in  his 
Government,  and  a  John  Oliver,  the  member  for  Delta,  in  the  Opposi- 
tion, we  might  have  had  a  different  account  of  Daniel  and  his  adminis- 
tration than  we  have.  But  Daniel  was  not  a  politician,  but  a  statesman, 
who  stood  on  the  highest  summit  of  mountains  of  national  legislation, 
and  could  see  the  effect  of  what  was  then  transpiring  in  law-making  on 
generations  far  in  the  future.  .  .  He  had  all  the  details  of  his  government 
at  his  finger  ends,  which  nothing  could  accomplish  but  hard  work,  for 
all  great  statesmen  are  hard  workers.  .  .  His  subordinates  were  kept  well 
in  hand.  Daniel  read  diligently  instructive  literature.  He  had  neither 
time  nor  inclination  to  spend  his  Sabbaths  reading  sensational  novels, 
but  spent  them  as  God  intended  they  should  be  observed,  not  in  fishing 
and  shooting,  golf  playing  and  general  merrymaking  and  pleasure  seek- 
ing, but  in  refreshhig  the  body,  improving  the  mind,  and  worshipping 
Jehovah." 

All  of  which  shows  what  a  lively  imagination  Dr,  Campbell  possesses, 
€ind  what  the  Christian  world  lost  when  God  failed  to  employ  him  to 
write  the  "  sacred  history."  He  exhibits  his  innocence  in  imagining 
that  a  great  Government  of  a  hundred  provinces,  with  big  palaces,  thoii- 
sands  of  soldiers,  temples  with  an  army  of  priests,  and  so  on,  could  be 
carried  on  without  machinery  corresponding  to  that  of  our  own  day, 
even  if  "  a  John  Oliver'  member  for  Delta,"  would  have  found  opposition 
a  rather  neck-risking  business.  But  Daniel  "  had  all  the  details  of  his 
government  at  his  finger  ends,"  which  seems  to  prove  that  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  governmental  macliinery  to  be  attended  to  after  all ;  and 
that  Daniel  was  better  posted  than  are  our  Government  officials,  who, 
when  questioned  about  the  details  of  their  departments,  generally  have 
to  make  inquiries.  Yes,  Daniel  must  have  been  a  wonderful  man  ;  Dr. 
Campbell  says  so.  And  then  he  let  loose  his  spirit  of  Christian  humility 
against  a  member  of  the  Legislature  in  this  fashion  : 

*'  Daniel  encouraged  the  prophets  of  Israel  in  their  noble  work  of 
teaching  Divine  truths.     How  different  was  he  from  the  hon.  member  for 


202  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Nanaimo,  who  poses  as  a  legislator  in  the  Parliament  of  British  Colum- 
bia. Alas  !  for  his  self-conceit  and  ignorance  which  he  exposed  when  he 
declared  that  he  had  no  use  for  ministers  of  the  gospel,  nor  for  the  Sab- 
bath day  as  God  enjoined  man  to  observe  it.  The  same  gentleman  would 
look  on  Daniel  as  an  old  fogey — behind  the  times,  a  back  number.  No 
man  is  more  guilty  of  a  sin  against  the  genius  of  the  institutions  of  this 
Christian  country  than  the  man  who  assailed  God's  holy  Sabbath — 
except  the  man  who  kept  his  seat  on  the  floor  of  the  Legislature  and 
allowed  it  to  pass  unchallenged.  Have  the  representatives  of  the  people 
of  this  Christian  country  the  courage  of  their  convictions?  I  answer 
with  the  interrogation  mark  (?)." 

There  is  no  question  that  orthodox  Christianity  has  a  pretty  strong 
hold  upon  the  people  of  Victoria,  which  is  an  intensely  English  city, 
with  many  old-country  peculiarities,  but  Dr.  Campbell's  vicious  attack 
upon  Mr.  Hawthornthwaite,  the  member  for  Nanaimo,  would  seem  to 
show  that  the  spirit  of  freedom  is  manifesting  itself,  and  there  are  not 
wanting  other  signs  in  the  same  direction. 

BRITISH  COLUM-  From  an  article  in  the  Victoria  (B.C.)  Daily 
BIA  PREACHERS  Times  of  April  3,  we  learn  that  on  the  preceding 
BARRED  FROM  day  a  deputation  from  the  Ministerial  Associa- 

SCHOOL  BOARDS.  tion  interviewed  some  members  of  the  Executive 
Council,  demanding  the  repeal  of  the  law  under 
which  clergymen  are  ineligible  for  election  on  School  Boards.  The  At- 
torney-General pointed  out  that  the  clergy  were  privileged  by  exemption 
from  taxation ;  but  the  latter  protested  their  desire  to  pay  taxes  like  all 
other  citizens  1  The  officials  admitted  that  the  claim  of  the  deputation 
was  sound  in  principle,  but  it  was  a  question  of  expediency.  To  comply 
with  it  might  lead  to  the  ruin  of  the  non-sectarian  character  of  their 
school  system.     The  exclusion  of  the  clergy  was  perfectly  constitutional. 

The  deputation  said  no  other  Province  in  Canada  had  a  similar  law, 
and  they  only  desired  to  abolish  the  law  on  principle  as  an  unjust  discri- 
mination, not  that  they  desired  to  take  part  in  administering  educational 
affairs  ;  which  may  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt. 

The  Government  officials  made  no  promise  one  way  or  the  other,  and 
we  sincerely  hope  they  will  not  allow  themselves  to  be  hoodwinked  by 
the  gentlemen  of  the  cloth.  What  seems  clear  is,  that  if  these  latter  were 
willing  and  desirous  of  paying  their  fair  share  of  taxation  like  honest 
citizens,  their  way  to  do  so  is  open,  and  until  they  do  so,  they  cannot 
expect  reasonable  men  to  take  their  other  protests  at  their  face  value^ 


i 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  208 


Spontaneoue  (Beneratlon^ 

:o: 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

"  Nature  is  seen  to  do  all  things  spontaneously  of  herself,  without  the 
meddling  of  the  gods."  -  Lucretius. 

"  Matter  is  not  that  mere  empty  capacity  which  philosophers  have  pictured 
her  to  be,  but  the  universal  mother  who  brings  forth  all  things  as  the  fruit  of 
her  own  womb." — Bruno. 

"  Compound  it  how  she  will,  star,  sand,  fire,  water,  tree,  man,  it  is  all  one 
stuff,  and  betrays  the  same  properties.  .  .  . 

"  Plants  are  the  young  of  the  world,  vessels  of  health  and  vigor  ;  but  they 
grope  ever  upward  toward  consciousness  ;  the  trees  are  imperfect  men,  and 
seem  to  bemoan  their  imprisonment,  rooted  in  the  ground.  The  animal  is  the 
novice  and  probationer  of  a  more  advanced  order." — Emersqn. 


One  frequently  meets  with  the  statements  that  not  an  iota  of  proof  can  be  found 
for  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation,  that  it  has  not  the  stamp  of  approval 
from  so  much  as  a  single  accredited  scientist  of  the  present  time,  and  that  hence 
creation  is  the  only  hypothesis  by  which  man's  existence  is  explainable. 

PROOF  vs.  WEIGHT  OF  EVIDENCE. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  we  muat  remember  that  none  of  the  conclusions 
reached  by  the  civilized  world  are  susceptible  of  absolute  proof.  The  weight  of 
evidence  is  really  all  that  can  be  arrogated  by  even  the  most  overwhelmingly 
likely  propositions,  such  as  that  London  is  the  largest  city  in  the  world.  The 
rationale  of  different  things  varies  from  that  of  extreme  probability,  through 
sublimated  gradations,  until  the  other  pole,  of  extreme  improbability,  is  reached- 
That  the  first  is  commonly  called  **  knowledge,"  while  the  latter  goes  under  some 
such  name  as  "  myth,"  or  "  humbug,"  does  not  change  the  realities  from  being  a 
mere  question  of  relativity.  And  thus  it  is  that  in  viewing  the  theory  of  spon- 
taneous generation  one  must  look,  not  for  that  impossibility  termed  absolute 
proof,  but  only  to  see  whether  the  weight  of  evidence  points  rather  to  this 
immanent  spontaneity  of  matter  or  to  a  superimposition  of  life  by  a  god  or  gods. 

It  will  be  well  to  note  here  the  extraordinary  readiness  of  Christian  people  to 
accept  the  foolish  and  miraculous  fundamentals  of  religion  ;  a  readiness  no  less 
significant  than  is  that  wherewith  tliey  scorn  the  plainest  of  facts  deduced  by 
modern  science.  Of  little  value  is  the  opinion  of  him  who,  although  firmly  con- 
vinced that  thousands  of  years  ago  in  an  ignorant  age  Moses  turned  an  umbrella 
into  a  snake  and  Jonah  swallowed  a  whale — all  because  an  emasculated  collation 
of  anonymous  papyri  say  so — goes  out  of  his  way  to  vituperate  the  reasonable 
deductions  made  by  the  calm,  unprejudiced  science  of  this  twentieth  century. 
Pious  men  will  not  believe  in  a  rational  theory  like  spontaneous  generation.  But 
in  1893  a  Frenchman,  Leo  Taxil,  declared  that  a  girl  called  Diana  Vangtre  had 
held  communication  with  the  devil  and   had  foretold  the  birth  of  Antichrist's 


I 


204  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


mother.  Throughout  France  and  Italy  this  witless  tale  was  believed  by  zealous 
laymen,  and  a  Catholic  organ  of  the  latter  country  was  especially  insistent  re- 
garding its  credibility.  Taxil  admitted  the  fraud  in  a  confession  made  at  Paris 
a  number  of  years  afterwards. 

SPONTANEOUS    GENERATION. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  Spontaneous  is  "  acting  of  itself,"  without  extraneous 
interference.  In  other  words,  as  applicable  to  the  problem  of  life-generation,  it 
signifies  that,  through  forces  abiding  within  the  natural  universe,  the  evolution  of 
organic  forms  began  at  some  period  out  of  the  so-called  inorganic.  This,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  is  the  position  of  all  scientists  whose  pronouncements  are  of 
weight.  Call  it  what  you  want  to.  Spontaneous  generation  under  any  other 
name  is  just  as  much  a  fact.     Names  and  glosses  do  not  count  for  much. 

The  advanced  science  of  to-day  holds  that  the  stupendous  power  of  transmu- 
tation known  as  evolution,  working  through  native  universal  yeast,  has  gradually 
brought  into  being  this  globe  of  ours  out  of  primeval  fire-mists.  It  holds,  too, 
that  the  consciousness  with  which  the  earth's  surface  swarms  has  been  elicited  in 
response  to  organic. differentiations  persisting  throughout  vast  epochs  of  a  Time 
that  leads  uninterruptedly  back  to  lumps  of  protoplasm.  From  fire-mist  to  world, 
from  protoplasm  to  man,  an  all-comprehending  evolution  from  the  simple  to  the 
compound  is  witnessed.     Nothing  else  is  needed. 

But  science  refuses  to  stop  with  this.  Although  no  cumulative  evidences  of 
spontaneous  generation  have  as  yet  been  vouchsafed  as  they  have  in  other  once- 
disputed  fields  of  scientific  research,  nevertheless  inference,  analogy  and  reason  i 
have  compelled  the  assumption  that  living  matter  evolved  out  of  the  inorganic 
under  conditions  of  temperature,  humidity,  chemical  activity,  and  electrical 
vibration  that  do  not  now  naturally  obtain.  Science  affirms  that  the  universe  is 
eternal,  and  could  never  have  been  created  by  a  god  or  other  power  ;  and  from 
this  postulate  it  follows  that  creation  could  not  rationally  be  expected  to  super- 
vene, on  any  one  of  the  worlds  revolving  in  space,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting 
the  mighty  inorganic  evolution  with  the  substquently  lesser  but  mysterious 
organic  evolution.  And  if  the  two  evolutions  themselves  are  self-operating,  ^ys 
science,  and  if  the  first  is  self-caused,  it  is  worse  than  idle  to  imagine  the  necessity 
of  a  deity  to  explain  the  silent,  microscopic,  unknown  junction  of  them.  In  the 
eye  of  scientific  men  the  old  idea  of  dead  matter  has  given  way  to  the  conception 
that  every  atom  in  the  spatial  infinity  is  not  only  vibrant,  but  possessed  of  the 
potentialities  of  life  and  consciousness. 

Prof.  A.  E.  Dolbear  asserts  that  "the  most  thoughtful  and  best-informed 
naturalists  accept  the  theory  without  hesitation  that  matter  is  alive,  the  only 
difference  we  see  in  things  being  one  of  degree." 

In  short,  the  universe  is  regarded  as  a  majestic  Unity,  working,  seething, 
evolving  and  devolving  by  virtue  of  its  own  inerrant  laws. 


1 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  205 

OBJECTIONS   CONSIDERED. 

That  we  have  little  or  no  proof  of  the  spontaneous  generation  of  life  is  not 
more  invalidating  to  this  theory  than  is  failure  to  demonstrate  the  everlastingness 
of  matter  and  the  illimitability  of  space  destructive  of  these  theories.  Anything 
else  is  unthinkable  to  the  educated  mind,  and  consequently  it  is  useless  to 
picture  things  otherwise. 

Nobody  knows  the  circumstances  as  they  exhibited  themselves  on  the  earth's 
crust  when  out  of  slime  emerged  the  first  faint  traces  of  life,  and  if  man  cannot 
now  produce  beings  artificially,  is  it  proof  that  nature  did  not  once  do  it  ' 
spontaneously  ?  Is  it  proof  that  the  ichthyosaurus  never  could  have  existed  to 
show  that  no  power  can  now  or  ever  again  evolve  its  like  ?  Is  it  proof  that  life 
could  under  no  circumstances  niultiply  in  a  closed,  germ-laden  cistern,  because 
if  it  be  kept  air-tight  for  a  whole  year  the  conditions  will  then  fail  to  give  us  any 
movement?  As  planetary  life  thrives  during  the  regnance  of  the  sun,  and  will 
perish  before  all  the  bleakness  and  the  baldness  of  arctic  conditions  when  that 
sun  fades  away,  is  it  not  the  part  of  reason  to  believe  that  in  a  peculiar  juxta- 
position of  things  perhaps  incapable  of  duplication  or  approximation  in  our  day, 
this  same  old  sun  married  in  auld  lang  syne  the  evolutionary  forces  of  adolescent 
earth  and  said  with  imperious  command,  "  Let  there  be  life  "  ? 

The  religionist  thinks  that  he  can  picture  to  himself  no  origin  for  life  but 
through  creation.  For  thousands  of  years  the  savage  doubtless  could  not 
divine  how  fire  might  be  produced  except  through  the  immediate  fervent  heat  of 
the  sun  ;  but  finally  the  simple  device  of  two  sticks  or  a  flint  did  away  at  once 
with  all  the  supposed  impossibility  of  human  control.  Thus  it  has  been  with  all 
discoveries.  They  appear  chimerical  until  men  with  brains  bring  them  to  pass, 
whereupon  the  carpers  turn  their  attention  alsewhere.  Formerly  it  was  thought 
by  the  church  that  language  had  been  communicated  to  mankind  from  the 
clouds,  and  it  seemed  to  her  fully  as  difificult  to  think  that  speech  could  have 
evolved  "  out  of  nothing  "  as  it  does  in  these  times  to  view  with  equanimity  the 
notion  of  the  natural  evolution  of  life.  Once,  a  special  creation  was  considered 
necessary  for  each  variety  of  anitpal,  and  the  evolution  of  species  from  common 
homogeneous  stock  was  the  subject  of  churchly  derision.  "  Where  is  the 
missing  link  ?  "  demanded  pious  obscurantists  in  recently  bygone  decades  ;  but 
this  pressing  question,  asked  with  such  triumphant  gusto  for  God's  glory,  has 
almost  entirely  disappeared  in  the  face  of  discoveries  lately  made  in  Madagascar 
and  elsewhere.  The  evolutionary  hypothesis,  which  according  to  Gladstone  gave 
God  '*  leave  to  withdraw  "  from  the  universe,  was  acrimoniously  scouted  years 
ago  because  no  nebulae  in  formative  process  had  up  to  then  been  caught  by  the 
telescope  ;  but  since  the  subsequent  discoveries  this  objection  too  has  vanished. 

Considering  these  and  other  germane  facts,  shall  we  not  hesitate  long  before 
objurgating  spontaneous  generation  just  because  we  do  not  apprehend  precisely 
the  method  in  which  it  acted,  or  because  the  scientists  have  not  yet  succeeded  in 
manufacturing  a  man  for  us  in  the  chemical  crucible  ? 

{To  be  continued.) 


206  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


fIDab  flDurt)ocft'6  Hnimal  Storice. 


■:o: 


THE     DOG. 
Since  when  we  have  been  dogs,  history  sayeth  not.     It  is  supposed  that 
before  the  system  of  Vicarious  Atonement  was  invented,  we  were  politi- 
cians of  the  genus  homo,  for  was  it  not  a  common   saying  among  the 
ancients,  "  The  more  I  know  of  some  men,  the  better  I  like  dogs  "  ? 

We  have  therefore  probably  had  a  human  origin,  but  the  Survival  of 
the  Fittest  has  caused  us  to  develope  our  present  physical  features ;  evo- 
lution having  so  much  changed  us  that,  while  on  the  one  hand  we  possess 
tails,  we  have  lost  the  faculty  called  expediency. 

We  are  the  friend  of  man,  and  stay  with  one  of  the  genus  wherever 
possible.  We  are  supposed  to  be  owned  by  some  one  of  these  people, 
and  to  have  no  rights.  This  is  a  mistake.  We  have  the  right  to  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  other  dogs,  without  the  signing  of  any 
Declaration  of  Independence  or  the  capturing  of  a  king  to  make  him 
sign  a  Charter.  As  a  proof  that  we  are  a  free  people,  be  it  known  that 
we  pay  no  taxes,  rent,  or  succession  duties,  nor  was  any  self-respecting 
canine  ever  known  to  be  afraid  of  a  bailiff. 

When  we  live  with  a  family  who  work  ten  hours  a  day,  we  have  at 
times  a  difficulty  in  making  life  such  a  round  of  pleasure  as  we  would 
wish.  Sometimes  we  take  up  with  a  person  who  can  get  other  people  to 
work  for  him  without  any  return  being  made.  This  person  is  called  a 
Gentleman,  and  he  keeps  us  in  what  are  called  "  kennels,"  about  fifty 
of  us  in  a  batch.  We  are  employed  in  fox-hunting.  In  olden  days,  the 
fox,  being  an  unmannered  beast,  ran  through  the  crops  of  the  farmers, 
which  spoiled  the  sport  when  a  vulgar  farmer  was  rude  enough  to  object 
to  the  horses  and  us  following  through  the  corn.  Sometimes  the  fox  did 
not  behave  like  a  gentleman,  and  ran  over  rough  ground,  where  fat  old 
bald-headed  fools  and  ladies  who  had  danced  all  night  the  day  previous 
— the  dear  reader  will  understand  that  I  am  an  Irish  dog — did  not  care 
to  follow. 

In  Canada,  where  we  and  our  masters  are  equally  well  bred,  the  old 
order  of  things  has  passed  away.  They  now  do  fox-hunting  without  a 
fox.  A  man  goes  ahead  with  a  bag  of  anise  seed,  which  he  drags  over 
the  ground,  and,  avoiding  anything  higher  than  a  four-rail  fence  or  wider 
than  a  common  drain,  and  mostly  through  open  gates,  leads  the  pack  an 
easy  chase.  The  function  that  follows  the  hunt  is  said  to  be  "  very 
charming,"  and  the  mounts  and  dresses  are  all  in  the  society  columns 
next  day. 

We,  as  a  body,  are  held  in  great  respect  by  ladies  who  have  not  been 
cursed  with  families.  They  form  themselves  into  societies,  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  see  that  all  dogs,  irrespective  of  breed  or  creed,  shall  have 
iron  water  troughs  put  on  the  street  for  their  use.     There  is  seldom  any 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  207 

water  in  the  troughs,  but  that  does  not  matter,  as  the  principle  of  the 
rights  of  dogs  is  asserted,  which  is  the  main  thing. 

But  about  our  own  immediate  family.  I  was  born  so  young  that  I 
don't  remember  it,  but  on  the  authority  of  the  best  of  mothers  I  am  an 
Irish  setter,  as  she  was  brought  up  and  trained  to  be  set  on  some  Irish 
pigs  when  they  came  to  explore  our  master's  potato  patch.  My  father 
was  half  bull,  but  the  other  half  was  just  dog,  so  that  there  is  a  bar 
sinister  on  our  escutcheon ;  but  that  will  be  rectified,  as  our  master  is 
getting  out  a  new  pedigree  for  us,  mother  and  me,  against  the  dog 
show. 

My  master  is  a  vegetarian,  and  believes  in  the  Hague  Peace  Confer- 
ence, and  advocates  a  general  disarmament  of  the  powers.  An  impudent 
fellow  got  talking  to  him  the  other  day,  and  said  there  were  times  when 
war  was  necessary.  Master  asked  him  to  name  an  occasion.  The  fellow 
hesitated,  and  then  said  that  the  war  against  Russia  by  Japan  was  a  case 
in  point.     Master  said  : 

"  Perhaps  you  can  tell  me  who  started  the  war?  " 

"  [t  was  the  Russians." 

"  No,  it  wasn't." 

**  Oh,  of  course,  the  Japs  fired  the  first  shot ;  I  knew  you  would  say 
they  started  it." 

"  No,  I  wouldn't,  for  they  did  not.  It  was  the  army  contractors  and 
the  plutocrats  that  set  it  on  foot,  and  th^y  belong  to  both  nations." 

**  What  d'ye  mean  by  '  plutocrat '  ?  " 

*'  My  good  man,  if  you  don't  know,  a  plutocrat  is  one  that  takes  with- 
out giving  a  just  return — a  monopolist,  a  commercial  robber." 

*'  You  would  take  the  long  end  of  the  stick  in  a  bargain." 

**  I  never  took  advantage  in  a  trade  in  my  life." 

"  Of  course  not ;  if  you  were  selling  me  a  horse,  you  would  tell  me 
about  a  spavin  that  I  missed." 

**  Do  you  insinuate  that  I'd  cheat  ?  " 

"  I  don't  insinuate  ;  I  say  that  you  would  do  as  other  people  do— make 
the  best  of  the  other  fellow  if  you  could." 

"  Oh,  I  can't  talk  to  an  ass  like  you." 

*'  I  don't  mind  being  an  ass,  but  I'd  hate  to  be  a  mule.  However,  I 
know  how  it  is  with  you  peace  fellows.  Any  fellow  that's  white-livered 
takes  to  peace  talk,  and  tries  to  swindle  the  public  with  the  idea  that  he's 
a  good  man  because  he's  no  good.     I  bet  you'd  run  from  a  rabbit." 

'*  No,  nor  from  a  damned  dog  like  you." 

"Eh?" 

**  You  would,  would  you  ?  " 

*'  Gome  on,  then  !  " 

Teh  !  tch  !  *  *  They  were  at  it  hard.-  Master  stepped  on  my  foot, 
and  to  get  even  I  got  the  other  fellow  by  the  calf.  When  the  mix-up 
was  over,  the  cops  took  master  away,  and  he  was  held  to  appear  before 
the  Beak  when  his  own  was  presentable,  charged  with   breaking  the 


208  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

other  fellow's  jaw.  He  got  a  fine  and  a  lecture  on  advocating  peace  so 
strenuously. 

We,  as  a  tribe,  live  a  pure  and  moral  life.  We  do  not  steal,  forge,  or 
bear  false  witness,  but  we  are  in  danger  of  having  a  code  of  laws  passed 
by  humans  which  would  render  us  all  criminals,  subject  to  the  wrath  to 
come,  and  in  need  of  a  savior  to  save  us  from  his  own  wrath.  I  heard 
it  all  explained  in  Sunday-school,  where  I  went  with  the  grocer's  boy 
who  had  been  nice  to  me.  I  lay  under  one  of  the  seats  while  the  super- 
intendent, Mr.  Smoothly,  explained  about  sin  coming  by  transgression 
of  the  law,  so  if  there  had  been  no  law  there  would  have  been  no  sin. 
He  is  an  awful  good  man,  the  grocer  says,  and  is  his  best  customer. 
When  he  got  through  the  lesson,  he  told  the  children  to  remember  that 
beautiful  hymn  beginning — 

"  Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite. 

"  But,  children,  you  should  never  let 
Your  angry  passions  rise  ; 
Your  little  hands  were  never  made 
To  tear  each  other's  eyes." 

And  he  never  does  it  himself.  When  old  Isaacs,  that  worked  in  his  fac- 
tory, made  a  speech  one  night  saying  that  any  man  who\vould  lend  his 
name  as  a  director  to  a  company  so  as  to  get  the  public  to  come  in  with 
their  money,  and  would  take  paid-up  stock  for  the  use  of  his  name,  was 
a  thief  and  a  robber,  the  foreman  called  Isaacs  aside  and  told  him  that 
the  work  could  be  done  better  by  younger  men,  and  he  wouldn't  be 
wanted  next  week.  Isaacs  went  to  Mr.  Smoothly  about  it.  Mr.  Smoothly 
was  very  sorry,  but  as  he  was  only  president  of  the  company  that  ran 
the  factory,  he  knew  nothing  of  the  details,  and  could  not  interfere  with 
the  foreman.  If  he  heard  of  anything  that  would  suit  Isaacs,  he  would 
make  a  note  of  it.  Some  of  the  boys  told  Isaacs  that  he  was  a  ''  dam 
fool  "  to  make  that  speech,  for  Mr.  Smoothly  was  a  director  of  the  Hot 
Air  Limited,  and  got  in  on  the  ground  floor.  They  say  Smoothly  made 
a  clean  two  hundred  thousand  out  of  being  a  director,  but  as  there  is  no 
law  against  that  sort  of  thing,  Mr.  Smoothly  is  blameless. 

I  think  it  would  be  nice  to  be  a  director  of  a  company  and  be  able  to 
look  with  pity  on  and  pray  for  those  who  will  never  own  a  share,  but  I 
fear  we  dogs  can't  attain  to  that  until  we  become  Christians. 


Mr.  O'Byrne,  the  author  of  "Nyssia,"  is  the  author  of  several  works, 
some  of  which  are  fiction,  others  poetry,  all  being  stamped  indelibly  with 
the  marks  of  genius,  culture,  philosophy,  and  wide  scholarship,  a  deep 
poetical  vein  running  through  them  all.  Mr.  O'Byrne  is  not  an  Irish- 
man, as  his  name  would  seem  to  indicate,  but  a  Cornishman.  He  has 
been  a  liberal  contributor  to  Freethought  journals,  and  two  of  his  works. 
have  appeared  in  Seculab  Thought. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


209 


Cbrietianit^  an^  Slavcrij. 


BY    B. 


:o: 

F.  UNDERWOOD. 

— :o: 


Ihristianity  sanctions  and  it  has  perpetuated  human    slavery.     Behef  in  the 

ispiration  and  divine  authority  of  the  Bible  has   made  appeals  to  the  teaching 
)f  this  book  respecting  slavery  most  effective  and  powerful.     The  laws  which  it 
declared  Moses  gave  to  the  Jews  as  he  was  commanded  by  the  Lord,  autho- 
rized them  to  buy  and  sell  men    and  women  :  "  And  ye   shall  take  them  as  an 
Inheritance  for  your  children  after  you,  to   inherit  them   for  a   possession  ;  they 

lall  be  your  bondmen  for  ever  "  (Lev.  26  :  44-46). 

If  a  Hebrew,  even  while  he  was  a  servant,  married  and  had  children,  and  did 
lot  wi^h  to  leave  them  at  the  end  of  his  six  years'  servitude,  "  then  his  master 
Ihall  bring  him  unto  the  judges,  and  he  shall  also  bring  him  unto  the  door,  or 
Into  the  door-post ;  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ears  through  with  an  awl ;  and 
le  shall  serve  him  for  ever  "  (Ex.  21:5,  6). 

The  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  law  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  :  "  If  a  man 
imite  his  servant  or  his  maid  with  a  rod,   and  he  die  under  his  hand,  he  shall 

irely  be  punished.    Notwithstanding,  if  he  continues  a  day  or  two,  he  shall  not 
)e  punished,  for  he  is  his  money"  (Ex.  21  :  20,  21). 
While  the  passages  in  the  Old  Testament   recognizing  the  legality  and   right- 

ilness  of  slavery  are  numerous,  there  is  nothing  in  the  New  Testament  that 
abolishes  it,  and  not  a  word  in  condemnation  of  it.  Jesus,  so  far  as  reported, 
lever  hinted  disapproval  of  it.  He  directed  those  who  believed  to  sell  all  their 
iroperty  and  follow  him  ;  he  did  not  say  to  them,  "  Free  your  slaves."    He  used 

je  phrase,  "  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"   but  so  had  Moses   taught.     The 

jaxim  was  regarded  as  consistent  with  slavery  by  the  writers  of  the  Pentateuch, 
md  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  Jesus  gave  to  it  an  interpretation  which  included 
lisapproval  of  slavery.  Jesus  denounced  many  evils,  but  not  a  word  against 
llavery  can   be  found  among  his   reported  utterances.     When  Jesus  lived  and 

lught,  and  during  the  apostolic  period,  there  were  in  Rome  sixty  millions  of 
luman  beings  held  as  slaves,  over  whom  the  masters  had  the  power  of  life  and 
leath.  In  every  province  of  the  Empire  were  the  victims  of  this  system  of 
lelty  and  wrong,  with  the  lashing  of  whip  and  clanking  of  chains.  Now,  while 
fesus  denounced  many  of  the  evils  of  his  day,  it   is   not  on  record  that  he  ever 

lid,  "  Man  has  no  right  to  hold  property  in  man,"  or  spoke  in  praise  of  human 

reedom. 
Paul,  who  said  that  he  had  not  shunned  to  declare  "  all  the  counsel  of  God," 

lade  no  protest  against  this  gigantic  evil.     On   the  contrary,  he  said  that   if  a 

lan  was  "  called  "  to  be  a  servant — that  is,  was  born  in  slavery — he  should  abide 
the  calling,  although  if  made  free  he  should  accept  the  emancipation  (i  Cor. 


^10  SECULAR    THOUGHT, 


7  :  20-22).  He  sent  the  slave  Onesimus  hack  to  his  master,  from  whom  he  had 
run  away,  with  a  letter  asking  kind  treatment  for  the  returning  fugitive,  but  con- 
taining no  intimation  that  slavery  was  wrong.     He  wrote  at  other  times  : 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their  own  masters  worthy 
of  all  honor  "  (i  Tim,  6  :  i). 

"  Exhort  servants  to  be  obedient  unto  their  masters  "  (Titus  2  : 9). 

"  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that  are  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh, 
with  fear  and  trembling  "  (Eph.  6  :  5). 

Peter  took  the  same  view  of  the  subject  : 

"  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all  fear ;  not  only  to  the  good  and 
gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward  "  (i  Pet.  2  :  18). 

The  word  translated  "  servant  "  means  slave  or  bond-man.  So  say  all  Hel- 
lenic scholars. 

Is  it  strange  that  Professor  Moses  Stuart,  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
wrote  to  President  Fisk,  of  Middletown  Theological  Seminary,  that  "  slavery 
may  exist  without  violating  the  Christian  faith  of  the  Church,"  and  that  President 
Fisk  replied  :  *'  This  doctrine  will  stand,  because  it  is  a  Bible  doctrine  "  ? 

Is  it  strange  that  the  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity  in  South 
Carolina  published,  for  gratuitous  distribution,  tracts  containing  passages  like 
this  :  "  No  man  or  set  of  men  in  our  day,  unless  they  can  produce  a  new  revela- 
tion from  heaven,  are  entitled  to  pronounce  slavery  wrong Slavery  as  it 

exists  at  the  present  day  is   agreeable  to  the  order  of  Divine'  Providence  "? 

Is  it  strange  that,  when  Clarkson's  Bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  before 
Parliament,  Lord  Thurlow  referred  to  it  as  "  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  "  ? 

Is  it  strange  that  the  Christian  king,  Charles  V.,  and  a  Christian  friar,  estab- 
lished the  slave  trade  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New  ?  or  that,  when 
•infidel  F-rance  had  emancipated  the  blacks  of  San  Domingo— a  fact  to  which 
Wilberforce  called  attention  in  the  House  of  Commons— the  Christian  king  and 
the  Christian  House  of  Lords  of  England  stubbornly  opposed  every  proposition 
for  abolition  ;  or  that  in  Scotland,  in  the  17th  century,  white  men,  coal  workers 
and  salt  workers,  were  slaves?  They  "went  to  those  who  succeeded  to  the 
works,  and  they  could  be  sold,  bartered,  or  pawned  "  (J.  M.  Robertson,  "  Per- 
version of  Scotland,"  p.  197).  Mr.  Robertson  says  there  is  '*  no  trace  that  the 
Protestant  clergy  of  Scotland  ever  raised  a  voice  against  the  slavery  which  grew 
up  before  their  ey^s.  And  it  was  not  until  1799,  after  republican  and  irreligious 
France  had  set  the  example,  that  it  was  legally  abolished."  (I  give  the  last  quo- 
tation as  made  by  Mr.  Bradlaugh  in  an  article  in  the  Nofth  American  Review.) 

Is  it  strange  that  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  sent  to 
Africa  as  Christian  Missionaries  men  who  were  owners  of  slaves  ? 

Is  it  strange  that  Christian  clergymen  in  all  the  Southern  States  owned, 
bought,  and  sold  their  fellow-men  ? 


me 

i 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  211 

Is  it  strange  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furnham  said :  '*  The  right  of  holding  slaves 
is  clearly  established  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  both  by  precept  and  example,"  and 
that  the  advertisement  announcing  the  sale  of  his  effects  after  his  death  specifies 
the  chattels  thus  :  "  A  library  of  miscellaneous  character,  chiefly  theological ; 
twenty-seven  negroes,  some  of  them  very  prime  ;  two  mules,  one  horse,  and  an 
old  wagon  "  ? 

Is  it  strange  that  slave-holders  encouraged  religious  revivals  among  their 
slaves,  for  the  reason  that  their  religion  made  them  more  submissive  and 
servile? 

Is  it  strange  that  even  Frederick  Douglass  should  write  thus  of  his  master : 

*'  I  believe  him  to  have  been  a  much  worse  man  after  his  conversion  than 
before.  Prior  to  his  conversion  he  relied  upon  his  own  depravity  to  shield  and 
sustain  him  in  his  savage  barbarity  ;  but,  after  his  conversion,  he  found  religious 
sanction  and  support  for  his  slaveholding  cruelty.  His  house  was  the  house  of 
prayer.  He  prayed  morning,  noon,  and  night.  He  very  soon  distinguished 
himself  among  his  brethren,  and  was  soon  made  a  class-leader  and  exhorter. 
His  activity  in  revivals  was  great,  and  he  proved  himself  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  the  Church  in  converting  many  souls.  His  house  was  the  preachers' 
home.  They  used  to  take  great  pleasure  in  coming  there  to  put  up  ;  for,  while 
he  starved  us,  he  stuffed  them." 

Belief  in  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  Bible  made  men  justify  flog- 
ging their  slaves.     Says  Frederick  Douglass  : 

"  I  have  seen  him  [his  master]  tie  up  a  lam5  young  woman  and  whip  her  with 
a  heavy  cow-skin  on  her  naked  shoulders,  causing  the  warm  red  blood  to  drip  ; 
and,  in  justification  of  the  bloody  deed,  he  would  quote  this  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture :  '  He  that  knoweth  his  master's  will,  and  doeth  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  with 
many  stripes.'  Master  would  keep  this  lacerated  young  woman  tied  up  in  this 
horrid  situation  four  or  five  hours  at  a  time.  I  have  known  him  ro  tie  her  up. 
early  in  the  morning  and  whip  her  before  breakfast ;  leave  her,  go  to  his  store, 
return  at  dinner  and  whip  her  again,  cutting  her  in  the  places  already  made  raw 
with  his  cruel  lash." 

Human  flesh  and  blood  were  sold  to  satisfy  mortgages  in  favor  of  theoTogrcal 
schools  and  churches.    Rev.  J.  Cable,  born  and  educated  in  a  slave  State,  wrote  : 

"  The  College  Church  which  I  attended,  and  which  was  attended  by  all  the 
students  of  Hempden  College  and  Union  Theological  Seminary,  held  slaves 
enough  to  pay  their  pastor,  Mr.  Stanton,  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  of  which 
the  church  m.embers  did  not  pay  a  cent.  The  slaves,  who  had  been  left  to  the 
church  by  some  pious  mother  in  Israel,  had  increased   so  as  to  be  a  large  and 

increasing  fund Since   the  Abolitionists  have  made  so   much  noise  about 

the  connection  of  the  church  with   slavery,  the   Rev.  Elisha  Balember  informed 
me  the  church  had  sold  this  property  and  put  the  money  in  other  stock.     There 
ere  four  other  churches  near  the  College  Church  that  were  in  the  same  situation 
ith  this,  when  I  was  in  that  country,  that  supported  the  pastor  in  whole  or  in 
rt  in  the  same  way,  viz.,"  etc. 

He  mentioned  that  the  last-named  of  these  churches  is  the  one,  **  where  Mr. 


:212  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

Turner  preached  and  used  to  electrify  the  State  by  his  eloquence."  Rev.  Mr. 
■Cable,  the  writer  of  this  letter,  went  no  further  than  to  oppose  churches  "job- 
bing in  slaves." 

The  Westminster  Review^  in  an  article  on  "Centenary  Celebrations"  of  1788, 
recently  pointed  out  that  at  that  date,  "  so  universal  was  the  practice  of  slave- 
holding,  that  even  missionary  societies  possessed  slaves  ;  and  as  late  as  1783,  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  deliberately  refused  to  give  Christian 
instruction  to  the  slaves  on  their  estate  in  Barbadoes,  on  the  plea  that  it  might 
encourage  them  to  revolt." 

In  1823,  the  Royal  Gazette  (Christian),  of  Demerara,  said  : 

"  We  shall  not  suffer  you  to  enlighten  our  slaves,  who  are  by  law  our  property, 
till  you  can  demonstrate  that,  when  they  are  made  religious  and  knowing,  they 
■will  continue  to  be  our  slaves."  (Quoted  by  Bradlaugh  in  the  North  American 
Review^  March,  1889.) 

There  was  no  such  hard  necessity  as  this  under  the  slave  code  of  Pagan  Rome, 
when,  as  Mr.  Lecky  says  ("  History  European  Morals,"  I.,  p.  323)  : 

"  The  physician  who  attended  the  Roman  in  his  sickness,  the  tutor  to  whom 
he  committed  the  education  of  his  son,  the  artists  whose  works  commanded  the 
admiration  of  the  city,  were  usually  slaves.  Slaves  sometimes  mixed  with  their 
masters  in  the  family,  ate  habitually  with  them  at  the  same  table,  and  were 
regarded  by  them  with  warmest  affection.. .  .  Epictetus  passed  at  once  from  the 
condition  of  a  slave  to  the  friendship  of  an  emperor." 

Under  the  slave  system  in  this  country,  there  was  no  legal  marriage.  The 
system  did  not  admit  of  it.  Judge  Matthews,  of  Louisiana,  in  his  decision  that 
the  agreement  of  a  slave  to  "  such  a  contract  or  connection  as  that  of  marriage 
'  cannot  produce  any  civil  effect,  because  slaves  are  deprived  of  all  civil  rights,' " 
stated  the  civil  law;  and  the  Savannah  River  Association,  in  1835,  expressed 
the  general  view  that  prevailed  among  Christians  who  believed  in  slavery,  in 
declaring  that  involuntary  separation  among  the  slaves  was  "  civilly  a  separation 
by  death,"  and  "  in  the  sight  of  God  it  would  be  so  viewed,"  and  that  to  forbid 
second  marriages  in  such  cases  would  be  to  expose  the  parties  not  only  to  hard- 
ship and  strong  temptation,  "  but  to  Church  censure  for  acting  in  obedience  to 
their  masters,  who  cannot  be  expected  to  acquiesce  in  a  regulation  at  variance 
with  justice  to  the  slaves,  and  to  the  spirit  of  that  command  which  regulates 
marriage  among  Christians." 

The  slave  trade,  the  horrors  of  which  cannot  be  described  or  imagined,  was 
carried  on  in  the  full  belief  that  slavery  was  a  God-ordained  institution.  In  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  one  of  the  best  ships  that  carried  slaves  from  Sierra  Leone 
to  San  Domingo  was  named  Jesus.  Hawkins,  to  whom  the  Queen  gave  this 
ship  for  the  slave  trade,  captured  or  purchased  from  the  Portuguese  traders  400 
slaves,  not  without  escaping  dangers,  as  he  acknowledged,  by  "the  aid  of  Al- 
mighty God,  who  never  suffers  his  elect  lo  perish."     Another  slave  ship,  which 


i 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  21^ 

landed  700  sick  slaves  at  Ponta  Negra,  and  was  referred  to  in  a  Royal  Commis- 
sion, was  named  Jehovah. 

It  was  belief  in  slavery  as  an  institution  ordained  of  God  and  entirely  con- 
sistent with  Christianity,  that  made  the  clergy  defend  it  so  zealously  when  those 
with  whom  the  Bible  was  not  an  infallible  authority  were  opposing  it.  Every 
Christian  pulpit  and  hall  in  Boston  was  closed  to  Garrison,  and  the  only  place 
which  he  could  secure  in  which  to  hold  an  anti-slavery  meeting  was  Julian  Hall, 
then  under  control  of  Abner  Kneeland,  who  was  afterwards  imprisoned  sixty 
days  in  Leverett  Street  Jail  for  blasphemy,  and  who  was  editor  of  the  infidel 
Investigator. 

"  Advert,"  wrote  Albert  Barnes,  "  for  a  moment  to  the  efforts  made  to  remove 
slavery  from  the  world,  and  to  the  hindrances  which  exist  in  all  efforts  which 
can  be  made  to  remove  it,  in  consequence  of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the 
system.  ....  The  language  of  the  ministry  and  the  practice  of  the  church  mem- 
bers give  such  a  sanction  to  the  enormous  evil  as  could  be  derived  from  no  other 
souice,  and  such  as  it  is  useless  to  convince  the  world  of  the  evil." 

"  The  most  efficient  of  all  supports,"  Mr.  Barnes  declared  of  this  institution, 
"  the  thing  which  most  directly  interferes  with  all  attempts  at  reformation  ;  that 
which  gives  the  greatest  quietus  to  the  conscience,  if  it  does  not  furnish  the 
most  satisfactory  argument  to  the  understanding,  is  the  fact  that  the  system  is 
countenanced  by  good  men  ;  that  bishops  and  priests  and  deacons,  that  ministers 
and  elders,  that  Sunday-school  teachers  and  exhorters,  that  pious  matrons  and 
heiresses  are  the  holders  of  slaves,  and  that  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  the  land 
address  no  language  of  rebuke  or  entreaty  to  their  consciences." 

It  could  not  be  otherwise  when  slavery  had  been  established  in  this  country 
and  sustained  by  Christians  who  read  their  Bibles,  and  who  were  familiar  with 
the  25th  chapter  of  Leviticus  and  with  the  words  of  Peter  and  Paul  in  regard  to 
masters  and  servants,  and  who  found  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  no  words  con- 
demning the  institution  of  slavery.  Even  the  amiable  Bishop  Berkeley  was  a 
believer  in  the  right  to  hold  slaves,  and  was  himself,  while  in  Rhode  Island,  a 
slaveholder. 

The  strongest  opposition  the  Abolitionists  had  to  encounter  in  their  work  of 
agitation  and  education,  was  that  based  upon  belief  in  the  inspired  and  authori- 
tative character  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  and  the  names  of  Biblical  scholars 
and  famous  divines  and  religious  leaders  were  constantly  used  against  them. 

Alexander  Campbell,  in  1845,  wrote  : 

•*  There  is  not  one  verse  in  the  Bible  inhibiting  it  (slavery),  but  many  regulating 
it.  I  could  as  soon  become  a  Socialist,  or  a  Freethinker,  or  a  Skeptic,  as  say  or 
think  that  it  is  immoral  or  un-Christian  to  hold  a  bond-servant  in  any  case  what- 
ever, or  to  allow  that  a  Christian  can  have  property  in  man.  I  therefore  dare 
not,  with   my  Bible  in  my  hand,  join   in  the  anti-slavery   crusade  against  the 


21i  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


relation  of  master  and  slave   in  all  cases  whatever,  or  proscribe  from  the  Lord's 
table  a  Christian  brother  because  he  holds  property  in  man." 

Dr.  Moses  Stuart,  of  Andover,  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  and  theologians  of 
•his  day,  said  :  "  The  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  respecting  the  demeanor  of 
slaves  and  their  masters  beyond  all  question  recognize  the  existence  of  slavery." 

'President  Shann'on,  of  Bacon  College,  Kentucky  (Campbellite),  said:  "Thus 
did  Jehovah  stereotype  his  approbation  on  domestic  slavery,  by  incorporating  it 
with  the  institutions  of  the  Jewish  religion,  the  only  religion  on  earth  that  has 
the  divine  sanction." 

Rev.  Alexander  McCain,  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  Church,  published  a 
pamphlet  in  defence  of  slavery,  which  called  forth  a  letter  of  approbation  from 
John  C.  Cahoun,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract  : 

"  I  have  read  with  pleasure  your  pamphlet  entitled,  '  Slavery  Defended  from 
the  Scriptures  Against  Abolitionists.'  You  have  fully  and  ably  made  good  that 
title.  You  have  shown  beyond  all  controversy  that  slavery  is  sanctioned  both 
by  the  Old  and  New  Testament  He  who  denies  it,  if  not  blinded  by  fanaticism, 
must  be  a  hypocrite." 

{To  be  concluded.) 


Xlbe  Safe  St^e. 

:o: 


J  AM  not  what's  called  religious,  and  I  don't  pretend  to  think 
There  is  any  lake  of  sulphur  v^here  the  ones  that  sin  '11  sink  ; 
There's  a  whole  lot  in  the  Bible  that  I  can't  believe  is  true  : 
If  a  God  is  up  there  rulin'  and  a  watchin'  what  we  do — 
Keepin'  tab  on  men  in  battle,  hearin'  every  bird  that  sings — 
I've  a  notion  that  he's  willin'  to  forgive  a  lot  of  things. 

I'm  inclined  sometimes  to  rather  think  that  mebby  when  we  die 
That'll  end  the  business  for  us — that  there's  no  place  in  the  sky 
"Where  we'll  wake  up  and  be  angels  and  have  golden  harps  to  play — 
There  may  be  no  grand  hereafter,  yet,  for  all  we  know  there  may  ; 
So  I'll  not  take  any  chances,  and  I'll  treat  my  brothers  fair  : 
I  propose  to  have  a  ticket  if  men  travel  over  there. 

If  a  God  is  up  above  us,  I  believe  he's  kind  at  heart  ; 

1  don't  think  he  gets  his  pleasure  merely  watchin'  sinners  smart  ; 

I  believe  he  wants  to  help  us,  every  one,  the  best  he  can. 

And  I  don't  believe  he  ever  schemed  against  a  mortal  man  ! 

It  may  be  that  I'm  mistaken,  but  I'll  take  my  chance  and  trust 

That  it's  good  enough  religion  if  you  treat  your  neighbors  just. 

Yes,  the  world  is  full  of  doubters,  they're  increasing  every  day, 
And  the  preachers  they're  a-puttin'  lots  of  old  beliefs  away  ; 
No  one  knows  a  thing  about  it,  rich  or  poor,  or  great  or  small, 
But  there's  one  thing  you  can  bet  on,  if  the  grave  don't  end  it  all : 
These  here  chaps  that  get  their  riches  by  not  treating  others  fair 
-Will  be  booked  to  do  some  mighty  hard  regrettin'  over  there. 

S.  E.  KiSER. 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  215 

Zbc  ®l&,  ®lt)  Stori?  in  a  IRcvo  Settinfl.^ 

:o: 

BY    D.    S.    MACORQUODALE. 

:o: 

The  tendency  with  the  mass  of  the  reading  public  is  to  rush  to  the 
newest  thing  in  prose,  while  seeking  the  old  masters  in  the  poetical  line. 
In  these  days,  when  not  to  know  something  of  Shakespeare  or  to  fail  to 
recognize  a  couplet  from  Burns  is  considered  as  indicating  a  want  of 
literary  training,  it  would  surprise  many  Americans  to  be  told  that  there 
is  a  poet  in  America  now. 

The  romance  of  Nyssia  is  adapted  from  Greek  and  other  history  and 
mythology,  and,  apart  from  its  thrilling  romantic  and  tragic  interest,  its 
historical  references  are  not  without  an  educative  value. 

Nyssia  is  Queen  of  Lydia,  and  so  lovely  that — but  space  forbids  our 
giving  the  poet's  description,  and  less  than  that  would  do  injustice  to 
the  theme.  Candaules,  the  King,  is  an  uxorious  dotard — the  last  of  his 
dynasty.  Gyges,  a  shepherd  of  Hermus'  plain,  brought  before  the  king 
on  a  charge  of  treason,  has  fine  legs,  and  the  Queen  sees  in  him  a  veri- 
table Apollo,  but — woman-like — keeps  her  own  counsel. 

Gyges  has  found  a  magic  ring,  which  carries  with  its  possession  "  do- 
minion, life,  and  love."  In  a  speech  defending  himself  and  describing 
his  finding  of  the  ring,  and  which  proves  him  to  be  worthy  of  a  better 
occupation  than  tending  sheep,  Gyges  gains  the  king's  favor,  and  lays 
the  ring  at  the  feet  of  the  queen.  He  is  taken  into  the  service  of  the 
king,  and  ultimately  become  Captain  of  the  Guard. 

That  Gyges  is  worthy  a  higher  sphere  is  evidenced  in  his  moral 
reflections  : 

"  Or,  mayhap, 

One  who  in  life  had  stood  between  the  gods 

And  men,  averting  fury, — though  I  deem 

Such  doctrines  barbarous  ;  for  what  high  god 

Will  take  the  blood  of  innocence  and  waive 

Thereby  the  punishment  of  guilt  ?  " 

The  poet  indicates  the  efifect  of  Gyges'  speech  on  the  fortunes  of  all 
mcerned : 

"  O  golden  tongue^  how  potent  is  thine  art 
To  wreck  a  kingdom  or  corrupt  a  heart  I       ♦ 

"  Lo  !  youth  and  manly  grace  and  eloquence, — 

More  seldom  found  in  courts  than  cots,  perchance. — 
Combined  in  Gyges  were  a  full  defence 

Against  traducers.     Who  would  dare  advance 
His  petty  charge  'gainst  one  whose  speech  and  mien 
Won  favor  with  Candaules  and  his  queen  ? 

"  For  so  it  was  that  when  the  monarch  sought 
Her  comment  on  the  shepherd's  artful  tale, 

Nysda.   An  Old  World  Story.     By  M.  C.  O'Byrne,  author  of  "  Upon  This  Rock," 
[Song  of  the  Ages,"  etc    Toronto  :  C.  M.  Ellis.    In  cloth,  $i.oo  ;  in  paper,  50c. 


^16  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


He  saw  with  rapture  the  recital  brought 

Unwonted  radiance  to  the  cheek  so  pale. 
Gone  was  her  languor,  gone  her  cold  repose, 
And  Lydia's  lily  now  was  Lydia's  rose." 

While  we  are  compelled  to  admit  the  poet's  versatility  and  dramatic 
•j)0wer,  we  think  him  rather  unjust  to  the  woman — and  woman  : 

*'  Fitful  alike  in  love  or  fear, 
An  infant's  grief  will  bring  the  tear 

Responsive  to  her  eye, — 
The  eye  that  yet  will  flash  with  glee 
And  light  with  hell-born  joy  to  see 

The  gladiator  die. 

*'  Give  her  but  cause, — a  wish,  a  whim, 
A  robe  of  fur,  a  hat  to  trim, — 

And  Pity  hides  her  head  ; 
The  feathered  warbler  mourns  her  mate, 
Alaska's  isles  are  desolate 

Where  meek-eyed  seals  once  bred. 

"  Facile  with  pledge  of  love  and  truth, 
Crabbed  in  age  and  sly  in  youth, 

Studious  of  every  wile, — 
Trust  thou,  O  man,  Iscariot's  kiss. 
Tread  boldly  where  the  vipers  hiss, 

But  never  trust  her  smile." 

Yet  is  he  hopeful  of  woman  in  the  time  to  be  : 

"In  modest  beauty,  pure  and  meek. 
She  yet  shall  come,  the  Eve  we  seek,  : 

Who,  guileless  as  the  dove, 
Shall  walk  unstained  where  lepers  tread, 
And  pour  upon  the  martyr's  head 

The  spikenard  of  her  love. 

"  Down  where  the  human  wastrels  glide, 
Broken,  along  life's  dreary  tide 

Toward  the  gulf  called  Death, 
She  waits  and  works  to  do  God's  will, 
Maid,  wife,  and  mother,  ready  still 

As  once  in  Nazareth. 

"  Sdch  shall  she  be  when  lovfe  and  truth 
Return  and  man  renews  his  youth, 
Sinless  and  undefiled." 

Candaules  says,  while  feeling  less  king  than  lover : 

"  For  this  cause,  Nyssia,  wear  the  mystic  ring  : 
As  I  rule  Lydia,  rule  thou  Lydia's  king. 

"  So  may  I  prosper,  Nyssia  !  as  I  keep  -*- 

The  light  of  love  aglow  within  my  breast 
Till  the  Dark  Angel  summon  me  to  sleep  .      ... 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  217 


In  the  chill  chamber  where  my  fathers  rest  : 
Where  thou  too,  dear  one,  lying  by  my  side, 
In  death,  as  now  in  life,  shalt  be  my  bride." 

Gyges  has  been  a  favorite  among  the  shepherdesses,  of  whom  one, 
Aryenis,  was  taken  into  the  Queen's  train  of  attendants  as  musician,  and 
at  the  command  of  royalty  sings  a  love-song  while  thinking  fondly  of  the 
faithless  Gyges  :       . 

"  So  dream  I  nightly,  love,  of  thee, 
The  while  mine  arms  entwine 
Thy  graceful  limbs  in  ecstasy, 
Like  tendrils  of  the  vine, 
Like  tendrils  of  the  vine. 

"  Prolong,  sweet  star  !  thy  silvery  reign, 
Delay  thy  steeds,  O  sun  ! 
O  tranquil  night  !  restore  again 
The  dream  that  makes  us  one. 
The  dream  that  makes  us  one  1 " 

As  Gyges  grows  in  favor  at  Court,  the  dotard  king  makes  him  a  confi- 
dant and  discusses  with  him  the  charms  of  the  queen,  finally  insisting 
upon  Gyges  taking  his  stand  behind  the  curtains  of  the  royal  chamber 
to  get  his  opinion  of  Nyssia's  beauty.  Gyges  resists  his  master,  and 
only  yields  when  threatened  with  the  galleys.  The  Queen  when  disrobing 
catches  a  glimpse  of  the  Peeping  Tom,  and,  partly  enamored  of  the  in- 
truder, and  partly  outraged  by  the  knowledge  that  Gyges'  act  was  by 
the  king's  command,  resolves  on  the  death  of  the  latter.  She  sends  for 
Gyges,  and  gives  him  a  dagger  and  her  command  to  kill  the  king.  The 
poet  paints  the  mad  tumult  possible  in  the  city  as  the  result  of  the 
assassination  in  these  strong  words  : 

"  Sleep,  Sardis,  in  thy  pride 

And  plenitude  of  might ; 
Sleep  !  lest  thou  see  the  Furies  ride 
Their  foam-flecked,  champing  steeds  beside 
The  gold-floored  stream  whose  waters  glide 

Beneath  the  tranquil  night. 

"  Ho  !  warder  in  thy  mail  ! 

Resume  thy  martial  tread. 
Fear  not  because  thou  heard'st  the  wail. 
Borne  lightly  on  the  midnight  gale. 
Of  spirit  voices  bidding  Hail  ! 

To  the  last  Godson  dead  ! " 

Aryenis,  singing  maid  of  the  queen  and  discarded  lover  of  Gyges,  tries 
to  turn  him  from  his  purpose  when  she  sees  the  dagger  : 

"  Gyges,  in  other  lands 
Than  Lydia  there  is  refuge  :  who  can  trace 
Thy  footsteps  ?     Is  there  one  to  whom  the  plain, 
The  mountain  pass,  the  caverned  rocks,  the  dells 
Are  known  as  thou  hast  known  them  from  thy  youth  I 


^18  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Come,  then,  while  thou  art  innocent.     Oh,  come  ! 
Thou  shalt  not  do  this  awful  thing  !     My  voice 
Shall  pierce  the  night  and  fright  dull  sleep  away, 
And  summon  hither  all  who  love  our  lord. 
Our  gracious  lord  !     Then  shall  the  she- wolf  find 
Swift  retribution  !  " 

Nyssia  hears,  and  calls  a  eunuch  to  "  Do  thy  work  with  expedition  ; 
see  she  makes  no  sound !"  and  Aryenis  dies  by  the  hands  of  the  queen's 
agents,  those 

"  Ready  ministers,  deformed  by  man, 
Relinquished  pity  with  virility. 
As  if  to  break  into  the  house  of  life 
Were  recompense  to  one  who  could  not  build." 

Scarcely  is  she  dead,  when  Gyges  returns  with  dripping  dagger,  the 
House  of  the  Heraclids  is  ended,  and  Nyssia  cries,  "Long  live  King 
Gyges  ! "        ^ 

Space  forbids  our  giving  anything  more  than  a  few  short  passages  to 
further  illustrate  our  author's  poetical  power  and  ethical  inspiration. 
In  his  description  of  Phraortes,  the  first  Captain  of  the  Guard,  you  can 
hear  the  clank  of  steel  : 

"  With  shining  brass  and  corslet  of  bright  steel, 

And  towering  helm,  whose  blood-red  plume  curves  out ' 
Like  some  great  charger's  mane  where  squadrons  wheel 
And  nostrils  quiver  at  the  battle  shout." 

Here  are  his  closing  reflections  and  a  bit  of  his  philosophy : 

"  Power  and  wealth  and  fame  and  love, 

These  are  the  pride  of  life  : 
Tell  us,  O  Mind  above  ! 

Is  the  premium  worth  the  strife  ? 
Hath  man  no  joy  beyond  the  thrill 

Of  realized  desire. 
When  function,  sense,  and  fervid  will 

Kindle  and  feed  the  fire  ? 
P  God  !    if  life  hath  but  this  to  give, 

Is  it,  we  ask  thee,  wm-th  while  to  live  ? 

"  Peace,  my  soul  ! 

And  ask  no  further  question, — this  is  sure  : 
The  Christ  is  coming  who  shall  make  us  wiiole. 

And  build  the  brotherhood  that  shall  endure 
Until,  his  process  ended,  man  shall  cease, 

And  Earth  be  one  Necropolis  of  Peace. 

The  last  stanza  given  is  not  the  closing  one,  but  it  is  the  one  I  would 
have  selected  as  such.  The  whole  poem — some  eighty  pages — has,  I 
think,  not  a  wasted  word,  and  bristles  throughout  with  virility  and  dra- 
malic  force.  Not  since  Shakespeare  pourtrayed  Lady  Macbeth  has  such 
a  dramatic  personality  come  from  any  writer  in  the  English  tongue,  and 
Nyssia  I  deem  the  stronger  character  of  the  two,  while  Gyges  appears 
with  Napoleonic  force — strong  as  Candaules  is  weak. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  219^ 


an  HUcv'B  IRotca. 


:o: 

THE  MAN  IN  THE  PULPIT. 
The  editor  of  the  Ladies*  Home  Journal^  in  search  for  popular  subjects,  has 
been  discussing  the  question  :  **  Why  do  men  not  go  to  church  ?  "  The  facts 
must  have  been  patent  indeed  to  have  attracted  the  notice  of  the  sapient  editor, 
but  the  Ladies'  Home  journal  is  published  in  Philadelphia,  and  Philadelphia 
editors  are  still  under  the  shadow  of  Benjamin  Franklin  :  the  waywardness  of 
youth  must  be  atoned  for  by  the  respectability  of  later  life.  The  recognition  of 
such  a  heterodox  fact  must  be  atoned  for  by  an  orthodox  attempt  to  entice  the 
sinners  back  to  the  fold.  The  writer  therefore  misses  the  true  reason,  which  is 
that  between  the  best  and  highest  intellectual  life  of  our  times  and  the  man  in 
the  pulpit  there  is  an  ever-widening  gulf,  impassable  as  that  between  Lazarus  in 
Abraham's  bosom  and  Dives  in  his  Turkish  bath. 

The  intellect  of  the  man  in  the  pulpit,  like  that  of  every  other  human  being, 
is  in  a  protoplasmic  condition  in  youth,  but  as  he  progresses  in  his  chosen 
profession  it  must  be  moulded,  curved,  and  contorted,  to  suit  creeds  and  con- 
fessions in  whose  making  he  had  no  part.  Here  it  is  narrowed  by  superstition  ; 
there  flattened  by  bigotry  or  barred  by  dogma.  After  years  of  intellectual  labor 
he  is  unfitted  for  any  other  trade,  profession  or  calling.  He  has  bartered  his  in- 
tellectual heritage  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  He  must  be  orthodox  or  he  must 
starve.  The  man  in  the  pulpit,  trained  under  modern  conditions,  must  become 
either  one  of  two  things  :  a  useless  intellectual  derelict,  with  no  opinions  at  all> 
or  a  more  useless  intellectual  hypocrite,  with  esoteric  opinions  for  himself  and 
exoteric  opinions  for  his  congregation. 

I  remember  seeing  a  caricature  of  General  Kuropatkin  entering  on  the  great 
race  for  the  supremacy  of  the  East,  loaded  down  with  splinters  of  wood  and 
rusty  nails  from  the  true  cross,  bones  and  toe-nails  of  defunct  saints,  and  truck  of 
a  similar  kind,  which  had  been  blessed  by  the  Church  ;  and  opposed  to  him  was 
Marshal  Oyama,  who  had  laid  aside  the  oddities  of  one  religion  without  em- 
bracing the  crudities  of  another. 

The  man  in  the  pulpit,  handicapped  by  his  Abrahams  and  Isaacs,  his  Noahs 
and  their  Arks,  his  Balaams  and  their  Asses,  his  Jonahs  and  their  Whales,  his 
Daniels  and  their  Lions,  his  Virgin  Mothers  and  immaculately  conceived  Christs, 
cannot  expect  to  be  even  an  "  also  ran  "  in  the  intellectual  race. 

This  is  the  reason  why  men  refuse  to  go  to  church.  It  is  the  symptom  of  an 
intellectual  evolution.  It  is  to  the  man  in  the  pulpit  the  "  Mene,  mene,  tekel 
upharsin  "  on  the  wall  that  tells  him  he  has  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and 
found  wanting.  It  strikes  the  knoll  of  doom  of  a  type  unfitted  to  survive  in  a 
more  intellectual  environment.     His  biggest  hope  for  the  future  can  only  be,  in. 


220  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

company  with  his  thumbscreM,  his  rack  and  his  *'  fanes  of  fruitless  prayers,"  to 
occupy  a  slightly  more  respectable  position  than  the  python  and  the  pleiosaurus. 


THE  REVIVALIST'S  HELL. 

A  Mr.  Newell  has  been  addressing  a  Toronto  audience  in  the  Walmer  Road 
Baptist  Church,  on  the  subject  of  "  Hell."  Mr.  Newell  comes  from  Chicago, 
which  seems  the  only  reason  why  he  should  bring  the  latest  news  from  the 
regions  of  nether  gloom.  Like  the  rest  of  us,  he  shares  in  the  universal  ignorance 
of  mankind  on  the  subject,  and  speaks  with  the  scientific  precision  natural  to 
such  data.  However,  he  solemnly  assured  his  large  audience  that  it  was  an 
actual  place,  though  he  omitted  such  trifling  details  as  its  terrestrial  or  universal 
latitude  or  longitude.     Not  only  had  it 

"  A  local  habitation  and  a  name," 
but  it  had  inhabitants.  Mr.  Newell,  of  Chicago,  was  not  niggardly  in  giving  it  a 
population.  The  great  majority  of  men,  women,  and  children  who  have  existed 
since  the  Cave  man,  and  will  be  brought  into  being  until  the  last  trump,  were 
arbitrarily  condemned  by  Mr.  Newell  to  eternal  damnation.  Only  a  few  carefully 
selected  olive  plants  like  Mr.  Newell  were  destined  to  the  ineffable  happiness  of 
discussing,  with  a  crown  for  a  full  dress  suit,  the  superiority  of  gold  to  asphalt 
for  a  street  pavement. 

Mr.  Newell  went  still  further.  He  gave  some  particular^  as  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Hell.  They  were  not  merely  disembodied  spirits,  but  disembodied  spirits 
clothed  with  bodies  endowed  with  sensation,  reflection,  and  nervous  systems; 
specially  resurrected  ;  and  super-added  that  they  might  be  tortured  to  all  eternity 
with  eternal  tooth-ache,  eternal  face-ache,  eternal  back-ache,  eternal  head-ache, 
>and  eternal  toe-ache,  unrelieved  by  Dr.  Williams'  Pink  Pills,  or  operations  for 
appendicitis,  that  the  Nero  of  the  skies  might  demonstrate  that  he  was  the  It  of 
the  Universe. 

In  Mr.  Newell's  statements  there  are  hiati,  and  these  are  even  more  interesting 
than  the  details  he  was  kind  enough  to  furnish.  For  instance,  a  considerable 
time  must  elapse  between  death  and  reincarnation.  Do  the  souls  slumber  on  in 
a  state  of  coma  until  it  pleases  the  Almighty  Monster  to  prepare  his  Eternal 
Torture-Chamber?  Now,  Mr.  Newell  might  have  deigned  to  enlighten  his 
audience  as  to  when,  where,  and  how  they  were  to  be  ticketed  and  labelled  and 
put  away  in  some  odd  nook  of  the  Universe  for  future  fun  for  the  Almighty, 
For,  unless  Mr.  Newell  tells  us,  how  can  we  know  ? 

If  we  ultimately  analyze  any  conception  of  a  'god  or  gods  we  find  them  but 
creations  of  our  own  minds,  and  a  careful  inspection  discloses  the  lineaments  of 
the  creator.  If  this  conclusion  be  correct,  and  the  God  of  this  Spanish-Inquisi- 
<tion-hell  be  but  a  replica  of  Mr,  Newell,  what  a  brute  must  Mr.  Newell  be !   To 


I 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  221 

the  instincts  of  the  next  brutal  homicide  he  adds  every  evil  quality  which,  ir> 
every  country,  and  in  every  clime,  has  made  every  tyrant  execrated. 

Mr.  Newell  points  to  the  alleged  death-agonies  of  Thomas  Paine  and  Sir 
Francis  Newport  as  a  proof  that  what  he  asserts  is  correct.  Without  questioning 
the  truth  of  these  statements  (and  they  are  undoubtedly  grossly  untrue),  what  do 
they  prove  ?  To  those  of  us  of  riper  years,  who  have  stood  at  the  bedside  of 
our  fellow  creatures  at  the  moment  of  dissolution,  when  the  lamp  of  life  burned 
low,  when  the  senses  became  dim  and  the  mind  dull,  did  it  ever  strike  us  that 
they  were  hearing  whispers  from  another  world  ?  Rather,  did  we  not  feel  more 
like  throwing  the  mantle  of  charity  round  our  friends  in  the  moments  of  their 
last  great  weakness? 

Millions  besides  Thomas  Paine  and  Sir  Francis  Newport  have  died  who  have 
never  bared  the  head  nor  bowed  the  knee  to  other  goddess  than  the  Goddess  of 
Truth,  and  have  died  just  as  their  fellow  creatures  die.  Why  does  not  Mr. 
Newell  tell  of  their  death-beds  ? 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  man  who  would  attempt  to  rear  the  doctrine  of  Eter- 
nal Torment  for  the  greater  portion  of  the  human  race  on  the  dying  agonies  of 
two  of  his  fellow  creatures  is  amenable  to  the  dictates  neither  of  common  reason 
nor  of  common  humanity. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  objected  that  in  the  foregoing  I  have  treated  some  of  the 
riddles  of  existence  with  unbecoming  levity.  I  admit  these  are  grave  subjects, 
and  should  be  discussed  with  reverence.  But  I  am  discussing,  not  so  much 
the  subjects  themselves,  as  the  statements  of  Mr.  Newell,  of  Chicago.  I 
regard  him  as  a  parasite  and  a  grafter  on  popular  ignorance,  whom  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  honest  thinker  to  kick  and  hammer  into  well-merited  oblivion. 

I  do  not  believe  Mr.  Newell  seriously  believes  what  he  says,  or  that  he  realizes 
the  horrible  nightmare  with  which  he  would  enshroud  the  human  race.  To  me, 
he  seems  a  shrewd,  unscrupulous  speculator  in  human  gullibility.  The  doctrines 
of  a  personal  devil,  and  a  physical  hell  have  been  fading  from  clerical  thought, 
until  now  they  are  "  seen  in  outline  and  no  more."  The  pendulum  of  time  may 
bring  the  reaction.  Mr.  Newell  thinks  the  reaction  is  beginning.  There  is 
kudos  and  cash  to  be  got  by  getting  on  the  crest  of  the  advancing  wave.  He  is 
simply  putting  up  his  margin  on  the  pendulum  of  time  as  he  would  in  a  rise  in 
pork  or  potatoes.  Idler. 


:o: 


[Lines  written  for  the  funeral  progress  of  Paul  Kruger  through  Cape  Town,  on  the 
way  to  burial  at  Pretoria,  December  i6th,  1904.— The  funeral  of  C.  J.  Rhodes  passed 
through  the  same  streets  April  3rd,  1902.] 

Who  comes,  to  sob  of  slow-breathed  guns  borne  past 
In  solemn  pageant  ?     This  is  he  that  threw 
Challenge  to  England.     From  the  veldt  he  drew 

A  strength  that  bade  her  sea  strength  pause,  aghast,. 
Before  the  bastion  vast 
And  infinite  redoubts  of  the  Karoc 


222  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


"  Pass,  friend  !  "  who  living  were  so  stout  a  foe, 

Unquelled,  unwon,  not  uncommiserate  ! 

The  British  sentry  at  Van  Riebeck's  gate 
-Salutes  you,  and  as  once  three  years  ago 
The  crowd  moves  hushed  and  slow, 

And  silence  holds  the  city  desolate, 

The  long  last  treck  begins.     Now  something  thrills 
Our  English  hearts,  that,  unconfessed,  and  dim, 
Drew  Dutch  hearts  north  that  April  day,  with  him 

Whose  grave  is  hewn  in  the  eternal  hills. 
The  war  of  these  two  wills 
Was  as  the  warring  of  the  Anakim. 

What  might  have  been,  had  these  two  been  at  one .'' 
Or  had  the  wise  old  peasant,  wiser  yet. 
Taught  strength  to  mate  with  freedom  and  beget 

The  true  republic,  nor,  till  sands  had  run. 
Gripped  close  as  Bible  and  gun 
The  keys  of  power,  like  some  fond  amulet  ? 

He  called  to  God  for  storm  ;  and  on  his  head — 

Alas  !  not  his  alone— the  thunders  fell. 

But  not  by  his  own  text,  who  ill  could  spell. 
Nor  in  our  shallow  scales  shall  he  be  weighed, 
Whose  dust,  lapped  round  with  lead. 

To  shrill  debates  lies  inaccessible. 

Bred  up  to  beard  the  lion,  youth  and  man 

He  towered  the  great  chief  of  a  little  folk  ; 

Till  once,  the  scarred  old  hunter  missed  his  stroke, 
And  by  the  blue  Mediterranean 

Pined  for  some  brakish  pan  * 

Far  south,  self-exiled,  till  the  tired  heart  broke. 

So  ends  the  feud.     Death  gives  for  those  cold  lips 
Our  password.     Home,  then  !  by  the  northward  way 
He  trod  with  heroes  of  the  trek,  when  they 

On  seas  of  desert  launched  their  wagon-ships. 
The  dreams  new  worlds  eclipse 
Yet  shed  a  glory  through  their  narrower  day. 

"Bear  "home  your  dead  ;  nor  from  our  wreaths  recoil, 
Sad  Boers  ;  like  some  rough  foster-sire  shall  he 
Be  honored  by  our  sons,  co-heirs  made  free 

Of  Africa,  like  yours,  by  blood  and  toil. 
And  proud  that  British  soil, 

Which  bore,  received  him  back  in  ohsequy. 

The  London  Spectator,  F.  Edmund  Garrett. 


A  certain  English  clergyman  is  very  outspoken  and  enthusiastic  about  his 
work.  A  great  favorite  with  the  Royal  Family,  a  princess  upon  one  occasion 
told  him  he  ought  to  marry,  as  a  wife  would  be  of  more  use  to  him  than  a 
dozen  curates.  "  But  supposing  we  didn't  agree  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Well,  you 
don't  always  agree  with  your  curates,  do  you  ?"  **  No  ;  but  then  I  can  always 
send  them  away,"  was  his  triumphant  reply. 


SECULAE   THOUGHT.  22», 


CORRESPONDENCE 


Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir, — Your  honored  contemporary,  the  Catholic  Record,  of  London,  Ont.,  for 
March  4,'o5,  in  elocuting  on  the  probable  Whys  and  Wherefores  bachelors  are 
deterred  from  marriage,  among  other  things  says  : 

"  VV^e  should  be  grateful  to  anyone  who  would  enable  us  to  see  the  workings 
of  the  bachelor's  mind." 

So  would  a  good  many  more  of  us,  especially  to  be  able  to  view  the  workings 
of  the  PRIESTLY  bachelor's  mind.  If  science  could  accomplish  this,  there  would 
be  a  good  many  of  us  who  would  learn  what  "  chumps  '^  we  have  been,  and  it 
might  also  settle  the  North-west  educational  question  in  short  order. 

We  have  often  wondered  why  Jesus  and  so  many  of  his  followers  as  well  as 
the  present-day  Roman  Catholic  priests  do  not  marry,  as  well  as  why  all  these 
priestly  bachelors  persisted  and  still  persist  in  giving  advice  and  sometimes  even 
commands  as  to  the  conduct  of  married  people.  If  the  editor  of  the  Catholic 
Record  will  enlighten  us  on  these  subjects,  as  well  as  open  his  columns  to  us 
bachelors  for  a  year  or  two,  many  of  us  would  no  doubt  cheerfully  enlighten  him 
about  the  reasons  for  our  bachelordom.  But  we  must  be  guaranteed  both  good 
faith  and  space,  as  none  of  us  have  any  desire  to  write  for  his  waste-basket. 

Finally,  allow  me  to  remind  the  editor  of  the  Catholic  Record  that  Martin 
Luther,  the  man  who  withstood  and  conquered  the  pope,  emperor  and  princes  as 
well  as  popular  prejudices,  was  finally  himself  conquered  by  Cupid  at  the  age  of 
forty-nine.  So  we  bachelors,  and  for  that  matter  old  maids  also,  are  not  in  such 
a  sorrowful  plight  as  the  editor  of  the  Catholic  Record  seems  to  think.  Catholic 
bachelor  priests  and  Protestant  married  ministers  may  save  their  sympathetic 
tears  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  as  we  are  generally  capable  of  taking  care  of 
ourselves,  and  under  our  present  economic  and  social  conditions  very  often 
choose  the  wisest  position  in  life.  "Kicking  Mule." 


MISCELLANEOUS 


DANGER  IN  REVIVALS. 
The  London  Hospital  issues  a  warning  against  revivals,  saying  that  *'  emotion 
is  a  force  seeking  outlet  in  action,  capable  of  being  guided  by  those  who  have 
been  trained  to  bring  it  into  subjection,  but  certain,  when  suffered  to  accumulate, 
to  overpower  persons  of  feeble  will  and  compel  them  into  courses  which  sound 
judgment  would  often  be  unable  to  approve."  Abandonment  to  religious 
feeling,  it  says,  is  the  surrender  of  the  will  to  the  emotions,  and  the  effect  is  to 
give  emotion  the  predominant  place  in  the  organism. — Path  Finder,  Washing- 
ton, D.C.,  April  I,  1905. 


A  story  is  told  of  an  elderly  gentleman  who,  owing  to  his  deafness,  makes  some 
funny  mistakes.  One  day  he  was  at  a  dinner  party,  and  the  lady  seated  beside 
him  tried  to  help  him  along  in  conversation.  As  the  fruit  was  being  passed,  she 
inquired,  *'  Do  you  like  bananas  ?"  "  No,"  replied  the  old  man,  with  a  look  of 
mild  surprise.    "  Oh>  no  ;  the  old-fashioned  nightshirt  is  good  enough  for  me." 


224 


SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


WORK. 

Let  me  but  do  my  work  from  day  to  day 
In  field  or  forest,  at  the  desk  or  loom, 
In  roaring  market  place  or  tranquil  room  ; 
Let  me  but  find  it  in  my  heart  to  say, 
When  vagrant  wishes  beckon  me  astray, 
"  This  is  my  work  ;  my  blessing,  not  my 

doom. 
Of  all   who  live,  I   am  the  only  one  by 

whom 
This  work  can  best  be  done  in  the  right 

way." 
Then  shall  I  see  it,  not  too  great,  nor  small, 
To  suit  my  spirit,  and  to  prove  my  powers: 
Then  shall    I  cheerful  greet  the  laboring 

hours, 
And  cheerful  turn,  when  the  long  shadows 

fall 
At  eventide,  to  play  and  love  and  rest. 
Because  I  know  for  me  my  work  is  best. 
— Henry  Van  Dijke. 


THE  SECRET   OF  SUCCESS. 

"  What  is  the  secret  of  success  ?  " 
asked  the  Sphinx. 

"Push,"  said  the  Button. 

"Take  pains,"  said  the  Window. 

"Never  be  led,"  said  the  PenciL 

"Be  up  to  date,"  said  the  Calendar. 

"Always  keep  cool,"  said  the  Ice. 

"  Do  business  on  tick,"  said  the 
Clock. 

"Never  lose  your  head,"  said  the 
Barrel. 

"  Do  a  driving  business,"  said  the 
Hammer. 

^'Aspire to  greater  things,"  said  the 
Nutmeg, 

"  Make  light  of  everything,"  said 
-the  Fire. 

"  Make  much  of  small  things,"  said 
ithe  Microscope. 

"  Never  do  anything  offhand,"  said 
the  Glove. 

"Spend  much  time  in  reflection," 
said  the  Mirror, 

"  Do  the  work  you  are  suited  for," 
said  the  Flue. 

"  Get  a  good  pull  with  the  ring," 
said  the  Door-bell. 


"  Be  sharp  in  all  your  dealings," 
said  the  Knife. 

"  Find  a  good  thing  and  stick  to  it," 
said  the  Glue. 

"Trust  to  your  stars  for  success," 
said  the  Night. 

"  Strive  to  make  a  good  impression," 
said  the  Seal. — Life. 


THE  REAL  GOOD. 

"  What  is  the  real  good  ?" 
I  asked  in  musing  mood. 
"  Order,"  said  the  law  court  ; 
^'  Knowledge,"  said  the  school  ; 
"  Truth,"  said  the  wise  man  ; 
"  Pleasure,"  said  the  fool  ; 
"  Love,"  said  the  maiden  ; 
"  Beauty,"  said  the  page  ; 
"  Freedom,"  said  the  dreamer  ; 
"  Home,"  said  the  sage  ; 
"  Fame,"  said  the  soldier  ; 
"  Equity,"  the  seer. 
Spake  my  heart  full  sadly— 
"  The  answer  is  not  here." 
Then  within  my  bosom 
Softly  this  I  heard  : 
"  Each  heart  holds  the  secret  ; 
Kindness  is  the  word." 

— John  Boyle  O'Reilly. 


Old  Gentleman — I  want  to  get  copies 
of  your  paper  for  a  week  back. 

Editor — Hadn't  you  better  try  a 
porous  plaster  ? 


"My  love,"  said  the  beaver  passion- 
ately, "  come  and  live  with  me  in  my 
newly-built  house  in  the  stream." 

For  a  moment  the  beaver  maid  was 
silent ;  then  coyly  slapping  her  tail  on 
the  bank  she  whispered  : 

"  Then  you  do  give  a  dam  for  me, 
after  SiW'—McGill  Outlook. 


Some  one  asked  an  Englishman  if 
he  was  fond  of  fish-balls.  He  replied 
that  he  really  couldn't  say ;  he  never 
had  attended  one. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  8.  TORONTO,  APRIL   30,  1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 


^be  Stu&?  of  IRature* 

:o: 

Give  thyself  up  with  all  thy  soul  to  the  search  afteJ  Nature's 
secrets.  Let  there  be  no  sea,  no  river,  no  fountain,  the  fish 
of  which  thou  dost  not  know  ;  and  make  thyself  acquainted 
with  all  the  birds  of  the  air,  the  trees,  the  bushes,  the  fruits 
o(  the  forest,  every  sort  of  grass  on  the  earth,  every  metal 
hidden  in  the  bowels  thereof.  . .  .Thou  shouldst,  in  faith,  read 
the  books  of  the  scholars,  but,  above  all,  have  constant  re- 
course to  experience.  And  by  patient  study  get  thyself  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  that  other  world  which  is  man. .  .  .What 
an  abyss  of  knowledge  there  lieth  under  my  feet  ! — Rabelais 
(Gargantua  s  Letter  to  Pantagruel), 

EDITORIALS. 

''RACE  SUICIDE"  The  London  Tablet,  &  Catholic  organ,  remarks 
IN  CANADA.  that   "  when  the  results  of  the  last  Canadian 

census  were  published,  some  surprise  was  ex- 
j)ressed  at  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  immigration  from  Protestant 
countries,  the  percentage  of  Catholics  in  the  Dominion  had  increased. 
The  explanation  was  not  far  to  seek.  The  birth-rate  is  dwindling  in  the 
Protestant  provinces,  and  is  extraordinarily  high  among  the  Catholic 
population.  In  Ontario,  for  instance,  what  President  Roosevelt  recently 
denounced  as  '  race  suicide  '  is  evidently  a  constant  habit." 

Whatever  the  real  facts  may  be  regarding  the  causes  of  the  decline  in 
the  birth-rate  among  the  more  prosperous  and  more  intelligent  classes 
of  society, — and  the  actual  fact  seems  to  be  the  same,  not  in  Canada 
only,  but  in  the  United  States  and  Britain  as  well  as  in  France, — we 
cannot  by  any  means  admit  that  it  is  a  legitimate  ground  on  which  to 
base  a  charge  of  **  race  suicide." 


226  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Taking  as  impartial  a  view  of  the  matter  as  is  possible  to  us,  rather 
should  we  be  inclined  to  regard  it  as  a  sign  of  attempted  race  improve- 
ment and  preservation,  if  we  consider  it  to  be  the  result  of  conscious 
and  deliberate  action.  In  the  other  event,  it  is  a  result  of  causes  that 
demand  investigation,  but  in  no  sense  can  it  be  legitimately  described 
as  "  race  suicide." 

It  is  all  very  well,  too,  to  talk  about  the  birth-rate  being  higher  among 
Catholics  than  among  Protestants,  but,  as  we  showed  a  short  time  ago, 
the  death-rate  among  the  former  is  a  factor  that  makes  a  vast  difference 
in  the  result.  The  returns  from  Quebec  show  that  the  death-rate  among 
Catholicg  in  some  cities  is  nearly  double  that  among  Protestants,  and 
that  the  net  gain  of  the  former  is  by  no  means  equivalent  to  that  indi- 
cated by  the  birth-rate. 

If  all  that  is  directly  charged  and  insinuated  as  the  cause  of  the  ob- 
served facts  be  true,  it  is  a  sign  of  increased  prudence  and  forethought 
among  the  more  intelligent  classes,  rather  than  of  reckless  misconduct 
w^ith  a  purely  selfish  and  vicious  object,  and  we  regard  it,  on  the  w^hole, 
as  a  hopeful  instead  of  a  depressing  sign.  Time  brings  its  revenges,  and 
we  cannot  believe  that  the  final  outcome  of  our  increasing  knowledge 
will  be  disastrous  to  civilization. 

It  is  somewhat  re-assuring  to  note  the  progress  of  this  "  decreasing 
birth-rate  "  scare.  Half-a-century  ago,  it  was  "  infidel  France  "  that 
was  staggering  humanity  with  its  low  birth-rate  ;  but  to-day  France  is 
behind  no  other  nation  in  material  prosperity  and  intellectual  progress, 
notwithstanding  her  low  birth-rate,  her  disastrous  war,  and  her  long 
struggle  against  the  Catholic  Church.  Then  came  the  turn  of  the  old 
families  in  the  United  States,  who  were  charged  with  committing  race- 
suicide,  but  who  to-day  rank  high  among  the  plutocrats  and  rulers  of 
the  world.  Then  the  British  people  were  charged  with  the  offence,  and 
now  the  Ontario  people  are  attacked.  Who  makes  the  charge  ?  The 
Catholic  and  the  ultra-pious  Protestant  join  their  voices  in  concert  to 
denounce  the  first  sign  that  common-sense  views  are  replacing  the  old 
theologically-based  order  to  "  increase  and  multiply  " — in  other  words, 
to  breed  like  rabbits,  regardless  of  prudence  or  decency. 

This  controversy  and  the  facts  relating  to  it  rather  tend  to  confirm 
our  view  of  the  soundness  of  the  philosophy  of  an  old  aphorism — that 
if  pietists  and  preachers  approved  a  thing,  that  thing  would  be  found 
in  the  long  run  to  be  injurious  to  society  ;  and  whatever  they  denounced 
would  be  found  to  be  beneficial.  No  doubt,  large  families  are  advanta- 
geous to  the  church,,  by  increasing  the  fees  of  the  clergy  and  keeping^ 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  227 


the  people  poor  and  humble  and  dependent  upon  the  charity  of  the 
church.  Charity  is  a  great  ecclesiastical  institution,  and  anything  that 
is  likely  to  decrease  the  need  for  it  is  pretty  sure  to  meet  with  priestly 
disfavor.  The  church  knows  how  to  make  charity  profitable.  It  robs  a 
poor  family  of  $5  for  a  christening  or  a  funeral,  and  sometimes  returns 
a  few  cents  to  keep  the  family  from  starving.  Yes,  a  heavy  birth-rate  is 
good  for  the  church. 

THE  DANGERS  Some  little  time  ago  we  referred  to  the  dictum 

OF  HASTY  uttered  by  Premier  Laurier  to  a  deputation  that 

LEGISLATION.  waited  upon  him  to  advocate  the  preservation  of 

municipal  rights  against  the  insidious  attacks  of 
wealthy  companies,  aided  by  corrupt  politicians,  that  "  if  legislation  had 
been  obtained  creating  vested  rights  in  favor  of  any  company,  it  would 
be  almost  impossible  to  upset  it."  No  more  dangerous  or  pernicious 
fallacy  could  be  current  than  this. 

Even  if  the  Parliament  of  to-day  had  the  power  to  pass  irrevocable 
laws  binding  future  generations — a  proposition  manifestly  ridiculous  and 
unjust, — and  even  if  the  legislation  thus  obtained  were  passed  in  an  open 
and  straightforward  fashion — which  is,  indeed,  seldom  the  case, — a  future 
Parliament  must  necessarily  possess  the  power  to  review  the  work  of  pre- 
ceding legislators,  and  if  this  is  found  defective,  to  amend  or  reverse  it. 
To  act  on  the  opposite  principle  is  to  permit  ourselves  to  be  governed  by 
dead  men. 

The  Montreal  Star  calls  attention  to  two  bills  now  before  the  Quebec 
Legislature  which  are  of  the  character  we  have  referred  to.  The  bills 
are  intended  to  incorporate  two  companies  to  provide  places  of  public 
entertainment  in  the  city  of  Montreal.  The  following  are  some  innocent- 
looking  clauses  from  the  bill  of  the  "  Stadium  "  Company  : 

"  6.  The  company  is  hereby  authorized  : 

**  (1)  To  give  entertainments  of  all  kinds  with  a  view  to  amusement 
and  instruction  of  the  mind  and  recreation  for  the  body,  and  also  musi- 
cal entertainments. 

"  (2)  To  serve  the  public  with  refreshments  of  all  kinds  and  keep  the 
establishment  of  the  company  open  to  the  public  on  all  the  days  of  the 
year,  for  the  purpose  of  recreation  and  instruction,  etc. 

"  (3)  The  company  may  build,  etc. 

"  (4)  The  company  may  establish  roof  gardens,  serve  meals  and  re- 
freshments to  the  public,  give  entertainments  therein,  and  keep  the  same 
open  to  the  public  all  the  days  of  the  year." 


228  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

The  Star  remarks  upon  these  clauses: 

*'  This  undoubtedly  means  Sunday  public  entertainments,  apparently 
of  an  unlimited  character,  and  it  looks  as  if  it  mij^ht  mean  Sunday 
liquor-selling  as  well.  Now,  neither  of  these  things  should  be  enacted 
in  this  way  by  a  side-wind.  If  we  are  to  have  any  more  Sunday  per- 
formances in  a  roof-garden  or  elsewhere  for  public  amusement,  we  should 
discuss  the  question  as  a  whole,  and  extend  this  privilege  to  every  public 
entertainer  alike.  And  we  imagine  it  will  be  found  that  public  opinion 
in  Montreal  is  strongly  against  any  such  step. 

''  As  for  Sunday  liquor-selling,  any  extension  of  that  unquestioned 
evil  will  be  strongly  opposed  in  all  moral  reform  circles.  Catholic  as  well 
as  Protestant ;  and  these  bills  certainly  ought  not  to  pass  without  a  defi- 
nite clause  closing  their  bars  during  the  same  hours  that  the  ordinary 
bars  are  closed.  That  the  iiaw  is  now  broken  does  not  affect  the  question. 
We  do  not  want  to  lend  it  the  authority  of  any  further  legalization.  The 
extension  of  personal  privileges  in  this  way  is  a  vicious  sort  of  legislation, 
and  should  never  be  granted  contrary  to  the  trend  of  the  general  law." 

According  to  the  principle  laid  down  by  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  if  the 
Stadium  Company  should  acquire,  by  means  of  such  surreptitiously  ob- 
tained legislation,  the  vested  right  to  violate  the  statute  law,  nothing 
could  be  done  to  deprive  them  of  their  stolen  privileges.  In  our  view,  it 
is  totally  beyond  the  legitimate  power  of  any  Parliament  to  enact  laws 
which  its  successor  cannot  amend  or  reverse.  If  vested  rights  are  created 
^-practically  monopolies — which  are  unjust  and  contrary  to  the  public 
welfare,  and  more  especially  if  they  have  been  created  by  unfair  means, 
they  should  be  abolished,  and  any  question  of  compensation  would  be 
illegitimate.  We  might  as  well  think  of  compensating  burglars  or  thugs 
for  having  their  businesses  stopped  by  law.  The  monopolists  should 
rather  be  compelled  to  disgorge  some  of  their  ill-gotten  gains. 

Une  of  these  days  the  preachers  will  be  asking  for  compensation  be- 
cause, owing  to  the  increasing  intelligence  of  the  people,  their  business' 
is  declining,  and  they  are  compelled  to  try  and  earn   a  living  at  some" 
honest  employment. 

NOT  SUNDAY  The  most   important  question  involved  in  this 

BUT  MONOPOLY  Stadium  Bill  is  not  that  of   a  free  Sunday,  but 

LEGISLATION.  of  creating  a  monopoly.     If  we  are  to  have  a 

free  Sunday,  let  the  question  be  threshed  out  on 
that  principle;  and,  as  our  contemporary  suggests,  if  the  Stadium  Bill 
passes,  then  let  the  same  privileges  be  granted  to  alJ  the  other  drinking 
places  and  places  of  public  entertainmeat.. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  229 

As  to  Sunday  drinking,  we  cannot  imagine  why  drinking  on  Sunday 
is  either  better  or  worse  than  drinking  on  Monday.  Our  own  private 
opinion  is,  that  if  drinking  in  public  places  is  permitted  on  week  days, 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  permitted  on  Sundays — except 
the  monopolistic  reason  given  by  ecclesiastics :  it  interferes  with  the 
preacher's  business. 

It  seems  to  us  that  two  principles  should  be  adopted  by  our  legisla- 
tors :  (1)  that  if  by  chance,  or  surreptitiously,  clauses  happen  to  pass 
in  a  certain  bill  contravening  the  common  or  statute  law,  such  clauses 
should  be  considered  and  treated  as  non-existent,  unless  sanctioned  and 
confirmed  by  an  explanatory  clause  ;  and  (2)  that,  if  it  is  considered 
advisable  to  enact  the  contravening  legislation  in  one  case,  the  same 
principle  should  be  applied  to  all  similar  cases. 

Another  case  in  which  exceptional  legislation  was  sought  occurred  in 
the  Private  Bills  Committee  of  the  Ontario  Legislature,  where  a  bill  was 
applied  for  by  the  city  of  Peterborough,  one  clause  of  which  gave  a  re- 
duced assessment  to  a  manufacturing  firm  for  ten  years — an  arrange- 
ment which  had  not  been  sanctioned  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  as  required 
by  law.  The  clause  was  very  properly  stopped.  Had  it  passed,  how- 
ever, a  rule  such  as  we  have  suggested  would  have  rendered  it  nugator3^ 
Still  another  case  occurred  in  the  Railway  Committee,  where  a  bill  to 
incorporate  the  Hamilton  Terminal  Railway  was  killed  owing  to  the 
exceptional  powers  which  it  would  have  conferred  upon  its  promoters. 
As  Dr.  Beattie  Nesbitt  said  :  *'  I'll  take  that  bill  and  that  charter,  and 
I'll  guarantee  to  make  Hamilton  or  any  other  city  sit  up."  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  it  would  have  placed  the  city  of  Hamilton  entirely  at  the  mercy 
of  the  railway  company,  just  as  the  Bell  Telephone  Company  has  got 
Toronto  streets  at  its  mercy  according  to  the  Privy  Council  decision  on 
its  charter. 

And  with  men  like  Premier  Laurier  to  control  affairs,  once  "permit  a 
company  to  obtain  such  illegal  rights  or  "  vested  interests,"  and  the  rest 
of  the  community  must  submit  to  be  robbed  and  injured.  And  they 
must  continue  to  do  so  while  they  allow  their  rights  to  be  played  with 
by  a  gang  of  self-seeking  politicians  who  happen  to  be  thrown  into  the 
Legislatures  by  the  "  machine." 

The  fact  would  seem  to  be,  that  the  modern  mechanical  improvements 
^nd  scientific  developments,  with  their  wonderful  productiveness,  have 
>pened  the  door  to  a  new  order  of  parasites,  whose  operations  are  not 
confined  by  any  notions  of  justice  or  honor,  and  who  are  prepared,  with 
^he  aid  of  purchased  legislators,  to  take  .full  advantage  of  the  ignorance 


230  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

and  neglect  of  the  people,  and  turn  them  to  their  own  advantage.     It  is 
time  that  the  people  began  to  think. 

BRITAIN  LEADING    The  Peace-at-Any-Price  School,  of  which  Mr.  W. 
THE  NATIONS  T.  Stead  is  one  of  the  leading  lights,  must  be 

ON  THE  ROAD  delighted  with   the  peaceful  way  in  which  that 

TO  HELL  !  prophet  announces  his  forecasts.     And  we  find, 

ir  our  own  small  way,  before  he  is  through  with 
you  the  Peace  Advocate  generally  manages  to  reach  a  bellicose  state  of 
mind  before  he  comes  to  the  end  of  his  argument,  and  not  seldom  uses 
language  that  seems  deliberately  designed  to  provoke  conflict. 

Mr.  Stead  was  addressing  a  meeting  of  Quakers  at  the  Friends'  Meet- 
ing House,  St.  Martin's  Lane,  London,  on  April  7,  and  spoke  in  a  way 
that  surely  must  have  disgusted  some  of  his  peace-loving  audience.  He 
said  he  had  been  wrangling  a  day  or  so  previously  with  Sir  Wilfrid  Law- 
son,  the  well-known  Prohibitionist,  and  the  latter  had  cried,  "  What,  are 
you  a  devil  ?  "     Mr.  Stead  thus  **  improved  "  his  story  : 

"  I  wish  we  could  all  ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  devils  or  men.  I 
sometimes  think  it  would  be  an  improvement  if  we  were  honest,  square, 
straightforward  devils,  instead  of  being  a  set  of  canting  Christian 
hypocrites." 

At  first  sight,  some  readers  may  think  this  "  smart  "  nonsense  has  a 
meaning,  but  a  moment's  thought  will  show  it  to  be  simply  a  mess  of 
words  without  sense.  We  can  accept  Mr.  Stead's  confession  that  he  is 
"  a  canting  Christian  hypocrite."  No  doubt  of  it ;  but  if  so,  he  is  as 
near  to  being  **a  dishonest  devil"  as  anything  we  know,  and  needs  no 
metamorphosis  except  in  the  direction  of  honesty.     He  went  on  : 

"  As  a  nation  we  have  a  very  good  opinion  of  ourselves.  We  believe 
ourselves  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  world.  Yes,  we  lead  in  one  respect. 
We  are  leading  on  the  road  to  hell  !  " 

Then  Mr.  Stead  went  on  to  try  and  infuse  some  little  sense  into  his 
wild  utterances,  his  argument  amounting  to  this  :  that  while  all  nations 
were  spending  more  money  on  armaments  than  ever  they  did  before, 
Britain  was  setting  the  pace  towards  "  hell  "  by  outstripping  all  others 
in  extravagant  expenditure  on  naval  and  military  services.  France, 
Germany,  and  Russia  combined  had  only  added  £27,000,000  to  their 
war  budgets  during  the  last  ten  years,  while  Britaia  liad  increaaed  hera 
by  i^36,000,000  : 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  231 

"We  are  not  only  leading  hell-wards,  but  we  are  drivelling  there  like 
idiots.  At  least,  France  and  Germany  have  for  their  expenditure,  which 
is  but  half  of  ours,  armies  to  be  numbered  by  the  millions.  But  how 
many  men  have  we  got,  ard  what  kind  of  an  army  ?  The  House  of 
Commons  spent  twenty  hours  yesterday  in  trying  to  find  out,  and  gave 
it  up  as  a  hopeless  matter.  It  is  softening  of  the  brain  that  comes  from 
a  prolonged  indulgence  in  the  drinking  of  political  gin,  which  is  jingoism. 
But  I  don't  think  there  has  been  any  nation  in  the  world  that  has  had 
such  a  swinging  fine  inflicted  upon  it  for  this  political  debauch,  and  there 
are  signs  that  perhaps  we  may  repent  and  mend  our  ways." 

Mr.  Stead  represents  a  great  many  peace  advocates  here  as  well  as  in 
Britain.  When  the  other  pait}'  is  in  power,  the  country  is  indulging  in 
"  a  political  debauch."  When  the  nation  begins  to  mend  its  ways,  it 
will  put  us  in  power,  and  a  few  bj'e-elections  in  our  favor  shows  that  it 
is  coming  to  its  senses. 

WHERE  IS  THE  Looking  at  Mr.  Stead's  argument  for  what  it  is 

"JINGOISM?"  logically  worth,  it  will  be  seen   that  it  has  two 

phases :  (1)  that  the  British  Government  is 
spending  more  money  on  armaments  than  the  other  European  Govern- 
ments ;  and  (2)  that  its  army,  notwithstanding  its  great  expenditure,  is 
not  so  large  as  those  of  other  nations. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  expenditure  of  Britain  upon  her 
armaments,  more  especially  upon  her  navy,  has  vastly  increased  during 
the  past  decade  ;  but  if  it  is  true  that  that  expenditure  has  resulted  in 

iving  her  only  a  fraction  of  the  military  resources  at  the  command  of 
other  European  nations,  then  it  is  clear  that,  though  she  has  for  some 
reason  been  compelled  to  pay  more  for  her  services,  she  has  only  drained 
her  resources  in  men  to  a  fraction  of  the  extent  attained  by  the  other 
nations. 

What  seems  certain  is,  that  as  nations  become  freer  and  more  intelli- 

ent,  the  expenditure  for  all  public  services  must  necessarily  increase. 
In  the  European  continental  armies,  the  soldiers'  pay  is  far  less  than  it 
is  in  the  British  service,  and  the  pay  in  this  last  is  far  exceeded  by  that 
in  the  services  of  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

I  Whether  Britain  is  getting  fair  value  for  the  money  she  is  spending, 
lether  her  services  are  as  efficient  as  they  should  be  for  the  work  re- 
lired  of  them,  or  whether,  indeed,  they  are  required  at  all,  may  be 
nsidered   legitimate   subjects  of   discussion.     To  confuse  the  matter 


232  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

The  whole  question  finplly  comes  down  to  this — Are  the  policy  and 
war  expenditure  of  Britain  more  likely  to  tend  to  war  than  those  of  other 
nations  ? 

Comparing  the  military  policies  of  the  various  nations,  we  may  ask  : 
Is  it  any  more  evidence  of  "  jingoism  "  to  spend  a  large  sum  of  money 
on  a  small  force,  than  to  force  millions  of  hadly-paid  men  into  the  ranks 
of  the  army?  Britain  keeps  a  little  over  a  hundred  thousand  men  in 
her  standing  army  at  home  ;  each  of  the  other  three  Great  Powers  keeps 
about  a  million.     Which  is  leading  the  world  on  the  road  to  hell  ? 

Britain's  total  war  expenditure  (i^72,000,000)  just  about  equals  that  of 
France,  the  population  of  the  latter  country  being  slightly  the  smaller ; 
Russia's  war  expenditure  is  ^048,000,000,  and  Germany's  £42,000,000. 
As  France  is  admittedly  pursuing  a  peaceful  policy,  it  seems  to  be  a 
trifle  inconsistent  to  attribute  a  jingo  policy  to  Britain  on  the  ground  of 
her  military  expenditure. 

On  the  whole,  we  can  only  regard  Mr.  Stead's  charges  as  the  blatant 
utterances  of  a  fanatical  partisan — one  of  the  disappointed  "outs,"  who 
are  trying  every  scheme  known  to  politicians  to  become  the  "  ins." 

In  the  meantime,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  people,  and  the  produce 
of  their  hard  work,  are  being  recklessly  squandered,  not  only  in  the  Old 
but  in  the  New  World.  It  is  not  alone  in  Russia  that  an  unscrupulous 
church  is  backing  up  an  iron-fisted  aristocracy  in  getting  all  that  can  be 
got  out  of  the  ignorant  masses.  The  conditions  are  the  same  in  nearly 
every  western  nation,  and  they  are  bound  to  continue  while  the  people 
are  ignorant,  and  thus  incapable  of  doing  justice  either  to  others  or  to 
themselves. 

CHRISTIANS  The  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  directors  have 

AFRAID   OF  decided  to  exclude  actors  from  membership,  on 

THE    STAGE.  the  ground  that  association  with  actors  would 

not  be  in  "the  best  interests  of  the  young  men." 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  directors  are  evidently  of  opinion  that  actors  are  wicked 
men,  and  are  content  to  let  them  continue  in  their  wickedness  without 
making  an  effort  to  save  them.  They  clearly  think,  also,  that  in  a  con- 
test between  the  powers  of  righteousness,  as  seen  in  their  youths,  and 
the  powers  of  evil,  as  embodied  in  the  actors,  the  former  would  sufifer. 
We  don't  doubt  it.  The  pulpit  could  not  compete  with  the  stage  for  a 
moment  were  it  not  backed  by  a  powerful  and  truculent  priesthood,  who 
have  browbeaten  a  slavish  laity  into  compliance  with  their  wilL 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  233 

The  Pittsburg  Y.  M.  C.  A.  people  are  both  very  stupid  and  egotistical. 
The  notorious  facts  regarding  immorality  among  preachers,  Sunday- 
school  teachers,  and  so  on,  prove  that  actors  and  actresses  need  fear  no 
comparison  with  them  on  moral  grounds,  though  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  people 
seem  to  think  they  are  the  only  good  people  in  the  world. 

The  fact,  we  think,  is  that,  while  there  is  nothing  essentially  tending 
to  immorality  in  the  profession  of  actors,  and  while  their  prominence  in 
the  public  eye  calls  attention  to  their  misdeeds,  on  the  whole  they  are 
just  about  as  moral  as  the  rest  of  the  community.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  egotistical  presumption  of  the  religious  people,  which  causes  them 
to  regard  themselves  as  the  moral  exemplars  and  teachers  of  the  rest  of 
the  community,  tends  directly  to  produce  hypocrisy  and  deception  ;  and 
the  exceptional  privileges  claimed  and  accorded  to  officials  of  the  church 
give  full  opportunity  for  the  development  of  these  as  well  as  other  even 
more  undesirable  qualities.  We  imagine  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  far 
more  to  gain  than  to  lose  by  admitting  actors  to  membership.  Of  course, 
if  it  wishes  to  maintain  the  old-style  orthodox  religion,  it  should  exclude 
not  only  actors,  but  schoolmasters,  scientists,  artists,  and  every  class  of 
reformer  and  progressive.  Christianity  was  sent  originally,  we  are  told, 
to  babes  and  sucklings,  and  perhaps  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  wise  in  trying  to 
confine  it  to  that  class. 

**  SALOON  CLUBS  "  Manifold  have  been  the  plans  suggested  to  cure 
AS  A  CURE  FOR  drunkenness,  and  our  new  Governor-General 
DRUNKENNESS.  has  excited  the  members  of  the  **  West-end  Gos- 

pel Temperance  Society  "  of  Toronto  with  a  new 
one.  He  embodied  it  in  this  suggestion  in  replying  to  an  address  from 
the  Methodists  : 

'*  You  will  make  little  headway  against  this  evil  until  you  succeed  in 
eliminating  the  element  of  personal  profit  from  the  liquor  traffic.  Make 
your  saloons  clubs." 

The  Gospel  Temperance  people  very  sensibly  say,  that  if  the  present 
conditions  are  retained,  with  the  exception  of  the  retirement  of  the  owner 
of  the  saloon,  the  change  of  its  name  to  "  club,"  and  (to  eliminate  the 
element  of  profit)  the  reduction  of  the  price  of  drinks  from  five  to  two 
cents  per  glass,  the  results  of  the  new  system  would  be  pretty  much  the 

ime  as  those  of  the  old.  We  guess  so,  too  ;  only  perhaps  a  little  more 
You  may  call  the  saloon  a  **  club,"  if  you  like  ;  but  beer  at  2  cents 

glass  would  soon  cause  it  to  be  christened  with  a  new  name.   We  quite 


234  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


agree  with  the  Gospel  Temperance  people  that,  under  the  club  system, 
*'  there  would  be  greater  attractions  to  drink  and  a  greater  increase  in 
drunkenness." 

We  have  seen  no  reason  for  believing  that  any  of  the  efforts  made  to 
"  purify  "  the  liquor  traffic,  not  even  those  which  have  had  the  object  of 
giving  it  ecclesiastical  sanction,  have  so  far  had  any  appreciable  effect 
for  good.  Bishop  Potter,  of  New  York,  recently  opened  a  church  saloon 
with  much  gush,  prayer,  and  psalm-singing,  but  a  few  weeks'  trial  was 
sufficient  to  convert  it  into  an  ordinary  drinking  den. 

Our  own  opinion  is,  that  the  evils  of  drunkenness  are  largely  exagge- 
rated. We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  the  evils  are  not  great  intrinsically, 
but  we  do  not  think  that  they  are  anything  like  so  extensive  throughout 
society  as  they  are  often  represented  to  be.  Habitual  drunkenness,  we 
believe,  is  mostly  confined  to  a  small  section  of  society. 

We  are  very  decidedly  of  opinion  that  alcohol  as  a  beverage  is  in  the 
main  injurious  to  the  human  system.  As  with  tobacco,  its  first  effects 
are  almost  always  manifestly  injurious  and  poisonous.  Statistics,  so  far 
as  we  know,  conclusively  prove  the  deleterious  results  of  both  tobacco- 
smoking  and  alcohol-drinking  ;  and  a  long  course  of  observation  has 
shown  us  a  terrible  record  of  the  fatal  effects,  alike  to  health,  life,  mo- 
rality, and  personal  prosperity  and  happiness,  of  the  degrading  habits. 
But,  as  in  the  case  of  the  opium  and  morphine  habits,  once  acquired, 
the  habit  seems  to  be,  ineradicable  in  most  cases;  and  the  only  chance 
there  is  of  overwhelming  it  must  be  by  forcibly  depriving  the  victims  of 
the  means  of  gratifying  their  ruling  passion. 

Whether  this  should  be  done  by  placing  the  individuals  under  re- 
straint, or  by  placing  the  whole  of  society  under  restraint  through  a 
prohibitory  liquor  law,  is  the  question  to  be  settled.  As  the  vast  mass 
of  the  people  seem  inclined  to  think  moderation  not  injurious,  hut  rather 
beneficial,  the  latter  plan  seems  impracticable. 

The  question,  then,  comes  before  us,  shall  we  treat  the  habitual  drun- 
kard as  a  diseased  and  dangerous  person,  and  take  forcible  charge  of 
him  until  he  appears  to  have  thoroughly  recovered  from  his  abnormal 
condition  ?  We  certainly  think  that  drunken  criminals  should  be  thus 
dealt  with  ;  but  how  far  we  should  go  in  dealing  with  simple  drunkards 
not  otherwise  law-breakers  seems  a  difficult  problem. 

A  law  making  drunkenness  a  crime  would  be  difficult  to  enforce,  and 
would  lead  to  a  vast  amount  of  favoritism  and  abuse.  We  are  inclined 
to  think  that,  until  society  is  united  in  a  determination  to  suppress  the 
manufacture  of  alcohol  for  use  as  a  beverage,  any  such  legishttioa  would 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  235 

fail ;  when  such  a  time  arrives,  if  it  ever  does,  the  law  will  not  be  needed. 
Whatever  the  law  may  be,  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  tested  is 
to  rigidly  enforce  it.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that,  so  great  is  the  public 
prepossession  in  favor  of  drinking,  that  there  has  been  hardly  any  serious 
attempt  hitherto  made  to  enforce  any  prohibitory  law,  or  even  any  law 
restricting  the  traffic.  And  this  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the  whole 
matter  has  not  yet  risen  above  the  preliminary  stage  of  education. 

CHRISTIANITY  The  recent  religious  ceremonial  in  Japan,  on  the 

IN  JAPAN.  occasion  of  enshrining  in  a  temple  the  names  of 

about  40,000  soldiers  and  sailors  who  had  lost 
their  lives  in  the  war  up  to  the  date  of  the  battle  of  Mukden,  was  con- 
ducted by  the  Shinto  priests  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony,  an  enor- 
mous crowd  witnessing  it.  We  have  seen  no  mention  in  the  reports  of 
the  participation  of  Christian  missionaries  or  preachers,  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that  Christianity  is  as  negligible  a  quantity  in  Japan  as  Joss  worship 
is  in  Christian  lands. 

It  is  remarkable  that  just  now  some  of  the  Christian  missionaries  in 
China  are  beginning  to  see  that  their  greatest  danger  of  failure  in  that 
great  missionary  field  arises  from  the  influence  of  the  Japanese,  who, 
they  say,  are  practically  a  nation  of  agnostics,  and  by  their  success  in 
the  war  against  Russia  have  acquired  vast  influence  over  the  Chinese 
people.  The  practical  and  common-sense  philosophy  of  the  Chinese 
themselves,  embodied  in  Confucianism,  and  their  mental  acuteness,  have 
much  to  do  with  this  result,  and  makes  it  easy  to  understand  how  neces- 
sary it  was  for  the  missionaries  to  begin  their  work  by  tooth-drawing 
and  doctoring  if  they  were  to  acquire  any  influence  among  them. 

A  good  item  in  this  line  comes  to  us  from  Tokio,  where  the  Mikado 
has  informed  Mr.  Griscom,  the  American  Ambassador  to  Japan,  that  he 
intends  to  give  10,000  yen  ($5,000)  to  the  Japanese  army  branch  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  opened  branches  at  the 
chief  bases  of  operations  in  Manchuria,  where  they  dispensed  means  of 
comfort  and  recreation  to  the  soldiers.  This  appears  to  be  the  only  way 
in  which  even  nominal  Christianity  has  any  chance  of  being  propagated 
among  civilized  peoples. 

Rev.  Henry  R.  Rose,  of  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Newark,  N.J.,  is 
a  strong  advocate  of  Sunday  baseball,  which  all  the  other  preachers  are 
trying  to  suppress. 


236  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Cbrietianiti?  an&  Slaver?^ 


■:o:- 


BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

II.  {Canclnded.) 

Herbert  Spencer,  referring  to  the  fact  that  while  among  the  ancient  Hebrews 
persons  of  foreign  blood  might  be  bought,  and  with  their  children  inherited  as 
possessions,  those  of  Hebrew  blood  were  subject  to  a  slavery  qualified  both  as  to 
length  and  rigor,  because  they  were  of  the  chosen  people,  adds  that  there  was  no 
recognition  of  any  wiong  inflicted  by  enslaving  men,  nor  of  the  right  of  freedom. 
"This  lack  of  sentiments  and  ideas  which,  in  modern  times,  have  become  so 
pronounced,"  he  says,  "  continued  to  the  time  when  Christianity  arose,  and  was 
not  changed  by  Christianity,  Neither  Christ  nor  his  Apostles  denounced 
slavery  ;  and  when,  in  reference  to  freedom,  there  was  given  the  advice  to  *  use 
it  rather '  than  slavery,  there  was  manifestly  implied  no  thought  of  any  inherent 
claim  of  each  individual  to  unhindered  exercise  of  free  motion  and  locomotion." 
Here  are  a  few  advertisements,  samples  of  those  that  appeared  in  Southern 
newspapers  : 

"  Ran  Away — A  negro  woman  and  two  children.  A  few  days  before  she 
went  off,  I  burnt  her  with  a  hot  iron  on  the  left  side  of  her  face.  I  tried  to 
make  the  letter  M.  JVlr.  Micajah  Ricks,  Nash  Co,  North  Carolina."  In  the 
Raleigh  Standard,  ]u\y   18,  1838 

"  Ran  Away — Mary,  a  black  woman  ;  has  a  scar  on  her  back  and  right  arm 
near  the  shoulder,  caused  by  a  rifle  ball."  Mr.  Asa  B.  Metcalf,  Kingston,  Adams 
Co.,  Miss.     In  the  Natchez  Courier,  June  15,  1832. 

"  Ran  Away — A  negro  named  Henry  ;  his  left  eye  out,  some  scars  from  a 
dirk  on  and  under  his  left  arm,  and  much  scarred  with  the  whip.'  Mr.  William 
Overstreet,  Benton,  Yazoo  Co.,  Mi.  In  the  Lexington  (Ky.)  Observer,  July 
22,  1838. 

'•  Fifty  Dollars  Reward — For  the  negro  Jim  Blake.  Has  a  piece  cut  out 
of  each  ear,  and  the  middle  finger  of  the  left  hand  cut  off  to  the  second  joint." 
Editor  New  Orleans  Bee,  in  that  paper  Aug.  27,  1837. 

"  Ran  Away — My  man  Fountain.  Has  holes  in  his  ears,  a  scar  on  the  right 
side  of  his  forehead,  has  been  shot  in  the  hind  par  s  of  his  legs,  is  marked  on 
the  back  with  a  whip."  Mr.  Robert  Beasley,  Macon,  Georgia  In  the  Georgia 
Messenger,  July  27,  1837. 

"Twenty  Dollars  Reward— Ran  away  from  the  subscriber,  on  the  14th 
inst.,  a  negro  girl  named  Molly.  She  is  16  or  17  years  of  age,  slim  made,  lately 
branded  on  the  left  cheek,  thus,  R,  and  a  piece  taken  off  her  ear  on  the  same 
side.  The  same  letter  on  the  inside  of  both  her  legs.  Abner  Ross,  Fairfield 
District,  S.  C." 

"Notice. — Was  committed  to  the  Jail  of  Jackson  County,  Mississippi,  the 
24th  day  of  September,  1845,  the  runaway  slave,  Nancy.  She  is  23  or  25  years 
old,  is  in  a  pregnant  condition,  severely  whip-marked.  Said  Nancy  says  she 
belongs  to  one  William  Rogers,  living  near  Paulding,  Jasper  Co.,  Miss.  Had  on,, 
when  committed,  a  white  frock.     A.  E.  Lewis,  Jailor.     Oct.  18,  1845." 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  237 

"  The  und  rsigned,  having  bought  the  entire  pack  of  Negro  Dogs  (of  the  Hays 
&  Allen  stock),  he  now  proposes  to  catch  runaway  Negroes  *  His  charge  will  be 
Three  Dollars  per  day  for  hunting,  and  Fifteen  Dollars  for  catching  a  runaway. 
He  resides  33^  miles  north  of  Livingston,  near  the  lower  Jones  Bluff  Road. 
Nov.  6,  1845." 

"  Ran  Away — My  negro  man  Richard.  A  reward  of  $25  will  be  paid  for  his 
apprehension,  dead  or  alive.  Satisfactory  proof  will  only  be  required  of  his 
[)eing  killed.  He  has  with  him,  in  all  probability,  his  wife  Eliza,  who  ran  away 
from  Col.  Thompson,  now  a  resident  of  Alabama,  about  the  time  he  commenced 
his  journey  to  that  Stale.  D.  H.  Rhodes."  Wilmington  (N  C.)  Advertiser  of 
July  13.  1838. 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  an  address  to  the  Presbyterians  of  Ken- 
tucky, by  a  committee  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  signed  by  John  Brown,  Esq  , 
chairman,  and  John  C.  Young,  secretary  : 

*'  Not  only  has  the  slave  no  right  to  his  w  fe  and  children,  he  has  no  right 
even  to  himself.  His  very  body,  his  muscles,  his  bones,  his  flesh,  are  all  the 
property  of  another.  The  movements  of  his  limbs  are  all  regulated  by  the  wiU 
of  a  master.  He  may  be  sold,  like  a  beast  of  the  field.  He  may  be  transported 
in  chains  like  a  felon." 

Rev.  William  Meade,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia,  published  a  book  of 
sermons,  tracts,  and  dialogues  for  masters  and  slaves.  In  one  of  the  sermons 
occurs  the  following  : 

^'  And  pray  do  not  think  that  I  want  to  deceive  you,  when  I  tell  you  that  your 
masters  and  ii.istresses  ar^  God's  overseers;  and  that  if  you  are  faulty  towards 
them,  God  will  punish  you  severely  for  it,  in  the  next  world,  unless  you  repent  of 
it,  and  strive  to  make  amends  by  your  faithfulness  and  diligence  for  the  time  to 
come,  for  God  himself  hath  declared  the  same." 

Again  : 

^'  Take  care  that  you  do  not  fret  or  murmur,  grumble  or  repine  at  your  con- 
dition ;  for  this  will  not  only  make  your  life  uneasy,  but  will  greatly  offend 
Almighty  God.  Consider  that  it  is  not  yourselves — it  is  not  the  people  that  you 
belong  to— it  is  not  the  men  that  have  brought  you  to  it,  but  it  is  the  will  of 
God,  who  hath  by  his  providence  made  you  servants,  because,  no  doubt,  he  knew 
that  condition  would  be  best  for  you  in  this  world,  and  help  you  the  better 
■towards  heaven,  if  you  would  but  do  your  duty  in  it.  Now  when  correction  is 
given  you,  you  either  deserve  it  or  you  do  not  deserve  it.  But  whether  you 
deserve  it  or  not,  it  is  your  duty  and  Almighty  God  requires  that  you  bear  it 
patiently.  .  .  .  Suppose  that  you  do  not,  or  at  least  you  do  not  deserve  so  much 
or  so  severe  correction  for  the  fault  you  have  committed,  you  perhaps  have 
escaped  a  great  many  more  and  are  at  last  paid  for  all.  Or  su])pose  you  are 
quite  ituKx:ent  of  what  is  laid  to  your  charge,  and  suffer  •  wrongfully  in  that 
particular  thing,  is  it  not  possible  you  may  have  done  some  other  bad  thing 
which  was  never  discovered,  and  that  .Xlmighty  God,  who  saw  you  doing  it, 
would  not  let  you  escape  without  |iunishment,  one  time  or  another?  And  ought 
you  not,  in  such  a  case,  give  glory  to  him  and  be  thankful  that  he  would  rather 
punish  you  in  this  life  for  your  wickedness  than  destroy  your  souls  for  it  in  the 
next  life  ?  " 


I 


238  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 


Mr.  Frederick  Douglass  years  ago  used  this  strong  language  : 

"  We  have  men-stealers  for  ministers,  women-whippers  for  missionaries,  and 
cradle  plunderers  for  Church  members.  The  man  who  wields  the  blood-clotted 
cow-skin  during  the  week  fills  the  pulpit  on  Sunday,  and  claims  to  be  the 
minister  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus.  .  .  .  He  who  is  the  religious  advocate  of 
marriage,  robs  whole  millions  of  its  sacred  influence,  and  leaves  them  to  the 
ravages  of  wholesale  pollution.  The  warm  defender  of  the  sacredness  of  the 
family  relation  is  the  same  that  scattered  whole  families  ;  sundering  husbinds 
and  wives,  parents  and  children,  sisters  and  brothers, — leaving  the  hut  vacant 
and  the  heart  deso'ate.  .  .  .  We  have  men  sold  to  build  churches,  women  sold 
to  support  the  gospel,  and  babies  sold  to  purchase  Bil)les  for  the  poor  heathen  ! 
all  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls  !  The  slave  auctioneer's  bell  and 
the  church-going  bell  chime  in  with  each  other,  and  the  bitter  cries  of  the  heart- 
broken slave  are  dro^'ned  in  the  religious  shouts  of  his  pious  master.  Revivals 
of  religion  and  revivals  of  the  slave  trade  go  hand  in  hand  together.  The  slave 
prison  and  the  church  stand  near  each  other.  The  clanking  of  fetters  and  the 
rattling  of  chains  in  the  prison,  and  the  pious  psalm  and  solemn  prayer  in  the 
church  may  be  heard  at  the  same  time.  The  dealer  in  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
men  erect  their  stand  in  the  presence  of  the  pulpit,  and  they  mutually  help  each 
other.  The  dealer  gives  his  blood-stained  gold  to  support  the  pulpit,  and  the 
pulpit  in  return  covers  his  infernal  business  with  the  garb  of  Christianity  Here 
we  have  religion  and  robbery  the  allies  of  each  other,  devils  dressed  in  angels 
robes,  and  hell  presenting  the  semblance  of  paradise." 

This  dark  and  terrible  picture  is  a  representation  of  what  existed  in  this 
country  within  the  memory  of  men  who  are  not  yet  old.  Hundreds  of  such 
statements  might  be  quoted  from  the  writings  of  men  who  re{)re3ented  the 
theological  scholarship  of  this  country  forty  years  ago. 

Says  Martyn,  in  his  biography  of  Wendell  Phillips  : 

"At  the  period  now  under  review  [1840  to  1850],  with  one  or  two  small  but 
honorable  exceptions,  like  the  Free-will  jBaptists  and  the  Free  Presbyterians,  the 
Churches  were  all  the  apologists  and  often  the  defenders  of  man-stealing.  Thus 
te  Christianity  of  America  was  three  ^thousand  years  behind  the  Judaism  of 
Moses,  which  denounced  man-stealing.  Individual  pulpits  and  individual  church 
members,  shining  lights  in  this  dreary  midnight,  were  found  in  all  the  historic 
denominations  refusing  to  quench  their  beams.  But  exceptions  do  not  break  — 
they  prove  the  rule.  As  organized  bodies,  the  Churches  admitted  slave  holders 
to  their  communion,  installed  them  in  their  pulpits,  and  screened  their  sin  with 
palliative  resolutions.  At  the  same  time  they  branded  the  Abolitionists  as 
fanatics,  meddling  with  what  did  not  concern  them,  and  anathatemized  them  as 
Infidels  assaulting  the  administration  of  Providence.  For  example,  the  Rev. 
Wilbur  Fisk,  the  leader  of  New  England  Methodism,  declared  that  the  general 
rule  of  Christianity  not  only  permits,  but  in  supposable  circumstances  enjoins,  a 
continuance  of  the  master's  authority." 

A  New  England  Methodist  Bishop  maintained  that  the  right  to  hold  slaves  is 
founded  on  this  dictum  :  "  Therefore,  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  mea 
should  do  to  you„  do  ye  even  so  to  thera." 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  239 

These  resolutions,  adopted  by  the  Harmony  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
expressed  the  views  of  the  ecclebiastical  organizations  of  the  United  States  : 

"  I.  Resolved,  That  as  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  is  not  of  this  world,  his 
Church,  as  such,  has  no  right  to  abolish,  alter,  or  affect  any  institution  or 
ordinance  of  men,  political  or  civil. 

'*  2.  Resolved,  That  slavery  has  existed  from  the  days  of  those  good  old 
slave-holders  and  Patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  (who  are  now  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven),  to  the  time  when  the  Apostle  Paul  sent  a  run-away  home 
to  his  master  Philemon,  and  wrote  a  Christian  and  fraternal  letter  to  this  slave- 
holder, which  we  find  still  sands  in  the  canon  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  slavery 
has  existed  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Apostle,  and  does  now  exist." 

If  Christianity,  if  belief  in  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures  did  not  per- 
petuate slavery  in  this  country,  how  shall  we  ex-plain  the  fact  that  the  most 
learned  theologians  like  Moses  Stuart  and  Alexander  Cami)be/1,  and  the  Christian 
clergy  generally  who  read  the  Bible  the  most  diligently,  and  the  mass  of 
Christians  of  the  different  denominations  were  supporters  of  slavery  on  theological 
grounds,  and  that  they  defended  it,  or  opposed  the  anti-slavery  agitation  by 
quotations  from  Scripture,  while  the  most  prominent  opponents  of  slavery  were 
men  who  were  Infidels,  or  whose  only  idea  of  Christianity  was  expressed  in  the 
Golden  Rule  ? 

Why  were  the  clergy  in  such  large  numbers  identifying  Christianity  and  efforts 
to  stop  the  anti-slavery  agitation,  and  uniting  together  the  words  "  Infidelity  and 
Abolitionism,"  while  here  and  there  only  a  clergyman  like  Albert  Barnes  was 
pleading  with  his  irresponsive  brother  ministers  to  use  their  influence  in  favor  of 
the  oppressed  ?  Why,  for  instance,  did  Rev.  J.  C.  Powell,  of  South  Carolina, 
exhort  the  citizens  of  Orangeburg  and  vicinity  in  words  like  this  :  **  Do  your  duty 
as  citizens  and  Christians,  and  in  heaven  you  will  be  rewarded  and  delivered 
from  Abolitionism,"  wnile  in  the  South  rewards  were  being  offered  for  the  heads 
of  Garrison  and  Phillips,  and  in  the  North  they  were  being  denounced  and 
treated  with  mob  violence  ?  If  Christianity  does  not  favor  slavery,  why  did  the 
clergy  of  Revolutionary  days  fail  to  discover  that  it  was  sinful,  and  why  was  it 
left  for  Infidels  like  Paine  to  declare  that  man  has  no  right  to  property  in  man, 
and  for  religious  heretics  lik^  Franklin  and  Jefferson  to  denounce  it  as  a  great 
wrong? 

Are  those  who  reject  Christianity  as  a  supernatural  system  and  trust  to  the 
light  of  Nature,  better  adapted  to  discover  moral  truth,  and  belter  qualified  to 
promote  it,  than  those  who  devote  themselves  to  the  study  of  God's  special  reve- 
lations to  man? 

The  facts  I  have  given  are  undeniable.  They  are  drawn  from  the  Bible,  from 
the  pages  of  history,  from  the  writings  of  theologians,  and  from  James  G  Birney's 
"The  American  Church  the  Bulwark  of  American  Slavery,"  Stephen  S.  Foster's 
•*  The  Brotherhood  of  Thieves,  or  a  True  Picture  of  the  American  Church  and 


240  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Clergy,"  Samuel  Brooke's  •'  Slavery  and  the  Slaveholders'  Religion,"  Parker 
Pillsbury's  "The  Church  as  It  Is,"  and  other  sources  ;  and  the  facts  have  never 
been  questioned. 

The  condition  of  the  slave  under  Christianity  remained  essentially  the  same 
for  two  hundred  years.  Some  good  laws  were  made,  but  others  were  of  a  different 
character.  For  instance,  if  a  slave  had  improper  relations  with  his  mistress,  the 
woman  was  executed  and  the  slave  was  burnt  alive.  Under  Paganism  the  woman 
was  simply  reduced  to  slavery.  Slavery  was  formally  and  distinctly  recognized 
by  Christianity,  and  it  encouraged  docility  and  passive  obedience  on  the  part  of 
the  slave.  None  of  ihe  Christian  Fathers  condemned  slavery.  This  was  done 
by  the  Essenes  in  the  first  century. 

Slavery  continued  under  Christianity  800  years  from  the  time  of  Constantine, 
the  first  Christian  Emperor,  and  the  number  subject  to  it,  historians  have 
declared,  was  greater  in  the  Empire  under  Christianity  than  under  Paganism. 
Shall  we  be  told  that  the  religion  under  which  slavery  flourished  for  nearly  a 
thousand  years  in  the  Roman  Empire,  and  which  finally  disappeared  then 
through  secular  causes,  and  under  which  slavery  flourished  in  the  most  civilized 
nations  of  Christendom  until  the  beginning  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  led  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  ?     Says  the  Christian  historian  Guizot : 

"  It  has  often  been  repeated  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  among  modern  peoples 
is  entirely  due  to  Chris  ians.  That,  I  think,  is  saying  too  much  Slavery  existed 
for  a  long  period  in  the  heart  of  Christian  society,  without  its  being  particularly 
astonished  or  irritated.  A  multitude  of  causes,  and  a  great  development  in 
other  ideas  and  priiiCiples  of  civilization,  were  necessary  for  the  abolition  of  this 
iniquity."     (*'  European  Civilization,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  110) 

While  not  a  line  can  be  quoted  from  the  New  Testament  in  condemnation  of 
slavery,  it  was  denounced  as  a  great  wrong  hundreds  of  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  by  Pagan  moralists.     As  Sir  Alexander  Grant  says  in  his  "  Life  of  Aristotle  : " 

"  Certain  reformers  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  had  already  lifted  up  their 
voice  against  the  institution  of  slavery.  They  had  argued  that  the  slave  was  of 
the  same  flesh  and  blood  as  his  master,  and  might  be  as  good  as  he  ;  and  that, 
in  short,  slavery  was  merely  an  unjust  and  oppressive  custom,  which  could  and 
should  alter."     (Chap,  vi ,  p.  107,  Alden's  Edition.) 

The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  had  no  conception  of  man's  right  to  freedom, 
no  detestation  of  slavery.  They  believed  that  God  had  made  ali  nations  of  one 
blood,  yet  in  man's  fallen  condition,  slavery,  as  well  as  the  subordination  of 
woman  to  man,  and  the  submission  of  nations  to  despots,  was  right,  and  resistance 
thereto  was  rebellion  against  God. 


Simplicity  and  humility,  moderation  and  toleration  are  some  prominent  marks 
of  intellectual  greatness. 
'  To  an  honest  man^  the  world  seems  honest ;  to  a  thief,  all  men  are  thieves* 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  241 

Spontaneoue  (generation, 

:o: 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

n. 

THE   CHURCH    ALWAYS    AN    OPPONENT    OF    FACTS. 

The  history  of  the  relationship  between  Christianity  and  science  comprises 
naught  of  importance  save  the  constant  defiance  of  ecclesiastics,  manifested  by 
opprobrium  and  abuse,  whenever  a  new  scientific  discovery  has  startled  the  world  ; 
this  attitude  usually  to  be  succeeded,  after  a  few  years  of  grudging  and  surly 
acquiescence  in  the  new  truth,  by  the  squirming  attempt  to  patch  up  a  concilia- 
tion between  it  and  the  dogmas  that  appeared  to  be  assailed  ;  and  finally  by  the 
launching  of  an  assault  on  science  from  some  other  vantage-ground.  No  sooner 
is  the  church  defeated  here,  than  she  begins  again  there,  hopping  round  and 
round  in  circles  and  shouting,  "  You  can't !  you  can't  !  "  at  the  scientist  who 
would  demonstrate  his  discovery  to  be  true.  The  list  of  scientific  truths  fought 
by  the  church,  but  now  universally  conceded,  is  practically  interminable.  No 
attempt  will  here  be  made  to  recount  even  the  most  prominent,  as  they  are  too 
well  known  by  people  generally. 

"God  "  has  been  pushed  steadily  further  and  further  back  in  the  economy  of 
the  universe.  From  occupying,  in  the  wrapt  imagination  of  our  distant  ancestors, 
a  place  which  accorded  to  him  the  immediate  credit  for  absolutely  every  mani- 
festation of  nature's  powers,  no  matter  how  insignificant,  he  has  been  relegated, 
during  centuries  of  progress,  remorselessly  to  the  rear,  despite  the  stubborn  and 
ilter  resistance  of  his  devotees.  At  the  present  time,  he  is  merely  a  "gaseous 
vertebrate,"  who  started  things  far,  far  back  in  the  dim  past,  but  who,  wreathed 
in  senile  smiles,  has  at  last  become  content  to  let  affairs  drag  along  as  they  will. 
As  was  just  remarked,  it  has  always  hitherto  been  the  case  that,  when  dislodged 
from  one  position,  the  church  has  girded  her  loins,  retreated  a  few  paces,  and 
come  up  smiling  with  a  new  front.  What  she  will  do  in  the  present  emergency, 
however,  is  not  clear ;  for  the  persistence  with  which  spontaneous  generation  is 
assailed  indicates — what  has  long  been  recognized  by  the  Freethinker — that  the 
last  citadel  of  the  God  Idea  is  at  stake,  and  that,  if  surrender  is  necessitated  at 
this  point,  no  opening  can  be  found  for  deities  at  any  point  in  the  evolutionary 
journey  from  pristine  incoherences  down  to  this  very  hour. 

Principal  Fairburn,  of  Oxford,  says  : 

"Our  apologetic  has  been  too  critical  and  defensive,  and  has  suffered  from  the 
want  of  positive  and  constructive  ideas.  It  has,  on  the  speculative  side,  tended 
to  make  itself  the  opponent  of  the  scientific  interpretation  of  nature,  fearing  now 
'he  atoms  and  the  architechtonic  forces  of  the  physicist,  now  the  epochs  of  the 
-cologist,  and  again  the  biologist's  mutation  and  evolution  of  species  ;  and,  on 
the  historical  side,  it  has  been  ineffectively  suspicious  of  the  criticism  which  has 


I 


212  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


freely  handled   now  documents,  now  events,  and  now  men  dear  to  the  religious 
imagination." 

Tyndall  declares  that  "  these  [theologi  al]  objectors  scatter  their  germs  abroad 
and  reproduce  their  kind,  ready  to  i.>lay  again  the  part  of  their  intellectual  pro- 
genitors, to  show  the  same  virulence,  the  same  ignorance,  to  achieve  for  a  time 
the  same  success,  and  finally  to  suffer  the  same  inexorable  defeat." 

RECENT    ACHIEVEMENTS 

It  may  be,  as  is  still  supposed  by  some,  that  life  cannot  be  produced  artificially 
nor  evolved  naturally  in  the  stage  of  world-evolution  in  which  we  are  now  living. 
Yet  hope  is  held  out  that  such  a  desideratum  is  possible.  Herbert  Spencer  notes 
a  pertinent  truth  in  his  *'  Principles  of  Psychology  "  : 

"  The  chasm  between  the  inorganic  and  the  organic  is  being  filled  up  On 
the  one  hand,  some  four  or  five  thousand  compounds,  once  regarded  as  exclu- 
sively organic,  have  now  been  produced  artificially  from  inorganic  matter ;  and 
the  chemis  s  do  not  doubt  their  ability  to  produce  the  highest  form  of  matter. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  microscope  has  traced  down  organisms  to  simpler  and 
simpler  forms,  until  in  \\\e  ptoto genes  of  Professor  Huxley  there  has  been  reached 
a  type  distinguishable  from  a  fragment  of  albumen  only  by  its  finely  granular 
character." 

In  view  of  ihe  marvellous  strides  made  by  science  during  such  a  mere  dot  of 
time,  comparatively  speaking,  as  the  past  century  ;  in  view  of  the  fact  that  at  its 
close  multitudinous  achievements,  thought  hitherto,  from  the  very  incipiency  of 
-man's  career,  to  be  altogether  beyond  him,  had  become  prosy  realities ;  is  it  safe 
<to  set  limits  to  future  research  ? 

Recently,  the  world  of  thought  was  electrified  by  the  announced  discovery  by 
Prof.  Loeb,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  that  the  laboratory  production  of  life 
had  been  approached  by  him  much  more  nearly  than  was  ever  before  known.  In 
an  interview  the  Professor  is  reported  as  remarking  : 

"  All  I  can  say  is,  that  for  a  long  time  I  puzzled  over  the  forces  which  rule  in 
the  realm  of  the  animate,  and  then  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  these  forces 
were  the  same  as  those  which  ruled  the  inanim..te." 

The  New  York   Sun  says  of  these  experiments  : 

'"  He  has  taken  unfertihzed  sea-urchin  eggs,  and  he  has  by  means  of  chemical 
solutions  been  able  to  develop  these  so  that  they  are  living  organisms,  the  same 
as  though  they  had  been  developed  in  the  ordinary  manner.  With  other  solu- 
tion^-, salts,  and  chlorides,  and  other  unfertilized  eggs,  he  has  accomplished  simi- 
lar results.  Other  scientists  have  verified  these  conclusions  by  experiments  of 
their  own  ;  the  result  is  a  matter  of  scientific  hist(vry  now,  and  what  is  called 
'  artificial  parthenogenesis  '  is  a  fact  no  longer  to  be  questioned." 

Whether  or  not  the  experiments  of  men  like   Prof.  Loeb   ever   reach  the  full 
^  fruition  at  which   they   hint,  the  theory  of  spontaneous  generation    will  remain 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  243 


firmly  fixed  in  the  scientific  mind,  and  will  but  gather  strength  as  the  decades 
pass.  Let  the  church,  in  continued  fulsome  devotion  to  her  repulsive  Jehovistic 
Mumbo-Jumbo,  put  obstacles  as  of  yore  in  the  way  of  scholars  who  would  dis- 
cover the  whole  truih  and  make  it  known  ; — already  she  is  too  far  in  extremis 
to  extort  more  than  a  pitying  smile  from  her  victors. 

NATURAL  OR  SUrERNAl  URAL. 

Only  two  methods  of  accounting  for  the  origin  of  life  have  ever  been  broached. 
They  are  the  external  and  the  internal — the  supernatural  and  the  natural  The 
former  brings  in  the  word  "  god."  It  maintains  that  he  superimposed  life  upon 
this  planet,  and  it  lets  this  statement  serve  as  the  solution  of  the  problem.  The 
latter,  or  the  internal  method,  means  that  Nature  alone  suffices  for  all  her  activi- 
ties ;  that  in  her,  evolution  is  puissant  from  alpha  to  omega  ;  that  if  theories  like 
that  of  the  origination  of  life  have  not  yet  been  arranged,  labelled,  and  admitted 
to  complete  fellowship  in  the  pantheon  of  demonstrated  science,  it  is  owing,  not 
to  theoretic  falsity,  but  to  residues  of  that  human  ignorance  which  in  every  branch 
of  knowledge  is  being  gradually  overcome.  Now,  the  internal  method,  the  natu- 
ralistic method,  cannot  by  any  travesty  of  l(igic  be  converted  into  meaning  any- 
thing but  "  spontaneous  "  generation.  The  word  spontaneous  is  exactly  "  pat,"  is 
the  exact  synonym  required  here.  Whatever  does  not  act  spontaneously,  or,  in 
other  words,  in  obedience  to  the  necessities  of  the  forces  residing  in  it,  acts  in 
consequence  of  some  external  force  ;  and  if  an  external  force  is  to  be  brought 
into  requisition  in  the  matter  of  the  beginning  of  life,  it  must  be  supernatural, 
and  the  term  *•  god  "  is  the  only  one  applicable  to  it.  Either  spontaneous  gene- 
ration or  God  :  that  is  the  alternative.  People  of  intellect  who  suffer  themselves 
to  be  scared,  by  the  bugbear  which  religionists  have  essayed  to  make  of  the 
former  hypothesis  are  obliged  by  inexorable  fate  to  betake  themselves  to  the 
camp  of  superstition,  and  to  stay  there  until  ready  to  accept  spontaneous  gene- 
ration. Any  generation  not  spontaneous  and  self-caused  must  be  extraneous 
and  God-caused. 

It  certainly  seems  unreasonable  for  a  pseudo-scientist  to  at  once  pronounce 
for  an  uncaused,  spontaneous,  and  eternal  universe,  and  for  the  spontaneous- 
evolution  of  life-forms,  all  the  way  from  simple  amoebas  to  the  heterogeneous 
structures  of  the  twentieth  century  ;  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  to  invoke  the 
aid  of  a  god  in  explanation  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  organic  upon  and 
its  subsistence  out  of  the  inorganic.  The  admitted  natural  evolution  of  a  giant 
oak  from  an  acorn,  or  of  a  Spencer  or  a  Browning  from  an  infinitesimal  seminal 
spore,  is  surely  no  less  wonderful  and  inexplicable  per  se  than  would  be  the 
evolution  of  a  bit  of  unconscious  living  protoplasm  out  of  unconscious  chemical 
affiliations  under  yet  unsolved  conditions. 

To  presume  that  a  supreme  ruler  of  the  universe,  after  setting  the  machinery 
of  things  a-moving  in  the  incredibly  distant  past,  amply  endowed  for  its  work, 


•244  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

and  permitting  worlds  and  suns  and  systems  to  come  and  go  without  interfer- 
ence, would  at  a  certain  period  in  the  cooling  of  one  insignificant  world  dab  it 
with  a  few  minute,  raw,  and  shapeless  specs  of  protoplasm,  and  would  thereupon 
retire  again,  and  allow  organic  evolution  to  go  on  during  myriads  of  ages  without 
interference, — is  to  stamp  oneself  as  even  more  foolishly  credulous,  if  possible, 
than  are  those  whose  religion  is  still  belief  in  the  hell-fire  and  Jehovah  of  good 
old  John  Wesley.  Compared  with  such  extraordinary  god-conduct,  the  miracles 
introduced  by  orthodi^xy  to  put  a  plausible  appearance  upon  the  naturalness  of 
the  Deluge  story  pale  into  dulness. 

If  God  had  to  perform  a  hundred  childish  miracles  to  get  the  world  destroyed 
and  saved  via  the  Deluge,  the  Ark,  and  contemptible  human  instrumentalities, 
the  question  suggests  itself,  of  course,  why  he  did  not  do  the  work  in  one  easy, 
instantaneous  miracle.  And  not  less  strange  is  the  supposed  interference  of  the 
deity  with  a  trivial  metamorphosis  like  the  endowment  of  matter  with  nascent 
consciousness,  while  at  the  same  time  vaster  and  less  easily  decipherable  previous 
and  subsequent  rnetamorphoses  are  allowed  to  proceed  spontaneously. 

(To  be  concluded.) 


Hn  HMer's  IRotes- 

:o: 


FEMALE   SUFFRAGE. 

About  thirty  ladies,  married  and  maiden,  from  the  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  waited  on  Premier  Whitney,  and  requested  him  to  extend  to  the 
matrons  of  Ontario  the  same  municipal  franchise  as  is  enjoyed  by  their  maiden 
and  widowed  sitters.  If  they  can  convince  the  Premier  of  the  sanity  of  their 
petition,  and  your  good  lady  happens  to  be  the  property-owner  of  the  household, 
henceforth  your  civic  duty  will  consist  of  escorting  her  to  and  from  the  polling- 
booth. 

Two  eminent  Methodist  divines,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Burwash  and  Courtice,  toddled 
into  the  Premier's  presence  in  the  wake  of  the  ladies  The  Premier  followed 
time-honored  precedent,  and  promised  to  take  the  matter  into  his  "  serious 
consideration." 

There  must  be  some  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  married  women  in  On- 
tario. Now,  this  small  party  of  married  women  |)etitioning  Mr.  Whitney  on 
behalf  of  the  matrons  of  Ontario  seems  almost  as  great  an  absurdity  as  the  three 
tailors  of  Tooley-street  proclaiming  themselves  as  ''  We,  the  People  of  England." 
More  absurd  was  the  presumption  of  the  maiden  members  of  the  deputation  ; 
but  the  climax  of  absurdity  was  the  presumption  of  ihe  two  clerical  toddlers. 

St;me  philanthropic  individual  should  endow  a  chair  of  Humor  in  every  theo- 
logical college.  It  would  be  a  more  effectuaJ  saving  grace  than  Faith,  Hope,  or 
•  Charity'. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  245 

The  arguments  advanced  by  the  deputation  were  as  weighty  as  might  naturally 
be  expected  from  ladies  with  a  mission.  The  pet  proposition  put  before  the 
Premier  was  that,  as  women  took  part  in  the  housekeeping  of  the  home,  they 
were  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  greater  housekeeping  of  the  nation.  This  is  a 
nice-sounding  mouthful  of  words,  but  so  sweetly  illogical  and  beautifully  unin- 
telligible as  scarcely  to  justify  a  Premier  of  Ontario  in  attempting  to  make  such 
a  radical  change. 

One  lady  suggested  that  it  would  make  the  Premier  immortal, — no  doubt  with 
a  secret  hope  that  there  would  also  be  thirty  immortelles,  and  a  forgetfulness 
that,  according  to  revealed  relig'on,  there  are  two  kinds  of  immortality.  Im- 
mortality, beneficent  or  maleficent,  might  come  high  at  the  price. 

Another  fair  speaker  said  :  "  We  require  this  to  be  the  equals  of  our  brothers." 
Nature  is  stronger  than  even  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  In 
some  things,  alas  !  they  can  never  be  the  equals  of  their  brothers.  Suppose 
Uncle  Sam  should  take  to  swinging  his  big  stick  northward,  it  would  be  their 
brothers  who  would  get  down  into  the  dirty  trenches,  and  take  pot  shots  at  and 
be  pot-shotted  by  their  American  brothers.  Men  are  men,  and  women  are  only 
women,  even  if  they  do  belong  to  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 

Another  lady  with  an  historical  bent  of  mind  traced  out  the  history  of  the 
gradual  emancipation  of  married  women's  property  from  the  thrall  of  her  marital 
tyrant. 

'•  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing  ; 
Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring," 

Says  Pope ;  and  if  the  historically-minded  fair  one  had  gone  a  little  farther,  she 
would  have  made  an  astounding  discovery.  The  jurisprudence  of  pagan  Rome 
exhibits  the  same  evolution  of  married  women's  separate  estate.  With  the  fall 
of  paganism  and  the  rise  of  Christianity,  the  wife  was  shorn  of  her  proprietary 
rights.  Marriage  became  a  sacrament  of  the  church.  A  few  magic  words  from 
a  priest  made  the  twain  one  flesh.  ••  What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man 
put  asunder,"  was  the  fiat  of  the  church.  The  potent  magic  which  could  make 
two  persons  one  easily  whisked  away  the  property  from  the  wife  and  vested  it 
in  the  husband,  and  clinched  the  transaction  in  the  name  of  the  same  omnipo- 
tent authority.  The  rescue  of  the  wife's  property  is  only  one  of  the  many  vic- 
tories which  Rationalism  has  gained  from  Religion— the  horse  sense  of  the  com- 
munity from  the  nonsense  of  the  church. 

The  dear  good  ladies  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  rapidly  becoming  Agnostics, 
carrying  with  them  two  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  have  made  a  daring  effort  to  convert  Ontario's  Premier.  Secular  Thought 
never  made  any  such  daring  attempt,  and  cannot  boast  of  any  such  signal  suc- 
cess. Whence  came  the  inspiration  to  these  good  Christian  ladies  ?  Assuredly 
not  from  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ.  Search  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and  even 
religious  astuteness  can  find  nothing  in  its  £avor.     Or  suppose  our   fair  friends 


246  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


and  their  bodyguard  waited  on  the  Apostle  Paul :  would  their  reception  have 
been  as  courteous  ?  The  stern  bald-headed  old  bachelor  would  have  answered 
them  in  "straight-flung  words  and  few":  "  Wives,  be  obedient  to  your  husbands." 
As  for  the  bodyguard,  if  there  was  any  of  the  unregenerate  Saul  left  in  him,  and 
ithe  rocks  were  handy,  there  might  have  been  other  martyrs  than  Stephen. 

The  inspiration  came  from  even  a  less  lofty  source.  These  women  are  ble>sed 
— or  cursed — wiih  a  mission.  To  banish  the  poor  man's  pot  of  beer  and  cut 
out  the  rich  man's  cocktail  is  their  summum  honiim.  Female  suffrage  is  but  a 
means  to  an  end.  Apart  from  its  promoters,  this  object  has  its  merits  and  its 
^Weaknesses,  a  discussion  of  which  would  unduly  lengthen  these  notes  ;  but 
wherever  it  has  been  tried  its  success  has  hitherto  been  so  doubtful  as  to  justify 
Mr.  Whitney  in  keeping  it  long  in  the  pickle  of  his  consideration. 


THE  ONTARIO  LORD'S  DAY  ALLIANCE. 

The  Ontario  Lord's  Day  Alliance  also  have  been  interviewing  Mr.  Whitney. 
They  wanted  him  to  enact  some  Lord's  Day  legislation.  Mr.  Whitney  received 
them  courteously,  but  of  course  the  various  powers  of  the  Province  and  of  the 
Dominion  were  in  litigation,  and  he  could  do  nothing  until  they  were  deter- 
mined. In  the  meantime,  he  proposed  to  have  the  Province  represented  by 
•counsel  when  the  matter  came  up  before  the  Privy  Council.  As  politics,  this  is 
^n  edition  de  luxe.  He  pleased  everybody  and  did  nothing.  He  dodged  awk- 
ward legislation,  he  threw  a  sop  to  Cerberus,  and  he  contrived  a  fat  fee,  a  snug 
trip  to  England,  and  a  glance  at  the  arcana  of  English  society  for  some  political 
friend  at  the  expense  of  the  taxpayer.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  politician,  it 
was  tact ;  but  to  those  of  us  who  are  only  plain  citizens,  it  would  be  refreshing 
if  once  in  a  decade  or  so  we  had  a  man  in  the  Seats  of  the  Mighty  with  sufficient 
respect  for  the  dignity  of  his  manhood  to  smite  humbugs  on  their  parabolic 
curves  with  the  foot  strenuous  ;  and,  if  the  occasion  demanded,  sufficient  courage 
to  say  :  To  Hades  with  a  few  fool  votes. 

The  Lord's  Day  Alliance  people  should  be  content  to  enjoy  ^their  own  little 
odd  whims  in  their  own  little  odd  corners.  Nobody  would  object  to  this.  But 
when  they  wish  the  civil  authorities  to  enforce  their  fads  on  the  community  by 
the  machinery  of  the  criminal  law,  it  is  high  time  some  efforts  were  made  to  curb 
their  mad  career. 

At  first,  this  agitation  was  chiefly  confined  to  a  barrister  with  a  longer  suit  of 
piety  than  practice.  As  he  opened  up  vistas  of  endless  litigation,  all  the  other 
members  of  the  profession  with  an  odor  of  sanctity  hustled  to  get  into  the  game. 
Then  there  were  other  fields  of  graft  to  be  exploited.  Branch  associations  were 
formed  all  over  the  country.  Collections  were  always  taken  up.  The  martyrdom 
of  these  saints  was  beautifully  gilt-edged.  I  can  see  the  holy  horror  of  the  good 
people  when  I  suggest  that,  after  all,  filthy  lucre,  not  piety,  is  the  chief  cause  of 
the  continuance  of  this  movement.  No  doubt  there  are  other  causes,  which  I 
shall  diseuss  a  little,  further  on  ;  .but   I  think  a  little  explanation   will   convince 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  247: 


any  one  that  I  am  not  wide  of  the  mark.  If  the  contributions  stopped,  the 
whole  movement  would  die  of  anaemia  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Now,  let  us  look  at  the  question  itself,  on  the  merits.  From  the  Christian 
point  of  view,  much  might  be  said  in  favor  of  observing  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ; 
something  might  be  said  from  a  Roman  Catholic  point  of  view  in  favor  of  ob- 
serving the  Lord's  Day  ;  but  I  fail  to  see  a  single  rational  argument  in  its  favor. 
I  have  attended  Protestant  churches  for  the  past  forty  years,  and  I  have  never 
yet  heard  from  a  Protestant  pulpit  an  explanation  of  why  we  observe  Sunday,  and 
not  Saturday.  Let  me  ask  any  reader  if  he  ever  has.  Or,  belter  still,  let  him 
try  a  simple  experiment.  Let  him  purchase  two  postage  stamps.  This  will  cost 
him  four  cents.  The  other  cent  will  buy  a  sheet  of  paper  and  two  envelopes. 
Then  let  him  write  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  and  ask 
him.  Enclose  a  duly  stamped  and  addressed  envelope  for  a  reply.  The  result, 
without  a  doubt,  will  be  the  silence  which  is  golden. 

Search  the  New  Testament  from  cover  to  cover,  and  you  will  find  that  Messrs. 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John,  Paul,  Peter,  and  Jude,  who,  we  are  taught,  were 
inspired, — though  the  poor  fellows,  as  they  struggled  with  their  papyrus  manu- 
scripts, never  dreamed  of  their  posthumous  canonization, — knew  nothing  about 
this  new  game.  The  only  authorities  for  this  innovation  were  the  traditions  of 
the  Fathers  and  the  Councils  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  How  bitterly 
the  Protestants  attacked  the  authority  of  the  Fathers  and  the  Councils  is  known 
to  every  student  of  history. 

Our  Lord's  Day  Alliance  people  are  very  bitter  Protestants.  They  balk  like 
bucking  bronches  at  the  Autonomy  Bills,  and  they  bristle  like  Kilkenny  cats  at 
the  name  of  Mgr.  Sbarretti.  Yet  every  Saturday  they  profane  a  day  hallowed  by 
the  God  himself  whom  they  profess  to  worship  ;  while  every  Sunday  they  would 
fine  and  imprison  the  Pope  for  not  observing  properly  a  day  instituted  by  autho- 
rities sacred  to  him,  but  utterly  discredited  to  them.  By  a  strange  paradox,  the 
ultra-Protestant  Lord's  Day  Alliance  fanatics  have  become  more  Roman  Catholic 
than  the  College  of  Cardinals. 

I  mentioned  before  that  there  were  other  reasons  than  the  commercial  one  of 
graft  The  above  argument,  it  seems  to  me,  effectually  eliminates  considerations 
of  right  and  reason.  The  other  reason  seems  to  be  this  The  one  constant  cha- 
racteristic of  the  priestly  caste,  in  all  time  and  in  every  place,  has  been  :  If  you 
scratch  a  priest  (or  pastor)  you  will  always  find  a  despot.  Their  sweet  *'  I  will,"^ 
and  the  answering  "  I  shall  "  of  their  fellow  creatures,  has  always  been  very  dear 
to  them  ;  and  in  the  holy  of  holies  of  their  hearts  their  prayer  has  been,  "  O 
Lord  !  not  thy  will,  but  mine,  be  done  !  " 

The  Lord's  Day  Alliance  is  rapidly  becoming  a  nuisance.  Let  us  begin  an 
agitation  to  curb  such  clogs  on  the  wheel  of  progress.  Idler. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Municipal  Committee  of  the  Ontario  Legis- 
lature have  unanimously  refused  to  extend  the  municipal  franchise  to  women. 


"  What  started  the  fuss  at  the  milkmen's  ball  ?  " 

•*  Some  blamed   fool  asked  one  of  the  milkmen  if  he  had  brought  his  pumps 
along." 


One  of  the  noblest  works  of  nature,  is  the.  man  who  pays  for  his  paper  without 
being  d\u\ne±  — Denver  Ledge,. 


248  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


J  Sboulb  OLlF^e  to  be  tbe  BeviL 

:o: 

BY    DR.    T.    WILKINS. 

:o: 

I  SHOULD  like  to  be  the  Devil,  with  his  cute  and  cunning  ways, 
And  be  rolling  in  his  riches  during  my  eternal  days. 
I  should  like  to  make  some  people,  who  are  riding  o'er  the  poor, 
Feel  the  weight  of  stern  old  Justice,  through  a  kind  uf  X-ray  cure. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil  of  the  dim  and  misty  yore, 
Who  with  forked  tail  and  split  feet  stood  around  each  church  house  door. 
They  have  turned  their  backs  upon  him  as  a  handy  thing  obscure. 
Since  he  gave  back  all  their  infants  from  his  incubating  cure. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil  for  an  earthly  term  of  years, 
To  give  back  to  human  tyrants  all  their  woe-created  tears. 
I  should  like  to  hold  the  noses  to  the  grindstone  for  awhile, 
Of  the  ones  who  hold  their  brothers  with  demoniacal  smile. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil,  with  his  power  all  supreme, 
I  would  surely  play  the  devil  with  the  present  social  scheme. 
I  should  like  to  bake  the  Christian  and  consume  his  silly  creed, 
And  try-out  the  selfish  tissue  of  all  human  sordid  greed. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil,  with  his  once  intrinsic  worth, 
When  he  stood  as  God's  "  right-bower"  in  the  running  of  the  earth, 
And  brought  forth  each  great  invention,  much  against  Jehovah's  will  : 
I  should  like  to  aid  more  fully  in  repairing  this  old  mill. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil,  with  the  Devil's  old-time  sway : 

I  should  like  to  dig  up  victims  of  the  Inquisition's  day, 

And  hold  up  before  the  Christians,  as  an  echo  of  their  songs, 

The  grim  grinning  skulls  and  dry-bones  of  their  tortured  human  throngs. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil  that  was  pictured  out  by  man, 

Who  so  oft  appeared  and  thwarted  God  Almighty's  perfect  plan. 

I  should  wield  my  strength  for  people  who  are  blinded  by  the  schemes 

That  but  rob  them  of  the  sweetness  of  their  highest  earthly  dreams. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil  for  an  age  or  two  and  see 
How  much  better  to  the  people  than  Jehovah  I  could  be. 
I  should  like  to  brush  the  tear-drops  of  his  anger  all  away  ; 
And  bring  peace  along  with  plenty  while  upon  the  earth  I  stay. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil  on  the  earth  a  little  spell, 
i  would  give  the  trusts  a  foretaste  of  their  own  deserving  hell. 
I  would  give  them,  as  to  others  they  gave  alms  they  only  stole. 
Ample  justice,  aniple  cooking,  in  my  heated  cauldron  bowl. 

I  should  like  to  be  the  Devil,  with  the  progress  he  has  made 

With  religion  and  its  tenets,  all  within  the  last  decade  ; 

Td  use  my  ingenuity  inventing  an  X-ray 

That  would  bring  the  human  conscience  to  the  open  light  of  day. 

— Progressive  Thinker. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  249 

H  problem  Sreater  tban  ^elepatb?* 

:o: 

BY    GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.    SUN. 

:o: 

The  last  cited  case  of  telepathy  is  that  of  a  loving  wife  filled  with  sudden  anxiety 
by  the  silence  of  her  absent  husband,  whom  she  afterwards  finds  to  have  been 
sick.  Incidents  such  as  this,  dressed  up  by  our  retroactive  fancy,  become 
mysterious  and  the  materials  of  a  new  faith.  Our  minds  are  thereby  turned  from 
questions  really  momentous  in  the  solution  of  which  we  are  called  upon  to  help 

each  other. 

One  writer  in  the  telepathic  discussion  glances  at  the  question  of  a  future 
state  in  a  way  which  seems  to  imply  that  he  hardly  deems  it  pressing.  Yet  surely 
no  question  can  be  more  pressing,  if  we.  have  any  means  of  solving  it,  than  that 
of  existence  after  death.  I  avoid  the  phrase  "immortality  of  the  soul,"  because 
I  cannot  form  an  i  lea  of  immortality  any  more  than  I  can  of  infinity  or  eternity, 
both  of  which  elude  conception. 

Conscience  tells  us  that  according  as  we  do  well  or  ill  in  this  life  it  will  be  well 
or  ill  for  us  hereafter.  Is  the  evidence  of  conscience  less  trustworthy  than  that 
of  our  bodily  senses  ?  If  the  evidence  of  our  bodily  senses  and  the  science 
built  upon  them  alone  is  trustworthy,  on  what  does  their  prerogative  rest  ?  May 
we  not  be  in  a  universe  unseen  by  Newton  or  Darwin  ? 

That  death  wipes  out  the  score  of  life  and  levels  the  best  with  the  worst  of 
men,  the  man  who  has  been  the  benefactor  with  the  one  who  has  been  the  curse 
of  his  kind,  is  a  belief  from  which  our  moral  nature  recoils  as  strongly  as  our 
physical  nature  recoils  from  anything  contradictory  of  sense. 

Positivism,'  in  place  of  the  hope  of  personal  existence  hereafter,  presents  to  us 
impersonal  existence  as  a  factor  in  the  progress  of  humanity.  But  that  which  is 
not  personal  is  not  ours.  After  all,  in  what  is  the  progress  to  end  ?  According 
to  science,  in  the  physical  catastrophe  of  our  planet. 

What  would  be  the  consequence  to  society  of  the  belief,  if  we  should  be  drivet> 
to  it,  that  death  is  the  end  ?  Would  there  be  any  rational  inducement  to  self- 
sacrifice  or  effort  for  the  common  good  ?  Would  not  struggle  for  the  means  of 
present  enjoyment  be  in  fact  the  true  wisdom  ?  Is  not  a  tendency  of  this  kind 
making^  itself  felt  as  religious  belief  grows  weak  ?  Positivism  points  to  the 
military  self-devotion  of  the  Japanese.  Is  it  more  than  the  blind  instinct  of  sur- 
viving tribalism  with  a  sort  of  tribal  deity  in  the  form  of  the  Mikado  ? 

Old  arguments  of  the  natural  kind  no  doubt  are  failing  us.  We  can  no  longer 
hold  with  the  good  Bishop  Butler  that  the  soul  is  a  being  distinct  from  the  body,, 
indiscernible,  and  therefore  probably  indissoluble.  We  know  that  what  we  call 
the  soul  is  the  consummate  outcome  of  the  general  frame.  Nor  can  we,  wiih 
Socrates,  found  our  faith  on  a  pre-existence  attested  by  the  presence  in  us  of 
innate  ideas.  When  Socrates  points  to  the  distinction  between  the  lyre  and  the 
melody  as  analogous  to  that  between  the  body  and  the  soul,  a  hearer  replies  a^ 


^50  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


cnce  that  when  the  lyre  is  broken  the  melody  dies.  Of  ghosts  or  spiritualist 
apparitions  there  is  no  need  to  speak. 

We  are  met  with  the  cases  of  idiots,  lunatics,  children  dying  in  infancy,  savages 
and  others,  who  have  not  seen  moral  light.  The  argument  seems  conclusive 
against  universal  resurrection^  but  not  against  the  survival  of  responsibility 
where  responsibility  has  been. 

Conscience  implies  the  existence  of  a  deity,  to  whose  tribunal  it  appeals,  not 
'^he  Deity  of  Genesis  or  of  a  weak  human  imagination,  but  of  a  power  which 
upholds  righteousness  and  directs  all  in  the  end  to  good.  It  implies,  not  the 
'reedom  of  the  will,  if  by  that  is  meant  exclusion  of  antecedents,  but  volition,  the 
reality  of  which  extreme  materialism  seems  to  deny.  The  exact  relation  between 
the  antecedents  and  the  volition  we  may  not  be  able  to  define.  The  existence 
of  volition,  as  well  as  of  the  antecedents,  is  assumed  in  all  our  judgments  on  our 
own  actions  and  those  of  our  fellows. 

Now,  sir,  1  have  done,  having  already  trespassed,  I  fear,  too  often  on  your 
columns.  I  have  not  presumed  to  put  forward  any  theory,  for,  indeed,  I  cannot 
pretend  to  have  one.  I  have  only  tried  to  call  attention  to  certain  phenomena, 
or  apparent  phenomena,  of  human  nature  which,  it  seems  to  me,  evolution  has 
not  yet  explained,  and  which  appear  to  point  to  something  beyond  our  present 
state.  I  am  heartily  loyal  to  science  ;  but  it  is  always  possible  that  the  impetus 
of  a  great  discovery  may  carry  us  too  far. 

Toronto,  Oc     3. 


Caster  Sunbaij,  Xte  ©nain,  an&  Mbat  Some  motet) 
flDen  2)i&  ICbat  2)ai2^ 

BY    A.    CORN,    SR.,    STRATFORD. 

:o: 

The  millinery  openings  in  the  various  churches  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Christendom  were  particularly  fine,  according  to  the  daily  papers,  on 
Easter  Sunday  last.  Every  class  and  condition  of  humanity  was  represented  : 
good  girls  and  bad  girls  and  those  that  had  ceased  to  be  girls  at  all.  They  were 
all  there,  from  the  tall  girl  with  amber  hair  and  blue  eyes,  the  diminutive  creature 
with  olive  skin  and  curly  locks,  to  robust  matrons  of  questionable  age,  and  gray- 
headed  grandmothers, — all  vieing  with  each  other,  not  only  in  headgear,  but  in 
brilliance  of  costume,  in  order  to  do  what  seemed  to  them  justice  to  the  end  of 
the  Lenten  season. 

Like  many  of  the  popular  religious  observances,  Easter  is  clearly  of  Pagan 
origin.  The  goddess  Oslara,  or  Eostre,  seems  to  have  been  the  personification 
of  the  morning,  or  East,  and  also  of  the  opening  year,  or  spring.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  name  of  April  was  Estermonath  ;  and  it  is  still  known  by  this  name  in 
•Germany.  The  worship  of  this  deity  seems  to  have  struck  deep  root  in  northern 
Germany,  and  was  brought  into  England  by  the  Saxons.  It  was  especially  a 
'-festival  of  joy — joy  at   the  rising  of  the  natural  sun,  and  at  the  awakening  of 


SECULAK    THOUGHT.  251 

nature  from  the  death  of  winter.  With  her  usual  policy,  the  church  endeavored 
to  give  a  Christian  signiticance  to  such  of  the  rites  as  could  not  be  rooted  out ; 
and  in  this  case  the  conversion  was  particularly  easy.  And  to-day  it  is  vastly 
interesting  to  those  young  people  of  both  sexes  who,  for  family  and  other  reasons, 
have  been  for  the  past  six  weeks  sitting  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  so  to  speak. 
They  may  now  come  out  of  their  shells  and  mix  up  with  the  gay  old  world  and 
partake  of  all  the  pleasures  this  transient  life  has  to  offer. 

It  may  prove  interesting  to  note  how  some  of  the  most  talked-of  men  of  our 
day  and  generation  spent  the  day.  A  report  from  Lakewood,  N.J.,  states  that 
John  D  Rockefeller  walked  into  the  Baptist  Church,  Easter  Sunday,  carrying  a 
potted  azalea  in  bloom.     His  secretary  carried  a  calla. 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  London,  England,  attended  service  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

President  Roosevelt  was  still  in  camp,  *'  huntin'  for  b'ar  "  in  the  wilds  of 
Colorado. 

Enough  is  given  here  of  the  men  most  in  the  public  eye.  The  contributions 
of  Mr.  Rockefeller  and  his  secretary,  symbolizing  fidelity  and  purity,  are  charac- 
teristic of  the  great  multimillionaire ;  for  where  in  the  world  to-day  will  you  find 
another  man  with  the  fidelity  of  purpose  of  John  D.  Rockefeller  ?  Where  will 
you  find  a  man,  as  chief  of  the  great  trusts,  who  has  done  more  to  cause  misery 
and  suffering  in  the  world  than  he  has  ? — a  man  with  a  soul  so  shrunken  that  a 
powerful  magnifying  glass  would  have  to  be  utilized  to  locale  its  former  abode. 
The  calla  lily  carried  by  his  secretary  showed  up  in  strange  contrast  to  the  soulless 
man  who  walked  beside  it.  Greed  and  purity  !  Ye  gods,  what  an  unholy  com- 
bination 1 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan  went  to  church  ;  that's  the  most  the  dispatches  said  of 
him  He  is  the  same  man  who  formed  the  combine  to  gather  in  all  the 
merchantmen  of  Europe,  but  did  not  quite  succeed.  J.  P.  M.  has  his  eye  still 
on  the  air  and  sunlight,  and  if  we  don't  mind  he'll  have  a  monopoly  of  these  ere 
long. 

And  then  as  to  Teddy  :  he  did  not  come  into  civilization  from  his  camp.  And 
he  showed  the  most  sense  of  the  bunch.  It  may  look  as  if  he  were  winking  at 
these  oetopuses  that  are  eating  the  very  vitals  out  of  the  Republic  ;  but  time  will 
probably  show  that  Roosevelt's  head  was  one  of  the  many  level  ones  on  last 
Easter  Sunday.  In  addition  to  the  millinery  openings  and  sich,  it  Is  a  great  day 
for  "  rake-offs  "  for  the  clergy. 


A  gentleman  farmer  bought  some  samples  of  a  new  variety  of  potatoes,  and, 
giving  them  to  his  gardener,  cautioned  him  to  be  sure  and  plant  them  far  enough 
apart.  Next  day  he  asked  the  gardener  what  he  had  done.  "  Did  you  plant  the 
potatoes  far  enough  apart,  Mike?  "  "Sure  an*  I  did,  sor,"  said  Mike.  *'  I  put 
some  in  your  garden  and  some  in  mine,  so  they  are  four  miles  apart,  sor  1 " 


252  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


GOOD  FRIDAY  AND  SALVATION 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Dear  Sir, — This  is  what  is  commonly  called  "Good  Friday."  It  is  a  day 
:kept  in  commemoration  of  the  crucifying  of  a  man  named  Jesus  by  the  Romans 
and  Jews  jointly,  something  like  1870  years  ago.  By  this  execution,  according 
to  popular  belief,  men  are  all  saved  from  their  sins,  and  after  death  they  emigrate 
to  a  glorious  place  called  Fleaven,  but  only  on  one  conr'ition  :  that  they  in  life 
■believed  in  the  eflfiiciency  of  the  above-mentioned  crucifixion  as  a  power  to  save 
from  sins.  Those  who  do  not  believe  that  will  have  to  settle  after  death  in  a 
place  where  the  climate  will  not  be  very  agreeable,  though  healthy  enough  to 
sustain  life,  as  nobody  is  yet  reported  to  have  starved  to  death  there. 

I  will  now  soon  reach  the  half  century  mile-i)Ost,  and  have  from  my  youth  up 
given  the  above  question  a  very  serious  study,  and  I  have  so  far  failed  to  see  any 
reason  or  sense  in  the  above-mentioned  philosophy.  I  believe  more  strongly 
than  ever  that  the  emigration  agents  for  those  mysterious  countries  are  like  all 
other  emigration  agents — simply  wilful  falsifiers,  and  talk  about  countries  of  which 
they  know  nothing,  just  for  the  money  there  is  in  it. 

For  the  life  of  me,  I  cannot  understand  that  the  execution  of  a  man  some 
eighteen  or  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  can  have  anything  to  do  with  my 
salvation  in  a  future  life,  no  matter  whether  the  execution  was  just  or  unjust. 
Thousands— )es,  millions  — have  unjustly  suffered  death  both  before  and  since. 
And  my  belief  is  that  this  crucifixion  salvation  is  a  remaining  relic  from 
ancient  times  of  human  sacrifices,  made  with  the  idea  of  af)peasing  angry  gods  ; 
which  later  was  modified  to  the  sacrifice  of  lambs  and  doves  ;  being  finally 
modified  to  the  sacrifice  of  money,  which  to-day  is  typified  by  our  collection-box. 

Fraternally  yours, 

J.  S.  Odegaard. 


NOW  FOR  THE  LIBERAL  LECTURE  FIELD. 

Editor  Sb-cular  Thought. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Although  it  is  said  that  Liberalism  has  declined  that  it  is  in  an 
eclipse,  I  know  that  the  church  has  not  defeated  it  ;  and,  judging  by  my  many 
years  of  public  platform  work,  the  people  enjoy  Liberal  lectures.  A  great  deal 
depends  upon  the  manner  of  presenting  Liberalism  to  the  public.  It  requires 
as  much  skill  to  propagate  truth  at  to  advocate  error. 

Now,  in  spite  of  the  prevailing  apathy,  I  will  again  enter  the  lecture-field  to 
proclaim  our  broad  humanitarian  principles  founded  on  science,  if  Liberals  will 
help  me  to  start  this  independent  movement  Rich  or  poor,  can  we  not  do 
something  to  help  so  good  a  cause?  I  ask  you,  will  you  not  aid  me  to  embark 
in  this  campaign  of  true  education,  common  sense,  science  ?  Cannot  each  do  a 
little  according  to  means  ?  Should  we  allow  the  credulous  Christian  world  to 
perpetuate  its  power  ?  Why  not  press  forward  ?  Suppose  the  mass  of  Freethinkers 
are  poor?  A  large  proportion  of  the  members  of  the  wealthy  Catholic  church 
are  poor — but  they  all  help  a  little  Let  who  will  think,  or  say,  that  Liberalism 
is  a  "  forlorn  hope,"  I  know  that  mankind  needs  it.  If  I  can  get  started  once 
more  I  am  confident  that  the  people  will  help  sustain  me  in  the  field.  Wherever 
I  have  travelled  I  have  succeeded  in  almost  every  town   in  convincing  the  most 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  258 


intelligent  Christians  who  dare  listen  to  our  teachings  that  Liberalism  is  worthy 
of  universal  acceptance.  From  the  press  I  have  received  as  fine  notices  of  the 
work  done  as  were  ever  accorded  by  our  own  Freethought  journals.  I  have  given 
my  life  to  this  cause,  and  want  to  work  for  its  advancement  as  long  as  I  am  able. 
It  is  a  grand  thing  to  work  for  mental  freedom.  Will  you  not  help  me  to  do  this  ? 
Do  what  you  can.  A  few  Liberals  have  already  sent  the  following  sums  :  John 
Wolf.  Forreston,  111.,  $5  00  ;  Sara  L  Vansickle,  Gates,  Ind  ,  $5. 00  ;  M.  Bodmer, 
Madison,  Wis,  $1.00;  E.  B.  Tanner,  Attica,  O.,  $2.00;  N.  S.  Johnson,  Sioux 
Falls,  S.U.,  $5.00.     Address  me  at  Pentwater,  Mich.,  U.  S.  A. 

Yours  fraternally,  W.  F.  Jamieson. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


FREETHOUGHT  PROGRESS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.— A  friend, 
writing  from  Santiago,  in  Chile,  South  America,  gives  a  very  encouraging  account 
of  the  progress  of  freethought  in  that  very  Catholic  country.  He  says  :  "  Here 
we  have  no  less  than  half  a  dozen  radical  papers  in  which  the  priests  get  badly 
handled  when  they  don't  behave  themselves  correctly.  'I  he  feuilleton  of  Ln  Ley 
is  not  one  of  Dumas'  novels,  but  the  history  of  the  scandalous  lives  of  the  popes. 
On  Sunday  last  I  went  out  to  take  a  walk  before  dinner,  and  when  I  reached  the 
Plaza  I  could  not  get  across  it  for  the  throng  congregated  there  to  listen  to  an 
harangue  delivered  by  a  lawyer  on  freethought.  It  was  nothing  but  a  grent 
meeting  of  freethinkers  held  in  front  of  the  cathedral  and  the  Bishop's  palace. 
The  lawyer  spoke  with  great  vim  and  eloquence  against  the  Pope,  the  bishops, 
the  priests,  and  the  Roman  religion  in  general,  and  every  point  he  made  was 
received  with  the  greatest  applause  and  approbation.'  It  was  a  fine  demonstration 
and  hopeful  for  progress." 


SIR  FREDEICK  TREVES  ON  ALCOHOL —A  few  days  ago  Sir 
Frederick  Treves,  surgeon   to  the   King,  in  addressing  a   temperance  meeting, 

ive  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion  that  alcohol,  even  in  small  quantities,  is  distinctly 
a  poison,  and  should  be  restricted  in  use  in  the  same  way  as  other  poisons.  In 
no  sense,  he  said,  was  it  an  "appetizer,"  and  small  doses  hindered  digestion. 
Mthough  its   stimulating   effect   may  be  felt  for  a  moment,  when  this  effect  has 

assed,  the  capacity  for  work  fails  enormously  ;  and  its  use  by  physicians  as  a 
remedy  was  rapidly  diminishing.  The  high  position  held  by  Sir  Frederick  in  his 
profession  will  doubtless  give  great  weight  to  his  very  decided  opinions.  'I'he 
Montreal  Star  interviewed  a  number  of  the  best  known  doctors  as  to  their  views 
on  this  matter ;  and  it  is  noticeable  that,  though  one  or  two  thought  Sir 
Frederick  had  been  rather  too  strong  in  staling  his  opinion,  in  the  main  they  all 
agreed  that  *'  the  less  alcohol  a  man  takes  the  better  it  is  for  him."  This  is  a 
view  we  have  held  for  a  long  time. 


GROWTH  OF  METHODISM  IN  TORONTO.— It  is  stated  that  Metho- 
dism has  made  such  strides  in  the  west  end  of  Toronto,  that  during  the  coming 
summer  the  Methodists  will  turn  $150,000  into  bricks  and  mortar,  etc.,  iri  the 
shape  of  four  new  churches,  to  accommodate  the  present  and  future  adherents. 
The  Methodist  Church  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  noticeable  features  of 
Canadian  life,  and  an  attendant  at  their  churches  cannot  but   be  impressed  with 


^54  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


the  fervor  of  the  congregations.  Whatever  may  be  the  character  of  their  beliefs 
individually,  undoubtedly  they  carry  their  Bibles  and  hymn-books  to  church  as 
religiously  and  ostentatiously  as  do  the  adherents  of  any  other  church,  and  their 
'tremendous  display  of  spring  millinery  and  fashionable  attire  in  no  way  prevents 
them  from  ''joining  heartily  "  in  those  parts  of  the  service  allotted  to  the  laity  — 
or,  for  the  matter  of  that,  from  riding  home  on  the  street  cars,  after  having  heard 
ithe  preacher  denounce  them  as  Sabbath-breaking  works  of  the  devil. 


THE  EDITOR'S  NIGHTMARE. 

I've  just  awakened  from  a  dream —  But,oh,that  dream,  that  dreadful  dream! 

Oh,  such  a  crazy  vision  !  It  fills  me  with  cold  shivers. 

i  dare  not  tell  it  to  my  wife,  I  feel  the  chills  run  down  my  back, 

She'd  greet  me  with  derision.  Like  small,  frost-bitten  rivers. 

It  serves  me  right  nightmare  to  have,  I  dreamed — this  is  the  gospel  truth, 

I'm  such  a  thoughtless  bumpkin,  And  I  am  no  imbiber — 

To  eat,  when  bedtime's  drawing  nigh,  I  dreamed  I  got  two  dollars  from 

A  pie  made  out  of  pumpkin.  The  man  called  "  Old  Subscriber." 

— Geo.  V.  Hobart. 


IN  HONOR  OF  ADAM. — A  Southern  newspaper  suggests  another  legal 
holiday.     The  birthday  of  great  men  being  now  in  order,  it  says  : 

'•  As  Adam  was  the  first  man,  why  not  honor  his  memory  by  making  his  birth- 
day a  legal  holiday?  He  was  the  father  of  the  whole  race,  while  Washington 
was  only  the  putative  father  of  the  United  States,  and  yet  he  has  a  day  to  his 
credit." 

Mark  Twain  seems  to  know  more  about  the  life  of  Adam  than  anybody  else, 
and  Congress  might  do  very  much  worse  than  give  Mark  the  job  of  writing  a 
thoroughly  up-to-date  and  authentic  biography  of  the  Greatest  of  Men  Before 
.Roosevelt.  The  Pope — for  a  consideration — would  discover  Adam's  place  of 
burial,  which  would  be  authenticated  by  a  vote  of  the  College  of  Cardinals,  even 
if  it  were  found  to  be  in  the  American  National  Park.  Considering  that  some 
two  hundred  millions  of  Christians  believe  that  the  Roman  Church  possesses 
portions  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Grandmother  of  Yave,  our  contemporary's  idea 
would  seem  to  be  an  easy  one  to  carry  out,  if  only  the  church  will  do  its  duty. 


RELIGION. 

1  AM  no  priest  of  crooks  nor  creeds.  Is  this  the  Christian's  boasted  bliss  ? 

For  human  wants  and  human  needs  Avails  your  faiih  no  more  than  this? 

Are  more  to  me  than  prophets'  deeds  ; 

And  human  deeds  and  human  cares  Take  up  your  arms,  come  out  with  me. 

Affect  me  more  than  human  prayers.         Let  heav'n  alone      Humanity 

Needs  more  and  heaven  less  from  thee. 
Go,  cease  your  wail,  lugubrious  saint  !      With  pity  for  mankind  look  'round ; 
You  fret  high  heaven  with  your  plaint.      Help    them    to    rise — and    heaven    is 
Is  this  the  "  Christian's  joy"  you  paint  ?  found. 

P.  L.  Dunbar  (the  Negro  Poet). 


Church  Worker— Will  you  not  assist  us  to  send  a  missionary  to  the  cannibals? 
Mr.  Gottrox— Not  much      I'm  a  vegetarian  ;  but  I'll  assist  you  to  send  them 
.some  easily  digested  cereal. 


SECULAB  THOUGHT.  255 

THE  INEVITABLE.  ^ 

I  like  the  man  who  faces  what  he  must  Falls  from  his  grasp  :  better,  with  love,  a 

With  step  triumphant  and  aheart  of  cheer;  crust, 

Who  fights  the  daily  battle  without  fear  ;      Than  living  in  dishonor  :  envies  not, 
Sees  his  hopes  fail,  yet  keeps  unfaltering      Nor  loses  faith  in  man,  but  does  his  best, 

trust  Nor  ever  murmurs  at  his  humbler  lot  ; 

That  nature's  plans  will  somehow,  true      But  with  a  smile  and  words  of  hope  gives. 

and  just,  zest 

Work  out  for  good  of  mortals.  Not  a  tear      To  every  toiler.     He  alone  is  great 
Is  shed  when  fortune,  which  the  world      Who  by  a  life  heroic  conquers  fate. 

holds  dear,  — W.  Roper. 


THE  CLERGY  AND  RELIGION  IN  SCHOOL.— Perhaps  it  has  no  sig- 
nificance, but  the  "  movement  "  for  teaching  religion  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  is  headed  by  gentlemen  who  are  all  making  a  comfortable 
living  out  of  religion  ;  and  they  are  fortifying  themselves  with  an  earnest  opinion 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whom  religion  has  not  suffered  to  starve.  He 
lives  in  a  beautil'ul  palace,  and  his  income  from  Church  and  State  would  make  a 
pretty  contrast  to  that  of  an  early  Galilean  fisherman.  I  am  myself  strongly  of 
the  opinion  that  not  enough  attention  is  given  in  the  public  schools  to  news- 
paper paragraphs—  which  are  the  glory  of  American  literature,  the  bulwark  of 
public  morals,  and  the  foundation  of  public  stability. — Ambrose  Bierce. 

CLERICAL  LIBERALITY.— Here  is  a  copy  of  an  advertisement  from  an 
English  church  journal  :  *'  Required — A  lad  about  20.  Must  be  a  churchman, 
of  good  education,  who  can  drive  a  horse  and  cart,  assist  in  the  stable  and  gar- 
den (melons  and  cucumbers),  milk  cows  and  understand  pigs ;  must  be  accus- 
tomed to  wait  at  table,  and  of  gentlemanly  appearance,  early  riser  and  teetotaler. 
Good  references  required.  Commencing  wage,  ;£io  a  year  ;  live  out  except 
dinner.  Apply,  with  four  testimonials,  by  letter  in  first  instance."  The  parson 
who  offers  thre  magnificent  wage  of  93)^'  cents  per  week  to  a  young  man  of  gery- 
tlemanly  appearance  with  all  the  qualifications  named  will  doubtless  get  suited 
with  a  kindred  spirit  to  himself — a  hypocritical  thief. 


MUTUAL  BENEFIT. — A  Sunday  magazine  tells  this  story  concerning  a 
minister  spending  his  vacation  in  Germany.  A  gentleman  just  home  from  that 
country  met  one  of  the  absent  preacher's  deacons,  and  remarked  :  "Oh,  I  met 
Mr.  Sorfted  in  Germany.  He  is  vastly  improved  by  the  change."  "Ah,"  dryly 
replied  the  deacon  ;  "  sae  are  we  !  " 


Citizen — You  wouldn^t  sell  your  vote,  would  you,  'Rastus  ? 
Mr.  Erastus  Pinkley— No,  sub  !     But  if  a  gemman  wot's  runnin'  for  office  was 
to  gib  me  two  dollahs,  common  gratitude  would  make  me  vote  fob  him. 


A  teacher  in  a  Boston  public  school  was  seeking  to  give  her  boys  a  definite 
idea  of  a  volcano,  and  drew  a  picture  of  one  on  the  blackboard,  the  flames  being 
represented  with  a  piece  of  brilliant  red  chalk.  Turning  to  the  class,  she  said  : 
"Can  any  boy  tell  me  what  that  looks  like  ?  " 

One  boy  immediately  held  up  his  band,  and  the  teacher  said  :  "  Well,  Joey, 
you  may  tell  us." 

"  II  looks  like  helU  ma'am,"  Joey  replied,  with  startling  promptness.. 


256  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


THE  OWNER  OF  THE  SIDEWALK  HAS  THE  FUN. 

The  following  incident  will  show  how  easy  it  is  to  make  money.  It  is  really 
easier  than  falling  off  the  proverbial  log,  for  there's  never  any  fun  falling  off 
a  log,  and  there  may  be  fun  in  making  money.  My  young  hopeful,  aged  nine, 
had  his  ambition  fired  to  make  money  last  summer  by  seeing  other  boys  selling 
lemonade — a  very  common  thing  in  the  city  of  Providence  ;  so  he  asked  his 
mother  could  he  do  likewise,  and  her  consent  being  given,  here  is  what  he  did  : 

It  was  a  lonesome  job  alone,  so  he  induced  a  little  chum,  a  boy  of  his  own 
age,  to  go  partners.  They  set  up  a  stand  outside  my  boy's, — or  his  father's 
— house  (I'm  not  sure  which),  and  sold  lemonade,  two  or  three  cents  per  glass. 
The  weather  being  hot,  business  was  good  ;  I  should  say  very  good,  for  in 
two  days  they  had  cleared  three  dollars  each.  Had  they  continued,  both  might 
have  had  a  nice  little  bank  account,  but  they  didn't.  At  the  end  of  the 
second  day  they  had  a  row.    The  partner  made  a  big  kick.     Here's  the  kick  : 

Partner — "  I  don't  think  this  is  a  square  deal." 

My  Bo}^ — "  Why  ? "     (Indignant  as  a  3^oung  hornet.) 

Partner — "  Why  ?  Why  (his  voice  becoming  staccato),  I'm  doing  every- 
thing !  I'm  the  whole  bunch !  And  you're  doing  nothing  !  No,  not  one 
little  bit !  But  you  get  half  the  money  all  the  same  !  I've  supplied  the  stand  ; 
I've  supplied  the  crock  to  hold  the  lemonade ;  I've  supplied  the  lemons,  the 
.sugar,  and  the  glasses.  Furthermore,  I've  sold  every  glass  there  was  sold.  I 
haven't  left  the  counter  for  a  minute  ;  and  you,  what  have  you  done  1  Nothing  ! 
Only  went  to  the  circus  one  day,  to  a  ball  game  the  other ;  and  when  you  might 
have  relieved  me,  you  wouldn't  do  it,  but  went  playing  with  the  boys  instead. 
That  ain't  a  square  deal  !  I  ain't  agoing  to  stand  for  it !  Me  do  all  the  work, 
auppl}^  everything,  and  you  get  as  much  as  I  do  !     Not  on  your  tintype  ! " 

My  Boy — "  Ain't  it  my  dad's  sidewalk  ?" 

Partner—"  Yes." 

My  Boy — "Well,  if  you  don't  like  it,  you  just  take  your  stand,  and  your 
crock,  and  your  lemons,  and  — and  yourself  too,  and  get  out,  and  don't  talk 
to  me  again,  and  I'll  get  Willie  Jones  to  go  into  partnership  with  me." 

When  the  young  partner  went  home  his  mother  spanked  him,  and  his  father 
said  he  did  not  know  enough  to  go  in  when  it  rained. 

Moral- — If  you  want  to  make  money  in  the  lemonade  business,  be  sure  that 
your  father  owns  the  "sidewalk."     That's  where  the  fun  comes  in. 

"Now,  do  you  see  the  cat  V  — The  Public,  Chicago. 


ONLY  MINUTES,  BU  F— 

We  are  but  minutes  — little  things  !  We  are  but  minutes— when  we  bring 

Each  one  furnished  with  sixty  wings,  A  few  of  the  drops  from  pleasure's  spring. 

With  which  we  fly  on  our  unseen  track,  Take  their  sweetness  while  yet  we  stay — 

And  not  a  minute  ever  comes  back.  It  takes  but  a  minute  to  fly  away. 

We  are  but  minutes — yet  each  one  bears  We  are  but  minutes — use  us  well, 

A  little  burden  of  joys  and  cares.  For  how  we  are  used  we  must  one  day  tell. 

Take  patiently  the  minutes  of  pain,  Who  uses  minutes  has  hours  to  use  ; 

The  worst  of  minutes  cannot  remain.  Who  loses  minutes  whole  years  must  lose. 


You  may  be  sure  that  he  is  a  good  man  whose  intimate  friends  are  all  good. 
■L(water. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELUS.  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELUS.  Bu5.  Mgr. 

Vou  XXXI.  No.  9. 

TORONTO,  MAY  29, 

1905. 

"loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Zbc  purif^ino  an&  finnobling  power  of  poetry* 

:o:^ 

We  are  unwilling  to  name  the  greatest  of  Greek  poets  without 
paying  due  toll  of  reverent  gratitude.  The  purifying  power 
of  poetry  has  been  more  written  about  than  felt.  He  who 
would  come  under  its  direct  influence  should  glance  through  a 
play  of  ^schylus.  He  will  hardly  read  twenty  lines  without 
feeling  that  a  liberating,  an  ennobling,  an  enlarging  influence 
has  been  exerted  upon  his  soul.  We  are  here  faced  by  one  of 
the  most  attractive  problems  of  human  nature.  Poetry  shares 
with  music  the  power,  possessed  in  a  lower  degree  by  the  other 
arts,  and  even  by  the  beautiful  in  nature,  of  creating  that 
inward  peace  which  reigns  when  the  whole  personality  domi- 
nates over  its  minor  elements,  and  of  producing  the  intense 
pleasure  peculiar  to  this  state  of  psychical  equilibrium.  How 
is  it  that  such  an  effect  is  possible,  is  a  question  which  may 
perhaps  be  answered,  with  more  assurance  than  is  justifiable 
now,  in  an  age  when  aesthetic  as  well  as  ethical  problems  come 
to  be  treated  on  the  lines  of  biology. — Prof.  Th.  Gomperz 
( *  *  Greek  Th  inkers  ' ), 

EDITORIALS. 

Sir  Robert  Anderson  is  one  of  the  latest  oppo- 
THE  HIGHER  nents  of   the  Bible  Critics.      In   an  article  in 

CRITICS,  ARE  THEY  Blackwoods'  Magazine,  with  the  title,  ''  Benefac- 
BENEFACTORS  OR  tors  or  Blasphemers  ?  "  he  says  his  principle  is 
BLASPHEMERS  ?        *'  not  to  waste  time  on  collateral  issues  if  your 

opponent's  case  can  be  shattered  on  some  vital 
point" — a  good  enough  principle,  indeed,  but  applied  by  Sir  Robert  in  a 


258  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 

truly  wonderful  fashion.  The  point  he  selects  with  which  to  shatter  the 
case  of  the  Higher  Critics,  and  which,  he  asserts,  "  proves  the  critical 
hypothesis  to  be  untenable  and  false,"  is  "  the  admitted  and  well  known 
fact  that  the  Pentateuch  constituted  in  an  exclusive  sense  the  Bible  of 
the  Samaritans."  And  he  quotes  the  authority  of  the  late  Prof.  Kobert- 
son  Smith  (in  the  "  Encycl.  Brit.")  to  the  effect  that — 

"  They  (the  Samaritans)  regard  themselves  as  Israelites,  descendants 

of  the  ten  tribes,  and  claim  to  possess  the  orthodox  religion  of  Moses 

The  priestly  law,  which  is  throughout  based  on  the  practice  of  the  priests 
in  Jerusalem  before  the  captivity,  was  reduced  to  form  after  the  exile, 
and  was  published  in  Ezra  as  the  law  of  the  rebuilt  temple  of  Zion.  The 
Samaritans  must,  therefore,  have  derived  their  Pentateuch  from  the  Jews 
after  Ezra's  reforms." 

Sir  Robert  then  goes  on  to  accuse  Robertson  Smith  of  "  outraging 
reason  and  fact"  by  his  assertion  that  "the  Samaritan  religion  was  built 
on  the  Pentateuch  alone,"  after  stating  that  the  Samaritans  "  contended 
that,  not  only  the  temple  of  Zion,  but  the  priesthood  of  Eli,  were  schis- 
matical,"  and  that  in  post-exilic  times  the  religious  strife  between  Jews 
and  Samaritans  had  assumed  a  phase  of  intense  hatred  and  abhorrence. 
On  such  a  foundation  as  this — the  traditional  claims  of  the  Samaritans 
— Sir  Robert  feels  justified  in  brushing  aside  the  whole  of  the  results  of 
modern  criticism. 

It  is  a  common  argument  among  ecclesiastics  that  only  trained  theo- 
logians are  competent  to  pronounce  an  opinion  upon  these  questions, 
but  it  is  patent  to  any  common-sense  man  who  can  read  and  write  that 
Sir  Robert's  argument  is  entirely  fallacious.  Whether  the  Pentateuch 
came  to  us  from  the  Samaritans  through  the  Jews,  or  from  the  Jews 
through  the  Samaritans,  does  not  affect  by  one  iota  the  question  of  its 
historical  value  or  its  divine  inspiration  or  infallibility.  Any  sane  reader 
can  tell  that  the  fabulous  and  mythical  stories  in  the  Pentateuch  and 
other  "historical"  books  of  the  Bible  are  altogether  unreal,  and  contain 
many  conflicting  and  impossible  narratives. 

Whatever  the  Samaritans  may  have  had  to  do  with  the  Bible,  whether 
Ezra  wrote  it  and  published  it,  or  whether  he  stole  it  or  compiled  it  from 
the  works  of  other  writers,  concerns  us  little,  and  in  no  way  affects  the 
rational  criticism  of  its  contents.  Any  man  of  sense  who  examines  the 
*'  historical "  books  of  the  Bible  can  discover  that  they  are  a  compilation 
by  uncritical  editors. 

Sir  Robert  quotes  with  approval  the  words  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham  : 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  259 


*'  The  matter  is  one  where,  while  the  fairness  of  controversy  must  be 
guarded,  its  mere  courtesies  may  not  always  be  in  place.  For  the  ques- 
tion is  of  tremendous  urgency.      We  are  contending  for  our  all  !  " 

This  is  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  ecclesiastical  tyrant.  It  is  perfectly 
fair  to  abuse  or  persecute  the  critic,  for  he  is  attacking  our  all — our 
special  business.  It  is  a  question,  not  of  truth  and  honor,  of  right  or 
justice,  but  of — our  business,  and  that  is  a  matter,  doubtless,  of  most 
"  tremendous  urgency." 

Several  times  Sir  Robert  uses  the  same  falla- 
CIRCULAR  cious  argument  that,  Jesus  being  divine,  he  could 

ARGUMENT.  not  have  been  mistaken.     The  argument  of  the 

Higher  Critics,  that  Jesus  made  mistakes,  mani- 
festly points  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  merely  human.  This  is  blas- 
phemy, of  course  ;  and,  very  consistently  with  his  other  arguments,  Sir 
Robert  says  : 

"  The  theory  seems  plausible  that  in  his  humiliation  the  Lord  came 
down,  for  all  purposes,  to  the  level  of  humanity.  But,  even  if  true,  this 
would  leave  unexplained  the  amazing  fact  that  the  Divine  Spirit,  whose 
fullest  guidance  he  promised  to  his  disciples,  left  him  without  guidance 
in  a  matter  that  was  vital  to  his  mission." 

Amazing  fact !  When  we  reflect  that  the  Divine  Spirit  is  supposed  to 
be  an  emanation  or  a  something-or-other  that  *'  proceedeth  from"  both 
Father  and  Son,  we  can  understand — if  we  are  faithful  to  the  church — 
how  it  was  that  this  Divine  Spirit  should  have  left  "  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  "  without  guidance.  Why  he  should  have  wanted  guidance  at  all 
seems  to  be  as  big  a  mystery  as  any  in  the  whole  dismal  story. 

But  how  was  it  that,  left  without  guidance,  Jesus  made  the  mistakes  ? 
They  are  not  mistakes,  boldly  replies  Sir  Robert ;  Jesus  was  divine,  and 
therefore  could  not  make  mistakes.  Did  he  not  claim  before  the  San- 
hedrin  that  he  had  spoken  "  the  words  of  God  ?  "  He  must  have  been 
God,  or  the  Sanhedrin's  condemnation  of  him  for  blasphemy  would  have 
been  perfectly  just,  whatever  the  critics  may  say.  Thus  we  get  the  same 
old  arguments  in  the  same  old  round. 

*'  There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun,"  said  the  ancient  preacher,  and 
certainly  the  modern  theologian  tries  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  saying. 

I  The  only  difiference  between  the  old  and  the  new  theology  consists  in  the 
subjective  effect  of  the  latter  arising  from  the  more  rational  standpoint 


260  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

of  the  church  as  a  possibility  ;  to-day,  even  a  large  number  of  preachers 
have  sense  enough  to  see  its  utter  absurdity. 

The  childishness  of  the  arguments  used  to  support  theology  is  just  as 
apparent,  too,  as  its  radical  absurdity.  Sir  Robert  Anderson  asks  us  to 
accept  his  views  on  the  ground  that  she  Samaritans  claimed  to  be  the 
possessors  of  the  Pentateuch,  that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  divine,  and  that 
the  Sanhedrin  admitted  his  claim.  On  such  grounds  as  this,  we  might 
as  well  accept  Dowie  or  Schlatter  as  our  god. 

Sir  Robert  concludes  with  the  same  old  "  gag  " 
"WHEN  THE  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much  from  Goldwin 

PEOPLE  HEAR  Smith.    If  the  faith  which  has  been  such  a  curse 

ABOUT  IT  !  "  to  the  world  should  be  undermined,  morality,  he 

assures  us,  must  necessarily  decline.  Goldwin 
Smith  puts  the  matter  in  a  stronger  light.  Religious  faith  has  declined, 
and  our  modern  wars  and  militarism  and  political  corruption  are  evi- 
dences of  it.  Logic  may  be  infused  into  such  argumentation  by  those 
who  have  time  at  their  disposal.  But  Sir  Robert  is  horrified  at  the  idea 
of  what  may  happen  when  the  working  classes  hear  of  these  things  and 
begin  to  think  about  them  : 

'*  The  refinements  of  the  Kenosis  theology  may  influence  thought  in 
our  colleges  and  drawing-rooms,  but  they  will  not  do  for  the  street.  The 
national  character  has  been  built  up  on  belief  in  the  Bible  as  a  divine 
revelation,  and  to  this  is  due  the  fact  that  Britons  are  the  most  law- 
abiding  people  in  the  world.  What,  then,  will  be  the  effects  of  the  Higher 
Criticism  upon  the  iiiitliinking  multitudes?  '  Society  will  pass,  to  say 
the  least,  througli  a  dangerous  interval.'  The  words  are  those  of  a  well- 
known  writer,  a  champion  of  *  science  and  criticism,'  Professor  Goldwin 
Smith.     And  he  adds  : 

"  *  The  removal  of  false  beliefs  cannot  prove  in  the  end  but  a  blessing 
to  mankind.  But,  at  the  same  time,  the  foundations  of  general  morality 
have  inevitably  been  shaken,  and  a  crisis  has  been  brought  on,  the  gravity 
of  which  nobody  can  faii  to  see,  and  nobody  but;  a  fanatic  of  Materialism 
can  see  without  the  most  serious  misgiving.' 

"  I  press  the  question,  then  :  Are  the  critics  right?  It  is  indeed  a 
question  of  '  tremendous  urgency.'  No  man  can  afford  to  ignore  it,  and 
no  Christian  can  afford  to  take  sides  upon  it.  If  they  are  right,  they 
have  earned  our  gratitude  by  relieving  us  from  the  incubus  of  error  by 
which  the  teaching  of  Christ  has  deluded  his  people  for  nineteen  cen- 
turies. If  they  are  wrong,  the  reproach  they  cast  on  him  must  rebound 
with  crushing  force  upon  themselves;  and  no  '  mere  courtesies'  of  con- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  261 

troversy,  no  mistaken  views  of  Christian  charity,  can  be  allowed  to  check 
the  expression  of  our  reprobation.  If  the  Higher  Critics  are  right,  let 
them  be  hailed  as  benefactors  ;  if  they  are  wrong,  let  them  be  branded 
as  blasphemers." 

The  man  who  asserts  that  "  Britons  are  the  most  law-abiding  people 
in  the  world  "  because  they  believe  in  the  Bible,  fittingly  finds  support 
in  the  contradictory  utterances  of  a  vacillating  philosopher  like  Goldwun 
Smith,  and  which  he  has  repeated  ad  nauseam  for  some  years  past. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  conclusions  of  the  Higher  Critics  have  not  yet 
reached  the  unthinking  masses,  how  comes  it  that  **  the  foundations  of 
general  morality  have  been  inevitably  shaken?  " 

If  these  conclusions  are  true,  and  cause  the  removal  of  false  beliefs, 
and  if  such  a  result  *'  cannot  prove  in  the  end  but  a  blessing  to  man- 
kind," why  should  any  **  grave  crisis  "  be  produced  by  the  enlightening 
process  ?  And  if  there  is  such  a  crisis,  why  should  a  **  fanatic  of  Mate- 
rialism "  be  the  only  one  to  observe  it  without  misgiving  ? 

Has  it  come  to  this,  that  it  is  left  to  a  Fanatic  of  Materialism  to  be 
the  sole  believer  in  the  Biblical  aphorism,  "  The  truth  shall  make  you 
free?" 

The  false  philosophy  of  Goldwin  Smith  is  shown  nowhere  more  con- 
spicuously than  in  the  assumption  that  this  is  a  question  of  **  tremen- 
dous urgency."  The  facts  of  human  history  prove  that  the  movements 
of  the  human  mind  are  universally  slow,  and  that  no  fear  is  justifiable 
that  any  dangerous  revolution  can  occur  from  a  change  in  religion. 

Both  Goldwin  Smith  and  Sir  Robert  Anderson  stultify  themselves  in 
attributing  their  imaginary  failure  of  morality  to  a  failure  in  religious 
faith  which  has  not  yet  reached  the  general  public  ;  they  put  the  effect 
before  the  cause.  If  there  is  any  failure  of  morality,  it  must  be  due  to 
some  pre-existing  cause;  and,  whatever  the  ultimate  cause  may  be,  we 
are  unquestionably  entitled  to  say  that  our  religio-moral  teachers  must 
admit  that,  according  to  their  own  accounts,  they  have  failed  in  pro- 
ducing a  moral  generation. 

If  there  is  any  dangerous  crisis  at  the  present  day  outside  of  the  vivid 
imaginations  of  the  alarmist  prophets  of  prejudiced  cliques,  it  is  in  the 
struggle  between  employers  and  laborers,  between  "capital"  and  "labor." 
That  anybody  outside  of  a  Jesuit  school  should  attribute  this  crisis  to  a 
failure  of  the  faith  of  the  masses  in  the  orthodox  theology  seems  to  us 
little  short  of  lunacy.  In  the  St.  Petersburg  riots,  there  cannot  be  a 
question  of  the  workmen's  orthodox  faith  up  to  the  time  of  the  massacre. 


262  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


On  Wednesday,  May  17,  a  large  audience, we  are 
THE  METHODISTS  told,  gathered  in  Trinity  Methodist  Church,  To- 
AND  "  AMUSE-  ronto,  to  hear  a  lecture  by  the  pastor.  Rev.  W. 

MENTS."  H.  Hincks,  on  "Amusements  and  Church  Mem- 

bership." Strangely  enough,  Mr.  Hincks  said 
his  reason  for  attacking  the  subject  just  now  was,  that  several  cases  had 
come  before  him  recently  in  which  *'  parents  had  actually  discouraged 
their  children  from  joining  the  church  because  such  a  step  would  inter- 
fere with  the  social  plans  they  had  mapped  out  for  their  boys  and  girls." 
He  asserted  that  it  was  incumbent  upon  Methodist  parents  to  bring  up 
their  children,  until  they  were  twenty-one  years  of  age,  free  from  the 
influences  of  cards,  dancing,  or  the  theatre.  iVfter  that  age,  children 
might  choose  for  themselves. 

If  Mr.  Hincks'  statements  are  to  be  believed,  many  Methodists  think 
the  happiness  of  their  children  is  more  likely  to  be  secured  b}^  paying 
some  deference  to  the  sentiments  of  their  fellows  and  allowing  their  chil- 
dren to  take  part  in  the  customs  and  means  of  enjoyment  indulged  in 
by  them,  than  by  obeying  strictly  the  pharisaical  and  strait-laced  rules 
laid  down  by  their  ecclesiastical  governors.  Although  there  is  a  large 
element  of  hypocrisy  involved  in  the  statements  made  by  Mr.  Hincks, 
such  a  condition  is  inevitable  when  men  begin  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  a 
time-honored  superstition. 

The  revolt  against  Puritanism  was  openly  joined  by  Rev.  Dr.  Griffin, 
who  doubted  if  there  was  any  rule  in  the  Discipline  that  forbade  dancing, 
card-playing  or  theatre-going;  and  said  that  the  clause  in  the  Discipline 
which  explicitly  referred  to  these  amusements  was  only  an  interpretative 
clause,  added  by  tlie  General  Conference  of  Canada  against  the  wish  of 
many  Methodists,  and  was  not  found  in  Wesley's  rules. 
-  This  shows  us  how  sacred  documents  are  manufactured.  John  Wesley 
is  not  yet  a  full-fledged  taint,  for  which  perhaps  one  reason  is  that  his 
saintly  title  might  clash  with  that  of  Apocalyptic  John,  although  occa-  . 
sionally  he  is  referred  to  as  "  the  sainted  John  Wesley."  But  no  doubt 
most  pious  Methodists  regard  him  as  having  had  as  much  "  divine  " 
authority  for  compiling  his  Discipline  as  the  other  John  had  for  telling 
his  visions.  Probably  they  are  correct.  The  Canadian  Conference  has 
taken  a  hand  in  the  inspiration  business  by  adding  to  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  Wesley's  rules,  so  that  their  pet  notions  and  prejudices  are 
now  part  and  parcel  of  the  **  sacred  scriptures  "  that  every  orthodox 
Methodist  is  expected  to  believe  in  and  act  up  to. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  263 

Mr.  Hincks  then  began  a  little  hedging  business.  Asked  if  a  member 
should  leave  the  church  if  he  designed  to  break  the  rules,  he  said  that 
a  man  who  distinctly  stated  when  joining  the  church  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  be  bound  by  the  rules,  but  reserved  the  right  to  determine  such 
matters  for  himself,  could  not  fairly  be  blamed.  *'  The  new  clause  did 
not  have  the  force  of  law.'' 

"  Then,"  asked  Dr.  Griffin,  ''  why  all  this  fuss  ?  "  Why,  indeed  ?  The 
only  reason  we  can  think  of  is,  that  the  question  was  taken  up  with  the 
object  of  testing  opinion  in  the  church.  Had  Dr.  Griffin  and  others  been 
afraid  to  speak  out,  the  Methodist  rank  and  file  would  have  been  told 
that  their  church  was  unanimously  of  opinion  that  card-playing,  theatre 
going  and  dancing  were  prohibited  by  Wesley's  Discipline. 

But  what  sort  of  a  church  is  it  that  admits  as  members  people  who 
declare  their  unwillingness  to  be  bound  by  its  rules  ?  If  the  Methodists 
do  this,  it  says  much  for  their  toleration  and  progress,  if  not  for  their 
consistency.     They  should  abolish  rules  that  are  not  to  be  binding. 

As  it  was,  Mr.   Hincks  was   led   to  make  this 
BIBLE  STOrJES  startling   proposition,   carefully  premising  that 

AS  FOUNDATIONS      the  reason  he  knew  so  much  about  the  theatre 
FOR  STAGE  PLAYS,  was  that  be  used  to  go  to  theatres  before  he  be- 
came a  Methodist ;  which  accounts,  perhaps,  for 
his  ultra-Methodism  to-day : 

**  There  was  no  doubt  the  theatre  had  a  strong  hold  of  men.  Promi- 
nent preachers  had  advocated  staging  Old  Testament  scenes  and  worthies. 
. .  .Occasionally  a  flash  of  light  peered  through  the  moral  darkness,  but 
the  plays  that  were  put  on  lacked  good  ethics  and  moral  vitality.  In 
New  York,  there  had  been  an  eclipse  of  all  seriously  interesting  plays. 
After  twenty-five  years  of  study,  he  was  assured  the  tendency  of  the 
drama  was  steadily  downward  and  away  from  classical  merits  and  lofty 

ideals There  was  a  danger  the  world  over  that  the  theatre  would 

become  a  museum  of  moral  monstrosities." 

Very  naturally,  opinions  will  be  divided  on  the  question  of  the  degene- 
racy of  the  stage,  according  to  the  view  taken  of  its  office  in  the  social 
economy.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that,  in  an  age  of  keen  competition 
and  hard  work,  the  stage  is  fairly  well  performing  its  prime  function  of 
providing  relaxation  and  amusement.  Whether  its  ethical  effects  are  as 
good  as  they  might  be  we  need  not  say,  but,  if  we  compare  it  with  the 
pulpit,  we  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that,  with  all  its  defects,  it  is  doing 


264  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

at  least  as  much  good  as  its  chief  and  aggressive  opponent. 

What  strange  ideas  some  preachers  have  of  moral  questions  is  well 
illustrated  by  this  proposition  to  dramatise  the  Bible  stories  as  a  means 
of  elevating  theatrical  morality.  Men  who  talk  like  this  must  be  blind 
idiots.  Why,  of  the  whole  catalogue  of  Bible  stories  and  Bible  worthies 
there  is  hardly  one  that  would  to-day  pass  muster  as  even  passably 
moral.  If  the  plan  were  carried  out,  it  would  surely  put  an  end  to  the 
"  sacred  "  character  of  the  Bible,  by  making  the  people  familiar  with  its 
immorality  and  savagery. 

Just  imagine  the  scenes  that  would  have  to  be  enacted  if  an  attempt 
were  made  to  give  a  fair  idea  of  Noah,  Abraham,  Jacob,  Moses,  Joshua, 
David,  Solomon,  or  any  other  of  the  ''  worthies"  of  Jewish  tradition,  and 
their  deeds  of  lust  and  barbarity  ! 

"  Parsifal ''  has  given  us  Jesus  Christ  as  a  stage  character.  If  Mr. 
Hincks'  suggestion  is  carried  out,  Yahve  will  have  to  wrestle  with  Jacob 
on  the  stage,  and  the  other  personalities  of  the  Christian  Pantheon  will 
also  have  to  appear  and  invite  the  plaudits  of  the  audience.  And  then 
— well,  will  people  go  to  church  on  Sunday  morning  to  worship  the  very 
characters  whose  sentiments  and  actions  they  were  approving  or  con- 
demning at  the  theatre  on  Saturday  night  ? 

Let  us  sketch  a  drama  of 

DAVID,  "  THE  MAN  AFTEE  GOD'S  OWN  HEART." 

Act  I.  David's  Innocent  Youth. 

Sc.  1 — David  killing  a  lion  and  a  bear  which  together  had  stolen  a  lamb. 

Sc.  2 — David  killing  Goliath  with  his  little  sling  and  the  Lord's  help. 

Sc.  3 — David  killing  200  Phillistines  and  bringing  parts  of  their  mutilated 
bodies  to  Saul  as  the  price  of  Michal,  Saul's  daughter,  whom  he 
marries. 

Sc.  4 — David  feigning  madness  to  deceive  King  Achish,  whom  he  fears. 

Sc.  6 — David  meets  Abigail,  Nabal's  wife,  and  falls  in  love  with  her;  his 
polite  language  to  her  (1  Sam.  25  :  34)  :  God  kills  Nabal,  and 
David  marries  Abigail ;  also  Ahinom. 

Sc.  6 — David,  fearing  Saul,  seeks  asylum  with  King  Achish,  of  Gath,who 
sets  apart  a  town  for  him  and  his  followers.  David  sets  out  on 
a  piratical  expedition,  and  utterly  annihilates  three  tribes  who 
were  friends  of  Achish,  his  benefactor,  whom  he  grossly  deceives 
on  his  return  with  a  false  account  of  his  horrible  work. 

Act  II.  David  as  King. 

Sc.  1 — David  securing  the  return  of  his  first  wife  Michal,  after  he  had 
married  six  other  wives,  who  had  all  borne  him  sons. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  265 

Sc.  2 — David  rewarding  with  death  the  young  men  who  had  killed  his 

enemy. 
Sc.  3 — Grand  Ballet  of  David's  many  wives  and  concubines. 
Sc.  4 — David,  **  in  the  altogether,"  dancing  before  the  Lord  and  before 

all  the  people. 
Sc.  5 — Michal,  disgusted  with  David's  shamelessness,  reproves  him,  and 

for  doing  so  is  punished  by  the  Lord  with  barrenness. 
Sc.  6 — David,  watching  Bath-sheba,  Uriah's  wife,  in  her  bath,  falls  in 

love  with  her,  and  forces  her  to  commit  adultery  with  him. 
Sc.  7 — Uriah  being  engaged  fighting  in  David's  army,  the  latter  sends 

a  message  to  Joab  to  have  Uriah  treacherously  killed.     Uriah 

is  thus  killed,  and  David  marries  Bath-sheba. 
Sc.  8 — David  takes  a  census  of  his  people,  for  which  crime  the  Lord 

punishes  him  by  killing  70,000  of  his  people. 
Sc.  9 — David,  on   his  death-bed,   ordering  Solomon  to  assassinate  his 

trusted  general,  Joab,  and  also  Shimei. 
Sc.  10 — Grand  tableau  of  the  spirits  of  the  hundreds  of   thousands  of 

men,  women  and  children  slaughtered  by  David  in  his  wars 

and  piratical  raids. 

Plays  like  this  would  no  doubt  tend  to  vastly  improve  the  morality  of 
the  people,  while  increasing  their  reverence  for  the  "  sacred  "  character  ^ 
of  the  Holy  Bible.  ^ 

We  have  referred  recently  to  the  spread  of 
DECLINE  OF  Methodism  in  Toronto  ;  but  it  seems  that,  while 

ECCLESIASTICISM     new  churches  are  being  built  in  new  districts,  in 
IN  JAPAN.  the  older  sections  there  has  been  a  perceptible 

decline  in  religious  fervor.  In  several  cases  the 
greatest  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  keeping  church  properties  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  mortgagee  and  the  real  estate  dealer,  the  sale  of 
the  big  McCaul  Street  Methodist  Church  has  been  openly  canvassed  for 
some  time  past,  and  the  negro  Methodist  Church  on  Queen  Street  has 
for  some  years  been  advertised  for  sale. 

The  fact  would  seem  to  be,  that  while  in  the  older  districts  the  growth 
of  theatres,  concert  and  lecture-halls,  military  and  business  organiza- 
tions, and  social,  political  and  sporting  clubs  of  all  sorts,  discount  to  a 
large  degree  the  value  of  the  church  as  a  social  centre  ;  in  the  newer 
sections  these  agencies  are  largely  wanting.  The  prestige  of  the  church 
and  its  seldom-disputed  claim  to  respectability  and  to  being  a  promoter 
of  morality,  give  it  the  first  call  on  the  purses  of  the  wealthier  persons 
in  the  new  communities,  who  feel  the  need  of  some  social  centre  to 


+ 


^66  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

relieve  the  monotony  of  suburban  life  ;  and  a  "  handsome  new  church," 
with  a  handsome  young  parson,  is  the  natural  outcome. 

As  the  new  communities  grow  and  consolidate,  the  theatre,  the  club, 
and  the  concert-hall  will  no  doubt  take  their  legitimate  place  as  the  chief 
means  of  social  enjoyment. 

A  similar  evolution  seems  under  way  in  Japan.  Under  the  terrible 
strain  of  its  great  war,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  people  will  not 
be  able  to  support  either  religious  or  other  organizations  as  liberally  as 
they  did  formerly,  and  it  need  not  surprise  us  to  hear,  from  the  Bangkok 
Times,  that  the  magnificent  temple  of  the  Higashi  Hongkanji,  at  Tokio, 
is  to  be  sold  by  auction,  the  priests,  under  the  leadership  of  their  Lord 
Abbot,  Count  Otani,  not  being  able  to  pa}^  even  the  interest  on  the  debts 
of  the  temple.  It  owes  530,000  yen  to  the  Kitahama  Ginko,  so  that  it 
owes  about  four  times  as  much,  at  least,  as  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  in 
Toronto,  and  nearly  as  much  as  the  big  St.  James's  Church,  Montreal, 
did  a  year  or  two  ago. 

A  chain  will  break  at  its  weakest  place,  we  are  told  ;  and,  though  the 
superstitions  of  religion  have  still  a  strong  hold  upon  the  masses  of  the 
people,  we  cannot  but  regard  hopefully  these  signs  that  religion  is  the 
weak  point  in  the  philosophy  of  those  who  have  hitherto  supported  the 
church  with  their  wealth  and  influence. 

A  Roman  letter  in  a  French  paper  tells  us  that 
ITALIAN  BISHOP  Monsignor  Bonomelli,  bishop  of  Cremona,  a  man 
DENOUNCES  of  very  broad  and  liberal  views,  recently  pub- 

PAPAL  METHODS.      lished  a  letter  which   has  aroused  mush   angry 

comment  from  the  more  orthodox  sections  of  the 
Italian  clergy.  He  protests  against  the  exaggerated  adoration  rendered 
to  the  Virgin  Mary  by  his  countrymen,  who  forget  in  these  devotions  the 
worship  due  to  God ;  and  he  denounces  those  who  take  advantage  of  the 
piety  of  the  people  to  serve-  their  own  financial  interests.  The  Vatican 
has  called  upon  the  Bishop  for  some  explanation  of  his  conduct,  and  has 
ordered  him  for  the  future  to  confine  his  activities  to  the  affairs  of  his 
diocess. 

Of  course,  the  subtle  intellect  of  a  bishop  can  see  the  justification  for 
giving  precedence  in  worship  to  the  Son  instead  of  to  the  Mother,  but 
for  us  there  seems  at  least  as  good  reason  for  worshiping  St.  Anne,  the 
Grandmother.    Still,  if  the  question  is  discussed,  possibly  some  new  light 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  267 

may  be  thrown  upon  it,  especially  if  a  Great  Grandmother  should  be 
discovered,  which  seems  not  improbable,  as  St.  Anne  must  have  had  a 
mother — and  possibly  a  father  also,  unless  miraculously  conceived,  like 
her  grandson. 

Mr.  Bonomelli  deserves  the  thanks  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  as  well 
as  of  all  opponents  of  the  rapacious  priesthood,  for  protesting  against 
the  hypocrisy  and  greed  of  the  church. 

Xlbe  IRew  Moman. 

:o: 

An  incident  of  Easter  week  was  the  defeat  in  the  Senate  at  Albany,  on 
Wednesday,  of  the  latest  efifoit  to  extend  the  suffrage  to  women  The  extension, 
proposed  in  a  bill  introduced  by  Senator  Raines,  was  limited  to  voting  on  tax 
questions  in  twelve  small  cities  only,  but  it  was  treated  as  an  entering  wedge  for 
woman  suffrage  generally. 

A  few  days  before,  Mr.  Cleveland  had  written  of  the  "  movement  which  has 
been  for  a  long  time  on  foot  for  securing  to  women  the  right  to  vote  and  other- 
wise participate  in  public  affairs  "  as  "an  unfortunate  manifestation  of  feminine 
restlessness  and  discontent."  He  fears  that  it  will  have  a  "dangerous,  under- 
mining effect  on  the  characters  of  the  wives  and  mothers  of  our  land."  Mr' 
McCarren,  of  Brooklyn,  expressed  the  same  alarm  in  the  Senate  on  Wednesday* 
*  Politics,"  he  said,  "  is  no  field  for  pure  and  modest  women  ";  besides,  "  there 
are  men  enough  to  take  care  of  p  litical  affairs."  He  is  against  giving  any  vote 
at  all  to  any  woman,  on  the  ground  that  her  place  is  to  "  preside  over  the  house- 
hold." Senator  Raines,  however,  contended  that  "as  the  intelligence  of  the 
country  is  being  steadily  concentrated  in  the  women,"  they  are  at  least  entitled  to 
vote  on  questions  of  taxation  to  the  very  limited  extent  proposed  in  his  bill^ 
"  '  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle,'  "  quoted  Senator  Grady,"  '  rules  the  world  '"; 
but  "  it  rules  in  the  house  and  not  at  the  polls,"  he  asserted.  And  that  was  the 
prevailing  opinion  of  the  Senate. 

It  is  also  the  prevailing  opinion  even  among  women  themselves.  Feminine 
efforts  to  secure  the  suffrage  always  encounter  feminine  resistance.  The  National 
Woman's  Suffrage  Association  is  counteracted  by  a  woman's  association  organ- 
ized in  opposition.  Accordingly  the  woman  suffragists  have  uphill  work.  The 
privilege  they  ask  for  as  a  boon,  as  a  right,  their  feminine  opponents  treat  as  an 
imposition  on  women. 

Already,  however,  a  very  great  part  of  American  women  are  taking  and  are 
compelled  to  take  an  interest  in  affairs  beyond  their  home.  Of  nearly  thirty 
millions  of  the  population  of  this  country  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  in  1900, 
more  than  a  sixth  was  feminine  ;  and  of  these  feminine  workers  only  about  a 
third  were  in  distinctively  household  employments,  domestic  service  and  the  like. 


268  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Between  1890  and  1900  these  feminine  workers  increased  at  a  much  greater  ratio 
than  the  population  as  a  whole.  In  almost  every  employment  outside  of  the 
home  women  are  now  engaged.  They  form  a  great  part  of  the  crowds  which 
pour  forth  at  nightfall  from  every  business  district. 

Moreover,  the  escape  of  women  from  domestic  seclusion  extends  far  beyond 
the  ranks  of  the  workers  for  a  living.  Women  of  fashion  have  become  public 
personages.  Women  are  organized  for  many  public  purposes.  "  Neighborhood 
clubs  "  of  women  have  been  started  in  New  York  recently  for  the  discussion  of 
such  matters,  and  the  women  in  them  are  not  of  the  kind  who  neglect  their 
special  feminine  duties  at  home.  In  the  charitable  machinery  of  a  New  York 
church  parish  women  are  engaged  more  actively  and  earnestly  than  men.  They 
preside  at  meetings  and  make  speeches.  The  parly  which  recently  went  from 
here  to  participate  in  the  Conference  for  Education  in  the  South,  contained 
many  women.  On  the  same  day  that  the  Senate  rejected  limited  woman  suffrage 
a  woman  of  the  more  select  social  sphere  of  New  York  read  a  paper  on  "  Woman's 
Work  for  Municipal  Progress  "  at  the  meeting  of  a  league  for  the  study  of  muni- 
cipal problems  generally.  In  many  societies  dealing  with  public  questions  and 
for  public  purposes  assiduous  mothers  are  now  engaged  as  chief  officers.  The 
colleges  for  women  are  crowded  with  applicants  far  beyond  the  accommo- 
dations they  have  for  students. 

Has  the  feminine  character  suffered  deterioration  as  a  consequence  of  all  this  ? 
Is  "  the  home  "  impaired  ?  For  one  thing,  the  popularity  of  matrimony  at  least 
has  not  diminished.  Never  was  there  an  Easter  season  when  marriages  were  so 
many  as  they  are  now.  Men  seem  to  fall  in  love  with  the  "  new  woman  "  not 
less  than  they  did  with  the  old.  Physically  the  new  woman  is  indubitably  better 
than  the  old.  She  is  taller  and  stronger  and  in  every  way  is  increasing  in 
attractiveness 

So  far,  then,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  alarm  lest  "  the  saving  grace  of 
simple  and  unadulterated  womanhood  "  shall  be  lost  and  for  fear  that  the  broader 
life  of  women  will  have  an  '  undermining  effect  on  the  character  of  the  wives 
and  mothers  of  our  land."  Even  if  the  "  movement  "  on  which  Mr.  Cleveland 
looks  with  so  much  misgiving  should  go  to  the  extreme  of  complete  woman 
suffrage,  that  dreadful  consequence  would  not  come.  So  long  as  the  human  race 
exists  "  the  saving  grace  of  simple  and  unadulterated  womanhood"  will  be  pre- 
served— will  be  Fafe  against  any  movements,  of  man  or  woman  either,  which  may 
be  made.  Romance  will  always  remain  and  woman  will  be  its  high  priestess. — 
.Y.  Y.Sun,  April  28Lh,  '05. 


If  I  proceed  to  treat  of  theology,  I  shall  step  out  of  the  bark  of  human  reason 
and  enter  into  the  ship  of  the  church.  Neither  will  the  stars  of  philosophy,  which 
have  hitherto  so  nobly  shone  on  us,  any  longer  give  us  their  light. — Bacon. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  269 


Hn  1&Ier'0  t\otce. 


:o: 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE. 

Four  unfortunate  Christian  Scientists  are  awaiting  sentence  on  June  30th  as  the 
aftermath  of  the  death  uf  Wallace  Goodfellow  Sad  and  pathetic  was  the  tragedy 
of  poor  Wallace  Goodfellow's  life  as  revealed  at  the  trial.  His  improvident 
marriage  with  his  girl-wife ;  the  unfortunate  estrangement  between  his  wife  and 
his  mother ;  his  heroic  struggle  under  adverse  conditions,  and  his  untimely 
death  within  two  short  months  after  his  marriage,  evoke  a  deep  feeling  of  regret 
for  the  fantastic  folly  which  cost  him  his  life.  Wallace  Goodfellow— weakened 
by  overwork,  poisoned  by  the  typhoid  bacillus,  dying  unnourished  and  unnursed, 
whilst  the  well-meaning  but  foolish  votaries  of  Christian  Science  practised  the 
incantations  of  Mrs.  Eddy  at  his  bedside  and  kept  at  bay  his  young  wife  and  the 
physician — is  surely  as  tragic  a  figure  as  ever  dramatist  drew.  Surely  such  a 
sacrifice  should  wake  our  people  from  delusions  and  dreams. 

Amongst  the  witnesses  called  at  the  trial  was  Mrs.  Stewart,  the  head  of  the 
Christian  Scientists  in  Toronto.  From  the  lady's  appearance  one  would  conclude 
that  her  idea  of  a  dinnei  was  more  substantial  than  thoughts  of  lamb  and  green 
peas.  She  answered  the  court  and  counsel  in  a  jargon  scarcely  intelligible,  yet 
her  examination  elicited  some  interesting  facts.  Mrs.  Eddy's  book  sells  at  from 
$3  to  $6  a  copy.  It  has  gone  through  one  hundred  and  thirty  editions,  and  is 
therefore  from  a  financial  standpoint  the  most  prominent  literary  venture  in  the 
world.  In  Toronto  three  hundred  and  fifty  neophytes  have  been  initiated  into 
the  proper  incantations  with  which  to  charm  disease.  These  pay  at  least  $100 
each  for  instruction.  In  Canada  and  the  United  States  these  must  amount  to 
hundreds  of  thousands.  Mrs.  Eddy  must  have  made  several  million  dollars. 
The  charge  for  treatment  is  $1  a  visit,  or  a  prayer  if  absent  treatment  is  given. 
Who  can  make  a  dollar  more  easily  than  by  sitting  in  an  arm  chair  and  muttering 
a  prayer  ?  It  requires  neither  knowledge  nor  brains.  Any  body  can  mutter  a 
prayer.     It  is  easy  to  see  why  she  should  have  a  number  of  enthusiastic  apostles. 

It  is  a  very  shrewd  appeal  to  the  most  sordid  elements  of  human  nature.  The 
student  is  appalled  at  the  gigantic  growth  of  this  cult.  Despite  our  boasted 
education,  our  growth  in  knowledge,  our  splendid  triumphs  of  science,  are  the 
bulk  of  the  people  of  the  twentieth  century  any  less  ignorant  or  less  superstitious 
than  those  of  the  first?  How  many  Wallace  Goodfellows  have  been  sacrificed 
that  this  unscrupulous  woman  may  lie  soft  and  fare  daintily  ?  On  whom  does 
the  responsibility  for  this  mighty  wrong  to  the  human  race  rest  ?  From  the  field 
so  industriously  ploughed  every  Sunday  by  the  clergy  and  harrowed  and  top- 
dressed  by  the  revivalists,  Mrs.  Eddy  has  reaped  the  crop.  The  shrewd  adven- 
turess rises  almost  to  tragic  dignity  as  the  Frau  Kenstein  of  the  Church. 

Idler. 


270  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


IFf  1  Mere  ®nl?  Satan. 

:o: 

BY    DR.    T.    WILKINS. 

Ik  I  were  only  Satan  and  I  had  my  hell  repaired, 
I'd  come  for  all  oppressors  who  from  brimstone  had  been  spared. 
I  would  melt  the  callous  conscience  of  each  hoggish  man  of  earth, 
And  the  human  beast  would  languish  in  my  very  hottest  berth. 

Oh,  if  I  were  only  Satan,  do  you  know  what  I  would  do  ? 

I'd  stand  upon  the  Universe  and  claim  the  Devil's  due. 

I'd  make  the  millionaires  of  earth  in  humbleness  to  bow 

Unto  the  men  whom  they  have  robbed,  and  make  amends  right  now. 

If  I  were  only  Satan  for  a  century  or  more, 

I  would  get  some  satisfaction  that  would  tickle  to  the  core. 

I  would  decorate  my  palace  to  the  fulness  of  my  mind, 

With  the  sparkling  little  jewels,  and  the  gold  that's  left  behind. 

If  I  were  only  Satan,  I  would  loiter  at  the  gate, 

With  a  woe-begone  expression  and  a  contribution  plate. 

And  I'd  ask  a  small  percentage  for  safe-keeping  for  the  throng 

All  their  diamonds  and  their  morals  that  they  could  not  toke  along. 

If  I  were  only  Satan,  I  would  venture  to  explore 

All  the  regions  of  St.  Peter  for  discarded  things  in  store  ; 

'For  the  useless  things  once  hoarded  through  a  selfish  little  pride, 

That  were  burdens  to  rhe  spirit  and  were  sadly  laid  aside. 

If  I  were- only  Satan  and  could  have  his  mighty  pull, 
I  would  fill  each  nook  and  corner  of  my  roasting  places  full 
With  the  people  who  are  stealing  from  and  starving  brothers  here, 
-And  I'd  have  my  imps  all  dancing  in  the  merriest  of  cheer. 

If  I  were  only  Satan  and  accredited  the  same. 
With  the  progress  and  inventions  of  the  earth,  I'd  take  the  blame, 
And  give  thanks  unto  the  churches  for  old  superstition's  scheme, 
Which  has  ever  made  him  honored  with  a  power  all  supreme. 

If  I  were  only  Satan  I  should  be  so  mighty  proud. 

To  be  a  mighty  leader  of  the  one  successful  crowd. 

Of  the  men  who  gained  the  battles  of  the  earth  in  earthly  things. 

O'er  the  people  who  were  ever  in  the  act  of  sprouting  wings. 

If  I  were  only  Satan,  with  his  cunning  and  renown, 
I  would  make  some  more  tornadoes  that  would  tear  the  churches  down, 
And  I'd  have  the  stones  all  gathered  and  built  into  one  large  home. 
For  the  poor,  the  weak,  the  needy,  who  now  shelterless  must  roam. 

If  I  were  only  Satan,  with  this  earth  once  all  my  own, 
I  would  make  the  well-fed  hungry  and  then  throw  to  them  a  stone. 
I  would  feed  the  starving  masses  from  the  cupboards  that  are  fu^I, 
.  If  I  were  only  Satan  and  had  Satan's  mighty  pull. 

— Progressive  Thinker. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  271 

Japan's  /IDo^est^. 

:o: 

The  moderation  with  which  the  Japanese  press  have  treated  their  success  from 
the  very  first  blow,  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  boastful  way  in  which  the  press 
of  victorious  nations  have  too  frequently  treated  less  good  fortune.  The  papers 
are  full  of  gratitude  to  ttieir  ally,  England,  whose  influence  they  feel  has  been  the 
means  of  keeping  off  a  combination  of  Powers. 

The  jftji  says  if  Japan  conducted  her  case  with'excessive  patience  in  her  anti- 
bellum  negotiations  with  Russia,  it  was  not  only  because  they  were  afraid  that 
war  would  inevitably  more  or  less  injurionsly  affect  the  interests  of  the  other 
Powers,  but  especially  because  they  knew  that  the  peace  of  the  Far  East,  once 
broken,  the  course  of  events  might  take  such  a  turn  as  might  involve  their  ally  in 
hostilities. 

Yet  to  allow  Russia  to  go  on  with  her  policy  of  unbridled  aggression  would 
have  been  suicidal  to  Japan,  and  in  self-defence  they  had  to  finally  draw  the 
sword.  But  even  before  they  arrived  at  that  resolution  it  is  admitted  that  they 
would  have  had  to  think  twice,  had  it  not  been  for  their  conviction  that,  come 
what  might,  England  would  remain  true  to  her  pledge  of  alliance.  To  have 
Russia  alone  for  her  foe  was  one  thing,  but  to  have  to  face  a  conspiracy  of 
Powers  was  another.  What  precluded  this  anticipation  from  the  pale  of  possi- 
bility was  the  existence  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance,  with  England's  certainty 
to  stand  by  it,  an  attitude  which  has  found  its  expression  "  in  the  most  enthusi- 
astic and  whole-hearted  manner  with  which  her  people — public  bodies  as  well  as 
individuals — have  backed  us  up  with  their  moral  support  in  our  mighty  struggles. 
For  all  this  our  indebtedness  toward  our  ally  is  tremendously  great ;  because 
great  as  are  the  illustrious  virtues  of  our  Emperor,  and  the  astonishing  capabilities 
of  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  we  cannot  deny  that  that  moral  support  has  formed 
for  us  a  force  that  has  largely  assisted  us  in  carrying  on  the  campaign,  unflinchingly 
and  unmolested  in  the  face  of  many  a  menacing  glance  of  the  onlookers.  Now 
that  the  war  has  rounded  a  great  turning  stage  with  honor  and  glory  to  us,  the 
yiji  thinks  the  present  a  most  fitting  moment  to  put  on  record  the  most  profound 
feeling  of  gratitude  we  entertain  towards  our  ally." 

These  and  similar  expressions  in  other  papers  show  that  Japan  is  as  calm^ 
sensible,  and  as  free  from  that  complaint  described  as  '*  swelled  head  "  since  she 
has  been  winning  victories  which  amazed  the  whole  world,  as  she  was  when  she 
was  quietly  but  firmly  warning  Russia  to  stand  back.  It  is  not  every  one  who 
flushed  wiih  success,  would  attribute  that  success  so  largely  to  the  one  who  had 
promised  to  stand  by  and  see  fair  play.  Indeed,  Japan  is  a  wonderful  little 
empire,  and  is  teaching  Occidental  civilization  many  things  as  well  as  how  to 
run  a  military  and  naval  campaign. — Montreal  Star^ 


272  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

Spontaneous  (Beneration^ 

:o: 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

III.  (Concluded). 
Anyone  who  is  favorably  disposed  toward  science  is  relentlessly  forced,  either 
to  exclude  God  at  least  from  all  things  since  "  the  beginning,"  or  to  bring  him 
in  the  active  explanation  of  almost  innumerable  phenomena,  many  of  them  much 
more  awe-inspiring  than  the  inception  of  life,  that  are  to  be  witnessed  all  around 
us  daily.  And  even  though  God  be  used  to  explain  life,  the  old  difficulty  of 
accounting  for  his  origin  remains.  Who  created  him  ?  In  any  inquiry  that  will 
not  stay  down.  The  usual  orthodox  argument,  that  complication,  as  found  in 
the  universe,  requires  a  greater  complication  called  God,  to  make  the  matter 
clear,  explains  nothing.  If  that  simple,  self-sufficient,  inferior  complication  of 
the  Atheist,  called  the  universe,  needs  something  explanatory  beyond  it,  what 
shall  be  said  of  the  self-created,  compound,  superior  complication  called  God  ? 
Of  the  two  complications,  which  is  the  harder  to  simplify  ? 

Thus  we  see  that  God  is  constantly  getting  into  hot  water  ;  that  his  position  is 
a  trying  one;  that  his  days  appear  to  be  about  over;  that  he  has  ceased  to 
meddle  in  the  affairs  of  men  ;  that  his  constitution  is  giving  way.  May  he  rest 
forever  in  dreamless  peace  deep  down  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  faith  that  gave 
him  life. 

Herbert  Spencer  says  ("  Progress  :  Its  Law  and  Cause,"  ch.  iv.)  : 

*' Those  who  cavalierly  reject  the  theory  of  evolution,  as  not  adequately  sup- 
ported by  facts,  seem  quite  to  forget  that  their  own  theory  is  supported  by  no 
facts  at  all.  Like  the  majority  of  men  who  are  born  to  a  given  belief,  they 
demand  the  most  rigorous  proof  of  any  adverse  belief,  but  assume  that  their  own 
needs  none 

"  This  is  one  of  the  many  cases  in  which  men  do  not  really  believe,  but  rather 
think  they  believe.  It  is  not  that  they  can  conceive  ten  million  of  special 
creations  to  have  taken  place,  but  that  they  think  they  can  do  so.  Careful  intro- 
spection will  show  them  that  they  have  never  yet  realized  to  themselves  the 
creation  of  even  one  species.  If  they  have  formed  a  definite  conception  of  the 
process,  let  them  tell  us  how  a  new  species  is  constructed,  and  how  it  makes  its 
appearance.  Is  it  thrown  down  from  the  clouds  ?  or  must  we  hold  to  the  notion 
that  it  struggles  up  out  of  the  ground  ?  Do  its  limbs  and  viscera  rush  together 
from  all  points  of  the  compass?  or  must  we  receive  the  old  Hebrew  idea  that 
God  takes  clay  and  moulds  a  new  creature  ?  If  they  say  that  a  new  creature  is 
produced  in  none  of  these  modes,  which  are  too  absurd  to  be  believed,  then  they 
are  requested  to  describe  the  mode  in  which  a  new  creature  may  be  produced — 
a  mode  which  does  not  seem  absurd  ;  and  such  a  mode  they  will  find  that  they 
^neither  have  conceived  nor  can  conceive. 

"  Should  the  believers  in  special  creations  consider  it  unfair  thus  to  call  upon 
them  to  describe  how  special  creations  take  place,  I  reply,  that  this  is  far  less 
than  they  demand  from  the  supporters  of  the  development  hypothesis.     They  are 


m 

not 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  273 

lerely  asked  to  point  out  a  conceivable  mode.  On  the  other  hand,  they  ask 
lOt  simply  for  a  conceivable  mode,  but  for  the  actualmodc.  They  do  not  say, 
Show  us  how  this  may  take  place  ; '  but  they  say,  '  Show  us  how  this  does  take 
place.'  So  far  from  ii>  being  unreasonable  to  put  the  above  question,  it  would 
be  reasonable  to  ask,  n  i  only  for  a  possible  mode  of  special  creation,  but  for  an 
ascertained  mode ;  seeing  that  this  is  no  greater  a  demand  than  they  make  upon 
their  opponents. 

"  And  here  we  may  perceive  how  much  more  defensible  the  new  doctrine  is 
than  the  old  one." 

John  Tyndall  says  in  his  "  Belfast  Address  "  ; 

'*  Abandoning  all  disguise,  the  confession  that  I  feel  bound  to  make  before 
you  is  that  I  prolong  the  vision  backward  across  the  boundary  of  the  experimental 
evidence,  and  discern  in  that  matter,  which  we  in  our  ignorance,  and  notwith- 
standing our  professed  reverence  for  its  Creator,  have  hitherto  covered  with  op- 
probrium, the  promise  and  potency  of  every  form  and  quality  of  life." 

Thomas  H.  Huxley  says  in  his  "Critiques  and  Adresses  "  : 

"  Looking  back  through  the  prodigious  vista  of  the  past  I  find  no  record  of 
the  commencement  of  life,  and  therefore  I  am  devoid  of  any  means  of  forming  a 
definite  conclusion  as  to  ihe  conditions  of  its  appearance.  Belief,  in  the  scientific 
sense  of  the  word,  is  a  serious  matter,  and  needs  strong  foundations.  To  say, 
therefore,  in  the  admitted  absence  of  evidence,  that  I  have  any  belief  as  to  the 
mode  in  which  the  existing  forms  of  life  have  originated,  would  be  using  words 
in  a  wrong  sense.  But  expectation  is  permissible  where  belief  is  not,  and  if  it 
were  given  me  to  look  beyond  the  abyss  of  geologically  recorded  time  to  the  still 
more  remote  period  when  the  earth  was  passing  through  physical  and  chemical 
conditions,  which  it  can  no  more  see  again  than  a  man  may  recall  his  infancy,  I 
should  expect  to  be  a  witness  of  the  evolution  of  living  protoplasm  from  not- 
living  matter.  I  should  expect  to  see  it  appear  under  forms  of  great  simplicity, 
endowed,  like  existing  fungi,  with  the  power  of  determining  the  foundation  of 
new  protoplasm  from  such  matters  as  ammonium  carbonates,  oxalates  and 
tartrates,  alkaline  and  earthy  phosphates,  and  water,  without  the  aid  of  light." 

Ernst  Haeckel  says  in  his  "  Natural  History  of  Creation,"  in  speaking  of 
monera,  that  "  they  originated  about  the  beginning  of  the  Laurentian  period,  by 
archebiosis  or  spontaneous  generation,  from  so-called  inorganic  compounds  of 
carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen."  And  in  the  Munich  Address  he 
declares  that  "  the  Monera,  consisting  of  protoplasm  only,  bridge  over  the  deep 
chasm  between  organic  and  inorganic  nature,  and  show  us  how  the  simplest  and 
oldest  organisms  must  have  originated  from  inorganic  carbon  compounds." 

Grant  Allen  says,  in   "The  Progress  of  Science  from  1836  to  1886  "  : 

"  Life  thus  falls  into  its  proper  place  in  the  scheme  of  things  as  due  essentially 
to  the  secondary  action  of  radiated  solar  energy,  intercepted  on  the  moist,  outer 
crust  of  a  cooling  and  evolving  planet.  Its  various  forms  have  been  gradually 
produced,  mainly  by  the  action  of  natural  selection  or  survival  of  the  fittest  on 
the  immense  number  of  separate  individuals  ejected  from  time  to  time  by  pre- 
existing organisms.     How  the  first  organisms  came  to  exist  at  all  we  can  as  yet 


274  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

only  conjecture  ;  to  feeble  and  unimaginative  minds  the  difficulty  of  such  a  con- 
jecture seems  grossly  exaggerated." 

Edward  Clodd  says  ("The  Story  of  Creation,"  ch.  vii.)  : 

"Chemistry  also  reveals  intimate  likeness  of  materials  in  the  compounds 
known  as  isomeric,  in  which  the  physical  and  chemical  properties  vary  consider- 
ably. It  has  also  manufactured  organic  compounds,  as  starch,  urea,  and 
alcohol,  the  production  of  which  was  once  thought  impossible  ;  and  if  the 
experiments  to  produce  the  living  out  of  the  non-living  by  decoctions  of  hay  and 
extracts  of  beef  have  failed,  as  we  might  expect  they  would,  this  failure  can  have 
no  weight  against  the  argument  that  we  cannot  think  any  limit  to  the  possibilities 
of  nature's  subtile  transmutations  during  the  vast  periods  that  the  earth  has  been 
a  possible  abode  of  life.  And  is  not  the  transmutation  of  the  inorganic  into  the 
organic  ceaselessly  going  on  within  the  laboratory  of  the  plant  under  the  agency 
of  chlorophyle  ?  " 

W.  H.  Mallock  says,  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  for  March,  1869  : 

"  The  interval  between  mud  and  mind,  seemingly  so  impassable,  has  been 
traversed  by  a  series  of  closely  consecutive  steps.  Mind,  which  was  once 
thought  to  have  descended  into  matter,  is  shown  forming  itself  and  slowly 
emerging  out  of  it.  From  forms  of  life  so  low  that  naturalists  can  hard  y  decide 
whether  it  is  right  to  class  them  as  plants  or  animals,  up  to  the  life  that  is  mani- 
fested in  saints,  heroes,  or  philanthropists,  there  is  no  break  to  be  detected  in 
the  long  process  of  development.  There  is  no  step  in  the  process  in  which  science 
finds  any  excuse  for  postulating,  or  even  suspecting  the  presence  of  any  new 
factor." 

Samuel  Laing  says,  in  "  Modern  Science  and  Modern  Thought,"  after 
enumerating  various  reasons  why  special  creation  is  impossible  :  "  These  are  the 
sort  of  difficulties  which  have  led  the  scientific  world,  I  may  say  universally,  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  separate  special  creations,  and  to  substitute  for  it  that  which 
has  been  proved  to  be  true  of  the  whole  inorganic  world  of  stars,  suns,  planets, 
and  all  forms  of  matter :  the  idea  of  an  original  creation  (whatever  creation  may 
mean  and  behind  which  we  cannot  go)  of  ultimate  atoms  or  germs,  so  perfect 
that  they  carried  within  them  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  by  a  necessary 
process  of  evolution."  By  "original  creation  "  he  means  the  original  mystery  of 
matter. 

Nelson  C.  Parshall  says  in  his  pamphlet,  "  Proofs  of  Evolution  "  : 

"  It  would  seem  that  Evolution  cannot  fairly  stop  at  this  little  atom  of  carbon 
compound  Is  it  afraid  or  powerless  to  take  the  mystic  step  between  the  living 
and  the  non-living  ?  Did  Evolution  operate  all  the  way  from  '  star-dust '  down 
to  this  little  speck  and  then  cease  to  operate?  Could  it  make  worlds,  suns,  and 
systems,  and  yet  prove  insufficient  at  this  vital  point  ?  " 

Moleschott  says,  in  his  "  Circulation  :  " 

"  The  assumption  of  a  special  vital  force  is  proved  to  be  quite  useless.  Life 
is  merely  the  outcome  of  the  elaborate  co-operation  and  reciprocal  action  of 
chemical  and  physical  forces." 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  275 

Newman  Smyth  says,  in  "  Through  Science  to  Faith  "  : 

"While  the  fact  is  now  universally  admitted  that  non-livmg  matter  cannot  now 
be  organized  into  a  living  form  except  through  the  prior  agency  of  life,  on  the 
other  hand  the  momertum  of  all  our  scientific  knowledge  of  the  continuities  of 
nature  leads  modern  biology  to  the  assumption  that  the  organic  substance  at 
some  time  has  been  rased  and  quickened  from  the  deadness  of  the  inorganic 
world." 

Buchner  says,  in  his  essay  on  "  Materialism  :  A  Rejoinder  "  : 

"  They  [religionists]  reject  spontaneous  generation  because  they  have  not  yet 
had  experimental  proof  of  it ;  although  no  philosophic  scientist  can  raise  the 
slightest  doubt  that  it  once  took  place,  and  may  possibly  be  taking  place  to-day." 

The  Springfield  (Mass  )  Republican  summarizes  the  evidence  by  declaring 
that  "  direct  creation  could  never  have  taken  place  at  any  age." 


Mbat  is  Called  *'  ifiSustness  /IDoralttp/' 

:o: 

BY     B.    F.   UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

Rev.  John  Hut  chins,  Congregationalist  minister  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  recently 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  New  York  Tribune  giving  the  impressions  which  he  had 
received  as  to  the  character  of  John  D.  Rockefeller  during  a  week's  close  contact 
with  the  oil  magnate  in  his  family,  in  a  small  mountain  resort.  The  minister 
describes  the  conduct  and  spirit  of  Rockefeller  as  those  of  a  "  sincere  Christian 
man."  He  says  that  he  makes  no  attempt  to  reconcile  the  millionaire's  private 
life  with  his  larger  public  dealings,  but  he  simply  bears  "  witness  to  the  lasting 
impression  ofChristian  character  and  sincerity  which  that  intercourse  made  upon 
me." 

The  Springfield  Republican,  in  trying  to  explain  how  a  man  of  irreproachable 
personal  character,  can  be  guilty  of  such  rapacious  and  heartless  methods  as 
those  by  which  Rockefeller  built  up  his  vast  fortune,  says  that  the  morality  of 
business  and  the  morality  of  private  life,  as  enjoined  by  moral  and  religious 
precepts,  are  quite  different.  This  is  doubtless  true.  Business  morality  allows 
a  man  to  make  money  by  any  means  within  the  pale  of  the  law.  Pity  or  sym- 
pathy does  not  enter  into  it  as  an  element.  The  business  man,  in  difficulty  or 
doubt,  calls  upon  the  shrewd  lawyer,  not  upon  the  moralist,  for  advice,  for  he 
w.inls  an  adviser  who  is  familiar  with  all  the  sinuosities  and  loopholes  of  the 
criminal  code.  Corporations  feel  justified  in  doing  whatever  is  not  positively 
forbidden  by  the  law,  and  what  is  forbidden  even  is  allowable,  if  it  is  not 
discovered. 

Rockefeller,  a  man  of  unusual  ability  in  getting  the  advantage  of  his  com- 
petitors, and  without    scruples  in    so  doing,  secured  discriminations   from  the 


^76  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


railroads  and  established  his  business  as  a  monopoly  and  amassed  the  largest 
fortune  in  the  world.  To  thousands  the  result  was  bankruptcy,  wreckage  and 
wretchedness.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  a  man  of  fine  moral  sensibilities  and 
humane  sympathies  could  have  done  this.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a 
man  can  continue  in  business  by  such  methods  without  becoming  morally  callous 
and  indifferent  to  the  misfortune  of  his  fellow  beings.  He  may  say  "  business 
is  business,"  but  that  very  remark  means  that  one  may  take  all  he  can  get  legally 
and  that  the  moral  or  humane  side  of  a  transaction  is  not  to  be  considered. 
Evidently  these  business  methods  arc  more  injurious  in  their  effect  on  character 
than  are  most  of  those  immoralities  which  everybody  is  ready  to  denounce. 

The  results  of  these  methods  as  used  by  Rockefeller,  make  him  a  personifica- 
tion of  their  injustice.  Thousands  of  others  use  the  same  or  similar  methods 
when  they  can,  but  he  has  been  the  most  predatory  and  the  most  successful  in 
overcoming  competition  and  naturally  he  is  the  most  conspicuous  and  the  most 
disliked  of  those  who  have  gained  their  riches  by  crushing  out  their  rivals  and 
monopolizing  the  market. 

But  it  is  the  business  system — a  system  that  systematically  ignores  the  higher 
moral  side  of  life,  which  is  most  open  to  condemnation.  Of  that  system 
Rockefeller  is  one  of  the  products.  It  means  spoliation  of  the  masses  for  the 
enrichment  of  individuals,  corporations  and  classes  to  the  extent  that  this  can  be 
done  legally,  or  by  artful  and  safe  evasion  of  the  law.  This  business  system 
seeks  to  influence  in  its  interests  legislatures,  courts,  institutions  of  learning  and 
even  the  pulpits,  and  it  tries  to  make  the  common  people  believe,  while  they  are 
the  victims  of  colossal  greed  organized  into  virtual  conspiracies  against  the  public, 
that  all  this  is  for  their  benefit  and  in  the  line  of  progress  and  that  those  who 
oppose  it  are  demagogues  who  try  to  incite  discontent  among  the  people  and  to 
make  the  poor  hate  the  rich. 

A  campaign  of  education  along  this  line  is  much  needed. 


f  reetbouQbt  flDarti?r&om* 

:o: 

BY   CHARLES    WATTS. 

:o: 


Professors  of  Christianity  are  continually  boasting  of  the  martyrs  to  their  faith,' 
and  of  the  proof  which  they  allege  such  personal  sacrifice  affords  of  the  truth  of", 
their  religion.  It  is,  however,  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  martyrdom  proves, 
anything  beyond  the  sincerity  of  the  martyrs.  Probably  there  is  no  superstition, 
even  of  the  lowest  form,  which  has  not  had  its  martyrs.  If  suffering,  and  even 
dying,  for  a  cause  is  evidence  of  its  truth  and  justice,  then  Freethought  can 
fairly  claim  these  desirable  virtues.  In  fact,  Freethought  is  the  very  essence  ofi 
true   martyrdom,  which   really  means  the  consequences  of  the  vindication  of 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  277 

personal  thought  against  the  many  prevalent  superstitions  and  traditional  beliefs. 
The  history  of  Freethought  presents  to  our  view  a  muster-roll  of  names  that  are 
an  honor  to  the  Pantheon  of  the  world's  freedom — such  martyrs  as  Hypatia, 
Bruno,  Vanini,  Rog  r  Bacon,  Descartes,  Galileo,  Tindal,  Hobbes,  Spinoza, 
Bolingbroke,  Collins,  Kepler,  Volney,  Priestley,  Voltaire,  Paine,  Paterson, 
Southwell,  Carlile,  and  a  host  of  other  brave  men  and  women,  who  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  vindication  of  intellectual  liberty.  In  Greece  the  heroic  Socrates 
fought  for  his  freedom  despite  the  darts  of  ridicule,  the  pangs  of  exile,  and  the 
effects  of  hemlock.  These  martyrs  were  the  real  redeemers  of  humanity  ;  they 
were  all  stars  in  the  firmament  of  thought,  and  to  their  efforts  we  are  indebted 
for  much  of  the  force  we  are  able  to  exert  to-day  in  consolidating  the  freedom 
they  won  and  in  extending  the  liberties  they  bequeathed  to  posterity. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  right  to  here  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  term  Freethought. 
It  does  not  signify,  as  the  Rev.  Charles  Kingsley  alleged,  "  loose  thinking  "  • 
neither  does  it  teach  that  thought  is  independent  of  conditions  ;  hence  it  is 
opposed  to  what  is  termed  the  doctrine  of  Freewill.  A  Freethinker  is  one  who 
claims  the  right  to  think  according  to  the  evidence  presented  to  his  mind,  without 
having  to  endure  social  ostracism  in  this  world,  or  being  threatened  with 
punishment  in  another  one.  With  the  Freethinker  no  topic  is  too  sacred  to  be 
discussed,  and  no  opinion  is  too  extreme  to  be  proclaimed,  provided  it  has  been 
arrived  at  by  legitimate  and  cautious  reasoning.  He  believes,  as  has  been  well 
remarked  (I  forget  by  whom),  that  all  "opinions  are  to  be  examined  if  we  will 
make  way  for  truth,  and  put  our  minds  in  that  freedom  which  belongs,  and  is 
necessary,  to  them.  A  mistake  is  not  the  less  so,  and  will  never  grow  into  the 
truth,  because  we  have  believed  it  for  a  long  time,  though  perhaps  it  is  the 
harder  to  part  with  ;  and  an  error  is  not  the  less  dangerous  because  it  is  cried  up 
and  held  in  veneration  by  any  party."  A  Freethinker  deems  that  man's  duty  is 
to  use  such  faculties  as  he  finds  himself  possessed  of  in  an  honest  and  earnest 
endeavor  to  learn  the  truth  upon  all  subjects  that  fall  within  the  scope  of  his 
observation.  To  pass  carelessly  over  any  field  where  he  thinks  some  few  grains 
of  truth  might  be  discovered  he  holds  to  be  a  crime  against  his  own  intellectual 
nature  and  against  society  ;  and  to  shrink  from  the  investigation  of  any  subject 
by  the  supposed  sacredness  of  its  character,  or  through  the  fulminations  of  men 
who  have  an  interest  in  preventing  free  inquiry,  he  maintains  to  be  sheer 
cowardice,  of  which  no  true  man  would  be  guilty. 

It  should,  moreover,  be  remembered  that  Freethought,  when  properly  under- 
ood,  does  not  consist  in  a  form  of  belief,  nor  in  a  code  of  unbelief,  but  in  the 
light  to  think,  and  to  give  expression  to  his  thoughts,  without  any  kind  of 
persecution  following  as  the  result.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that,  because 
a  man  is  a  Freethinker,  he  is  indifferent  to  truth,  and  holds  that  all  opinions  are 
alike  unimportant.     On  the  contrary,  he  will  be  found  contending  as  earnestly 


278  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

and  as  energetically  for  his  views  as  any  class  of  men,  and  will  work  as  hard  to 
promulgate  what  he  believes  to  be  true  as  the  most  enthusiastic  religionist.  But, 
having  done  that,  he  concedes  to  others  the  right  which  he  claims  for  himself. 
Unfortunately,  men  and  women  whose  honor  and  good  taste  could  not  be  called 
in  question  have  often  been  excluded  from  social  and  domestic  gatherings  simply 
on  account  of  their  Freethought  principles.  For  the  same  reason,  the  services  of 
hterary  men  have  been  declined  in  quarters  where,  had  they  professed  the  popular 
religious  faith,  their  literary  productions  would  have  commanded  ready  acceptance. 
This  exclusive  policy,  the  outcome  of  sectarian  prejudices,  is  not  only  petty 
persecution,  it  is  unjust  and  detrimental  to  the  progress  of  society,  inasmuch  as 
it  tends  to  deprive  the  commonwealth  of  the  services  of  some  of  the  most  useful 
and  earnest  workers  for  the  public  good. 

There  is,  it  should  be  observed,  a  difference  between  Freethought  martyrdom 
and  theological  martyrdom.  The  Christian  martyr  had  not  only  the  prestige  of 
fashion  and  the  sanctions  of  popular  belief  to  support  him  in  his  suffering,  but 
he  had — that  is,  he  fancies  he  had — the  assurance  that  the  death  of  the  martyr  is 
the  birth  of  a  "  glorious  immortality."  He  is  taught  that  this  world  is  "  a  vale  of 
tears,"  a  probationary  state  preparatory  to  something  superior  in  "  a  world  to 
come  ";  "for  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  If  this  is  really  so,  to  go  to  "  the 
better  land  "  should  be  "a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished."  Experience, 
however,  proves  that,  despite  the  Christian's  belief  in  this  happy  change,  he  is  in 
general  extremely  anxious  to  delay  the  transformation  ;  to  him,  indeed,  *'  distance 
lends  enchantment  to  the  view."  The  case  is  very  different  with  the  majority  of 
Freethinkers.  They  have  to  suffer  for  conscience  sake  in  the  cold  shade  of 
opposition,  exposed  to  the  misrepresentation  of  the  bigot  and  to  the  active 
persecution  of  a  prejudiced  orthodoxy,  without  the  consoling  reflections  furnished 
by  faith  in  compensation  hereafter.  Buoyed  up  by  the  knowledge  that  his  self- 
denial  is  undertaken  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  creatures  on  earth,  the  Free- 
thought  martyr  evinces  a  fortitude  prompted  by  an  unselfish  nature  that  cannot 
fairly  be  clai^ned  by  the  martyr  of  the  Church.  In  so  far  it  must  be  conceded 
that  the  Freethought  martyrdom  is  the  nobler  of  the  two. 

Among  other  beneficent  results  accruing  from  the  devotion  of  the  martyrs  of 
Freethought,  we  may  place  the  following  :  The  minimizing  of  the  once-domi- 
neering power  of  ecclesiasticism,  the  relaxation  of  various  theological  dogmas,  the 
purification  of  religion,  and  the  general  discrediting  of  priestcraft  in  the  minds  of 
thoughtful  men.  The  chief  and  most  glorious  results,  however,  have  been  those 
achieved  in  the  emancipation  of  individual  thought  and  reason  from  the  thraldom 
of  theological  faith,  and  in  the  active  fields  of  ethics,  science,  and  politics.  The 
services  of  these  Freethought  martyrs  demonstrated  the  folly  of  supposing  that 
the  measure  of  one  age  should  necessarily  be  the  standard  of  all  succeeding  ones- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


279 


Thus  another  barrier  to  progress  was  broken  down,  and  the  principle  was 
established  that  as  time  rolls  on,  as  man's  requirements  increase,  and  as  human 
thoughts  expand,  an  enlarged  and  more  effectual  test  of  action  will  become 
indispensable.  The  arbitrators  of  conduct  in  the  past  were  theological  decrees 
and  priestly  dictation  ;  to-day  the  governing  principles  of  our  deeds  are  reason 
and  utility.  Herein  lies  the  justification  of  Freethought  martyrdom,  and  herein 
are  manifested  the  excellent  fruits  of  its  endurance. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


ADOLPH   BASTIAN  v.  DR.  A.  C  DIXON. 


THE  STANDARD  OF  ETHICS  IS 
NOT  ABSOLUTE,  BUT 
RELVITVE. 
'•  A  striking  instance  of  the  one- 
sidedness  of  our  view  of  the  world  is 
the  stubbornness  with  which  we  insist 
that  our  principles,  our  sacred  truth, 
must  prevail  among  men  everywhere 
and  are  in  the  very  nature  of  man  as 
such.  An  arrogant  and  egotistic  pride 
has  long  misled  the  European  into  re- 
garding himself  as  the  ideal  of  humanity, 
and  into  looking  down  upon  all  other 
times  and  condemning  every  race  that 
ventured  to  derive  other  views  from  its 
social  experience.  He  does  not  think 
of  the  broad  continents  which  cover 
the  rest  of  the  globe,  where  unnumbered 
nations  have  developed  their  indepen- 
dent civilizations :  he  does  not  recall 
the  many  brilliant  epochs  of  history  that 


UNBELIEF  THE  GREATEST 
SIN. 

"  Unbelief  is  one  of  the  greatest 
sins.  I  think  the  qualities  of  lying, 
murder  and  theft  are  contained  in  un- 
belief. Murder  is  generally  done  in 
hot  blood  and  anger,  but  unbelief  has 
no  such  extenuating  circumstances." — 
Dr.  a.  C.  Dixon,  before  Bible  Con- 
ference, Atlanta,  Mch.  22,  '05,  as  re- 
ported in  News. 


rose  and  passed  away  before  ever  a  ray 
of  the  light  of  civilization  had  pierced 
the  barbarism  of  his  forests.  The  ma- 
jority of  educated  people  do  not  look 
beyond  their  own  horizon." — Adolph 
Bastian,  as  quoted  in  the  Open  Court. 


NEW  PLAY  AT  OBERAMMERGAU.— The  villagers  of  Oberammergau 
are  practising  for  the  beginning  of  a  new  play,  the  first  performance  of  which  will 
be  given  on  June  4,  and  to  be  repeated  every  Sunday  until  September.  The  new 
play  is  named  "The  School  of  the  Cross,"  and  will  be  filled  with  scenes  from  the 
life  of  David,  which  the  Oberammergau  folks,  we  are  told, — like  many  other 
Christians— think  were  "  the  phototypes  of  the  greater  scenes  in  the  life  of 
Christ  "  The  new  play  is  to  be  staged  with  the  dresses  last  used  in  the  Passion 
Play  of  1900,  the  last  performance  of  the  Oberammergau  rustics.  The  perfor 
mance  is  to  be  given  in  memory  of  the  late  King  Ludwig,  of  Bavaria  I 

I  TWO  SOUL-SAVERS  EQUAL  ONE  MAN.— Some  years   ago  the   Japs 
listed  a  colony  of  watchmakers  in  America,  and  transported  them  to  the  Sun. 


280  SECULAB  THOUGHT. 


rise  Empire,  to  found  a  watch  factory.  To  economize  the  cost  of  travel  the 
whole  party  was  entered  as  missionaries  on  their  way  to  Japan,  by  which  device, 
a  member  of  the  party  reports,  the  trip  was  made  at  half  price.  In  a  year  the 
natives  had  acquired  the  art,  and  the  '*  missionaries  "  were  returned  to  America. 
Missionaries  and  reverends,  two  of  which  are  equal  to  one  layman,  are  greatly 
favored  when  in  transit,  being  virtually  classed  with  eight-year-old  children,  and 
this  because  they  are  supposed  to  be  soul-savers.  It  is  wished  all  of  them  were 
worthy  of  their  vocation,  but  it  is  apprehended  many  have  the  frailties  of  common 
mortals. — Progressive  Thinker. 


PERSIAN  ANECDOTES.— A  Persian  student,  writing  in  the  St.  James 
Gazette^  tells  these  stories,  which  he  says  he  found  buried  in  an  old  Persian  book  : 

A  certain  king  asked  an  astrologer,  "  How  many  years  of  life  remain  to  me  ?  '' 
The  wise  man  replied,  "  Ten."  The  king  became  very  despondent,  and  betook 
himself,  as  one  stricken  with  a  sickness,  to  his  bed.  His  vizier,  who  possessed 
great  wisdom,  sent  for  the  seer,  and  in  the  king's  presence  asked  him,  ''  How 
many  years  have  you  to  live?"  He  replied,  "Twenty."  The  vizier  ordered 
that  he  should  that  very  hour  be  executed  in  the  king's  presence.  The  king  was 
satisfied  and  commended  the  sagacity  of  his  minister,  and  no  longer  attached 
any  importance  to  the  astrologer's  saying. 

One  day  a  certain  tyrannical  king  came  alone  without  the  city  walls  and  saw 
a  man  sitting  under  a  tree.  The  king  asked,  "  The  ruler  of  this  kingdom— is  he 
^  tyrant  or  a  just  man  ?  "  The  stranger  replied,  "  A  very  great  tyrant."  The  king 
said  to  the  stranger,  "  Do  you  know  me  ?  "  He  said,  "  No."  "  I  am  the  sultan 
0/  this  kingdom,"  the  monarch  replied.  The  man  was  overcome  with  fear  and 
asked,  *•  Do  you  know  rae?"  The. king  said,  "No."  He  replied,  "  I  am  the 
son  of  a  merchant,  and  every  month  I  suffer  three  days'  madness.  This  unfor- 
tunately happens  to  be  the  day  before  the  three  days."  The  king  laugl^ed  and 
**  and  had  nothing  at  all  further  to  say." 

One  day  a  certain  man  said  to  himself,  "  Everything  in  the  earth  and  in  the 
heavens  exists  for  me.  For  me  many  great  things  has  God  created."  In  the 
middle  of  his  soliloquy  a  gnat  settled  on  his  nose  and  said,  "  So  much  pride  in 
thee  is  not  fitting  in  that  thou  shouldst  imagine  that  all  things  in  the  earth  and 
skies  are  created  for  thee.  Rather  art  thou  created  for  me.  Dost  thou  not 
recognize  that  thou  art  only  the  instrument  of  my  uplifting  ?  " 

The  Sultan,  Alexander  the  Great  (the  Two-Horned),  upon  a  certain  occasion 
passed  by  a  madman  and  said,  "  Oh,  madman,  for  some  mark  of  my  favor 
express  thou  a  wish."  He  replied,  "  The  fiies  trouble  me  ;  speak  that  they  do  so 
no  more."  The  monarch  said,  *'  Oh,  madman,  make  thy  i)etition  something 
which  it  is  in  my  power  to  command."  The  madman  said,  "  If  thou  canst  not 
•control  a  fiy,  what  petition  shall  I  make  ?  " 


'Tis  weary  watching  wave  by  wave, 

And  yet  the  tide  heaves  onward  ; 
We  climb,  like  corals,  grave  by  grave, 

That  pave  a  pathway  sunward  ; 
We  are  driven  back,  for  our  next  fray 

A  newer  strength  to  borrow, 
And  where  tke  Vanguard  camps  to-day 

The  Rear  shall  rest  to-morrow  ! 

— Gerald  Mcssey. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  lo. 

TORONTO,  JUNE  15, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

^be  letbical  ZcachirxQ  ot  Socratee* 


-:o: 


**  No  MAN  ERRS   OF  HIS   OWN  FREE  WILL."     These  few  words 

embody  the  kernel  of  Socratism This  short  sentence  is  a 

terse  expression  of  the  conviction  that  eve?y  moral  deficiency 
has  its  origin  in  the  intellect^  and  depends  upon  a  vagary  of 
the  undei'standing.  In  other  words — he  who  knows  what  is 
right  does  what  is  right  :  want  of  insight  is  the  one  and  only 
source  of  moral  shortcoming.  In  view  of  this  doctrine,  we 
readily  comprehend  how  Socrates  was  bound  to  put  an  infinite 
value  on  clearness  of  conception.  It  is  more  difficult  to  see 
how  this  inordinately  high  estimate  of  the  intellect,  and  of  its 
supreme  significance  for  the  conduct  of  life,  came  to  be  formed 
in  the  mind  of  Socrates.  Certainly  the  endeavor  to  replace 
hazy  ideas  and  dim  conjecture  by  sharply-outlined  concepts 
and  clear  comprehension  was  a  leading  characteristic  of  the 
whole  of  that  age  which  we  have  referred  to  as  the  Age  of 
Enlightenment.  The  zeal  of  that  age  in  the  culture  oi  the 
intellect,  and  its  employment  in  the  elucidation  of  the  chief 
problems  both  of  corporate  and  of  individual  life,  the  earnest 
endeavor  to  replace  tradition  by  self-won  knowledge,  blind  faith 
by  illuminated  thought — all  these  tendencies  have  been  re- 
viewed by  us  repeatedly  and  in  their  most  characteristic  mani- 
festations  But  the  intellectualism,  as  we  have  termed  it,  of 

that  age  culminates  in  Socrates.  Before  his  time,  it  had  been 
held  that  the  will,  equally  with  the  intellect,  needed  a  schooling, 
which  was  to  be  obtained  by  means  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, exercise  and  habituation 

Socrates  argues  just  as  if  what  Aristotle  calls  ^* the  irrational 
part  o{  the  soul"  did  not  exist.     All  action  is  determined  by 


282  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

the  intellect.  And  the  latter  is  all-powerful.  Such  a  thing  as 
knowing  what  is  right,  and  yet  disobeying  that  know^ledge, 
believing  an  action  wrong,  and  yet  yielding  to  the  motives  that 
impel  to  it,  is  for  Socrates  not  merely  a  sad  and  disastrous  oc- 
currence ;  it  is  a  sheer  impossibility.  He  does  not  combat  or 
condemn,  he  simply  denies,  that  state  of  mind  which  his  con- 
temporaries called  ^^  being  overcome  by  desire,"  and  to  w^hich 
the  Roman  poet  gave  typical  expression  in  the  words,*' Video 
meliora  proboque  ;  deteriora  sequor  "  ("I  see  and  approve  the 
better,  but  follow  the  worse"). 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  detect  and  to  arraign  the  one- 
sidedness  of  this  point  of  view.  What  is  much  more  important 
is  to  yield  full  and  entire  recognition  to  the  element  of  truth 
contained  in  the  exaggeration,  to  realize  how  it  was  that  So- 
crates came  to  take  an  important  fraction  of  the  truth  for  the 
whole,  and  to  estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  service  rendered 
to  humanity  by  the  great  ** one-eyed  men"  in  setting  this  neg- 
lected part  of  truth  in  the  most  glaring  light. 

Although  the  state  of  niind  w^hose  existence  is  denied  by 
Socrates  does  really  occur,  its  occurrence  is  a  far  rarer  pheno- 
menon than  is  generally  supposed.  That  w^hich  is  overcome 
by  passion  is  often  not  character  or  conviction,  but  a  mere 
semblance  of  such.  And  want  of  clearness  of  thought,  con- 
fused conceptions  of  the  grounds  as  well  as  of  the  full  scope 
and  exact  bearing  of  precepts  to  which  a  vague  and  general 
assent  is  yielded, — these  and  other  intellectual  shortcomings 
go  a  long  way  towards  accounting  for  that  chasm  between 
principles  and  practice  which  is  the  greatest  curse  of  life. 

Where  these  intellectual  deficiencies  do  not  altogether  de- 
stroy unity  of  character,  they  yet  limit  its  continuance  ;  and 
it  is  through  them  that  the  most  contradictory  opposites  are 
enabled  to  lodge  peaceably  together  in  the  same  breast.  It  is 
such  want  of  clearness  and  certainty  that  makes  characters 
brittle  and  paralyzes  their  powders  of  resistance,  provides  an 
easy  victory  for  wrong  motives,  and  often  gives  a  false  impres- 
sion that  it  was  the  strength  of  the  attack,  not  the  weakness 
of  the  defence,  that  brought  about  the  defeat.  We  ever  find 
confusion  of  thought  bringing  men  to  acknowledge  simulta- 
neously several  supreme  standards  of  judgment  which  contra- 
dict each  other.     The  resulting  anarchy  of  soul  can  hardly  be 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  283 

expressed  better  than  in  the  words  of  a  modern  French  writer 
of  comedies,  who  makes  one  of  his  characters  say  :  **  Which 
morality  do  you  mean  ?  There  are  thirty-six  of  them.  There 
is  a  social  morality  which  is  not  the  same  as  political  morality, 
and  this  again  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  morality  of  religion, 
which,  in  its  turn,  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  morality 
of  business." 

But,  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  assertion  that  right  thinking  is 
a  guarantee  for  right  acting  has  a  very  limited  sphere  of  vali- 
dity. It  can  be  seriously  made  only  when  the  end  of  the  action 
is  unquestioned,  and  the  sole  doubt  is  as  to  choice  of  means. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  where  the  end  is  determined  by 
the  undoubted  interest  of  the  agent.  A  husbandman  sowing 
his  field,  a  pilot  guiding  the  helm,  an  artisan  in  his  workshop, 
must,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  have  their  will  directed 
to  the  best  possible  fulfilment  of  the  task  before  them.  Success 
or  failure  will  for  them  depend  principally  on  their  general 
acumen  and  their  general  knowledge.  In  cases  of  this  type, 
the  fundamental  principle  of  Socrates  is  thus  at  least  approxi- 
mately true.  And  nothing  caused  Socrates  so  much  lasting 
astonishment  as  the  perception,  which  continuously  forced  itself 
upon  him,  that  in  the  subordinate  departments  of  life,  men 
either  possess  or  strive  earnestly  for. the  possession  of  clear 
insight  into  the  relations  between  means  and  ends,  while  in 
their  higher  concerns,  in  matters  closely  affecting  their  weal  or 
woe,  nothing  of  the  kind  is  discernible.  This  contrast  made 
the  strongest  possible  impression  upon  him,  and  had  a  decisive 
influence  upon  the  direction  of  his  thought.  He  saw  that  in 
all  crafts  and  callings,  clearness  of  intellect  puts  an  end  to 
botching  and  bungling,  and  he  expected  the  like  progress  to 
follow  as  soon  as  the  life  of  individuals  and  of  the  community 
should  be  illuminated  by  clear  insight  and  regulated  by  unam- 
biguous rules  of  conduct,  which  latter  could  be  nothing  else 
than  a  system  of  means  conducive  to  the  highest  ends. 

**  No  man  errs  of  his  own  free  will."  This  utterance  has  a 
double  significance.  First,  there  is  the  conviction  that  all  the 
numberless  shortcomings  of  actual  occurrence  originate  in 
insufficient  development  of  the  understanding.  And  there  is 
a  second  conviction,  lying  at  the  root  of  the  first  and  condi- 
tioning it,  namely,  that  it  is  only  as  to  the  means,  not  the  end. 


284  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

of  actions  that  disagreement  exists  among  men.  Everyone 
without  exception  is  supposed  to  desire  what  is  good.  It  is 
not  in  what  they  desire  that  men  are  distinguished  from  each 
other,  but  simply  and  solely  in  the  measure  of  their  capacity 
for  realizing  the  common  object  of  endeavor — a  difference 
which  depends  entirely  on  their  several  degrees  of  intellectual 
development. 

The  solution  just  obtained  suggests  another  enigma:  whence 
comes  this  moral  optimism  of  our  sage  ?  What  was  the  origin 
of  his  faith  that  every  moral  deficiency  arises  from  error,  and 
never  from  depravity  of  heart?  The  primary  answer  to  this 
question  is  as  follows  :  He  held  it  for  an  undoubted  truth  that 
moral  goodness  and  happiness,  that  moral  badness  and  un- 
happiness,  are  inseparably  united,  and  that  only  a  delusion 
bordering  on  blindness  could  choose  the  second  and  reject  the 
first.  A  line  of  the  comic  poet  Epicharmus,  slightly  modified, 
was  a  favorite  quotation  in  Socratic  circles — 

"  No  man  willingly  is  wretched,  nor  against  his  will  is  blest." 

The  Greek  word  here  translated  ^*  wretched  "  has  a  two-fold 
meaning,  which  may  be  understood  from  a  comparison  of  the 
two  phrases,  **  a  wretched  life,"  *^a  wicked  wretch."  Such 
ambiguities  of  language  gave  this  optimistic  belief  an  appear- 
ance of  self-evident  truth  which  it  certakjly  does  not  possess. 
....  It  is  not  from  verbal  ambiguities  or  from  lack  of  nice  dis- 
crimination between  allied  concepts  that  we  expect  a  new, 
vigorous,  and  fertile  philosophy  of  life  to  take  its  rise.  If 
Socrates  maintained  the  identity  of  virtue  and  happiness, there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  he  did  so  firstly  and  chiefly  because  he 
had  found  them  identical  in  his  own  experience.  It  is  not  the 
voice  of  his  countrymen,  but  the  voice  of  his  own  inmost 
being,  that  speaks  to  us  here 

Socrates  possessed  an  ideal — an  ideal  of  calm  self-posses- 
sion, of  justice,  of  fearlessness,  of  independence.  He  felt 
that  he  was  happy  because,  and  in  so  far  as,  he  lived  up  to 
this  ideal.  He  looked  on  the  world  around.  He  found  others, 
too,  in  possession  of  ideals,  but  half-hearted  withal,  lukewarm, 
inconsistent ;  and  he  saw  that  the  effects  of  these  were  mani- 
fold deviations  from  paths  once  entered  upon ;  gifted  intellects 
and  forceful  characters  failing,  through  lack  of  sure  guidance, 
to  secure  for  their  possessors    inward    harmony  and    lasting 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  285 

peace.  To  be  such  a  plaything  of  capricious  impulses  seemed 
to  him  a*^slavish"  condition  unworthy  of  a  free  man. — Prof. 
Th.  Gomferz  (^^  Greek  Thinkers'), 

EDITORIALS. 

It  seems  certain  that  the  education  clauses  in. 
VICTORY  FOR  the  new  Autonomy  Bills  will  be  carried  in  spite 

PRIESTCRAFT  of  all  opposition.     There  has  been  a  tremendous 

IN  CANADA.  amount  of  discussion   during   the   past  two  or 

three  months,  but  little  new  light  has  been  shed 
upon  the  subject.  The  dominating  consideration  on  the  Liberal  side  is 
no  doubt  the  fact  that,  to  keep  in  power,  the  Catholic  vote  must  be  con- 
ciliated by  fulfilling  the  promises  made  to  gain  office  in  1896.  The 
critical  time  having  arrived,  the  bargain  must  be  carried  out.  There 
-eems  no  other  rational  explanation  of  the  present  political  situation. 

On  its  intrinsic  merits,  the  matter  is  a  simple  one.  The  British  North 
America  Act — the  Dominion  Constitution — reserves  to  the  Provinces  the 
right  to  legislate  on  educational  matters,  with  the  proviso,  that  if  in  any 
Province  a  minority  should  consider  itself  unduly  oppressed,  it  should 
have  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Dominion  Parliament  for  remedial  legisla- 
tion. The  Dominion  Government  simply  proposes  to  apply  the  remedial 
legislation  in  advance  of  any  oppression  ;  for  it  is  freely  admitted  that 
the  Territorial  Legislature  has  treated  the  minority  in  a  satisfactory 
manner  ;  and  the  Ottawa  Government  pretends,  indeed,  that  the  educa- 
tion clauses  only  continue  that  satisfactory  arrangement. 

The  hollowness  of  this  pretence  is  manifest ;  and  if  the  Government 
measure  carries,  not  the  present  arrangement,  but  one  which  will  give 
the  Catholic  priests  full  power  to  establish  church  schools  and  demand 
a  share  of  the  public  funds  to  support  them,  will  become  a  part  of  the 
constitution  of  the  new  Provinces. 

The  pretence  that  the  matter  is  not  one  for  Ontario  to  interfere  with 
is  a  fraudulent  one  on  its  face.  Any  question  on  which  the  votes  of  its 
representatives  are  demanded  is  a  question  of  interest  to  it ;  and  assu- 
redly the  future  welfare  of  the  two  new  Provinces,  each  several  times 
larger  than  the  State  of  New  York,  is  a  matter  that  must  vitally  affect 
the  whole  of  the  Dominion. 

That  the  West  itself  is  satisfied  with  the  new  measure  is  also  mani- 
festly untrue,  especially  when  we  see  how  strenuously  Mr.  Haultain,  the 


286  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

Territorial  Premier,  is  opposing  the  Government  measures.  Were  this 
true,  however,  the  ground  for  justifying  the  passage  of  this  coercive 
measure  would  be  entirely  cut  away. 

It  is  evident,  too,  that  in  the  wording  of  the  amended  clauses  the 
Catholics  see  the  fulfilment  of  their  hope  of  gaining  as  complete  a  con- 
trol of  the  education  system  in  the  new  Provinces  as  they  possess  in 
Quebec.  If  the  new  Provinces  are  left  to  deal  with  this  question  in  their 
own  way,  the  Catholics  will  doubtless  be  dealt  with  as  liberally  in  the 
future  as  they  have  been  dealt  with  in  the  past.  At  the  worst,  they  will 
only  be  in  the  same  position  as  the  Protestant  sects.  But  if  the  new 
bills  pass,  they  will  be  in  a  commanding  position,  their  privileges  being 
derived,  not  from  Provincial  legislation,  which  can  be  amended,  but  from 
a  Dominion  Act,  and  they  will  be  able  to  set  the  local  authorities  at  de- 
fiance. Such  legislation  will  prepare  the  way  for  a  long  period  of  bitter 
religious  strife  and  educational  stagnation  in  the  new  Provinces. 

In  his  speech  at  Woodstock,  Mr.  Oliver  told  the  Toronto  people  that, 
"  if  they  objected  to  separate  schools,  they  should  begin  to  fight  them 
at  home."  We  may  tell  Mr.  Oliver  that  there  is  no  sense  in  his  remark. 
The  Toronto  people  have  had  some  experience  of  Separate  Schools,  and 
may  even  wish  to  abolish  them ;  but,  though  they  may  not  be  able  or 
even  willing  to  begin  a  fight  for  their  abolition  '*  at  home,"  that  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  either  submit  to  or  sanction  their  forcible  and 
permanent  establishment  in  the  newly-created  Provinces. 

Mr.  Oliver  and  the  rest  of  the  Laurier  Administration  may  keep  their 
positions  for  a  few  years  by  aid  of  their  unholy  compact,  but  they  are 
mistaken,  we  think,  if  they  imagine  that  the  Canadian  people  will  for 
very  long  submit  to  their  Public  School  system  being  further  degraded 
than  it  is  at  present  to  suic  the  bigotry  of  any  church. 

Yes ;  it  must  be  true.  Dr.  Langtry,  the  great 
A  THEOLOGICAL  champion  of  Anglican  Apostolic  Succession,  has 
RIP  VAN  WINKLE,     just  awakened  from  a  long  slumber,  and  has 

discovered  that  the  world  has  been  asleep  as 
well  as  himself.  That  is  to  say,  that  is  how  it  presents  itself  to  him. 
He  has  thoroughly  examined  the  erstwhile  lively  young  giant  Evolution, 
and,  finding  it  nothing  but  a  shell  of  glass,  through  which  anybody  with 
even  a  bat's  eye  and  an  ounce  of  brains  could  easily  see,  has  shattered 
it  with  a  stone  from  his  little  sling.     Evolution,  says  the  doctor,  like 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  287 

elshazzar,  has  been  weighed  in  the  theological  balances,  has  been  found 
wanting,  and  has  been  compelled  to  retire  to  the  shades  from  which  it  so 
lately  and  so  boldly  emerged  to  challenge  the  credentials  of  the  world's 
priestly  rulers. 

And,  just  when  the  Higher  Criticism,  emboldened  and  inspired  by  the 
success  of  its  great  and  friendly  rival,  had  imagined  itself  successful  in 
its  assault  on  the  ecclesiastical  citadel,  it,  too,  has  met  its  doom  at  the 
hands  of  the  same  bold  warrior.  While  foolish  pulpit  heretics  and  still 
more  foolish  college  professors  are  blindly  continuing  to  preach  Evolu- 
tion and  Rationalism  in  every  department  of  human  knowledge,  they 
little  dream  that  their  case  has  been  tried  and  that  adverse  judgment 
has  been  delivered  in  that  wisest  court  of  human  appeal — an  Anglican 
pulpit !  Alas  !  that  we  should  have  to  record  the  demise  of  two  such 
promising  children  of  human  thought.  It  almost  gives  us  a  mortal  pang 
to  part  with  our  two  idols.  We  feel,  we  imagine,  like  some  Romans  must 
have  felt  when  they  heard  the  Christians  christen  as  St.  Peter  their  old 
statue  of  Jupiter.  But  it  can't  be  helped.  Let  us  bury  our  dead,  and 
erect  a  suitable  tombstone  at  the  head  of  the  double  grave  : 
,,  ^  ^  ,,*,,,,,, , •....•......••...• 

:  HERE   LIE  THE   REMAINS   OF 

:      THE  THEORY  OF  EVOLUTION  and  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM, 

:  TWIN   CHILDREN  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  DEVIL, 

:  Which,  having  been  born  in  ancient  days  and  nurtured  for  many  centuries  by 

:  some  of  the  brightest  mtellects  of  the  human  race,  had  grown  strong  and 

:  vigorous  in  spite  of  much  priestly  persecution,  and  had  been  thought 

:  .  by  many  sanguine  but  foolish  men  to  have  gained  a  complete 

;  victory  over  their  rivals.  Theological  Myth  and  the  Theory 

:  of  Creation,  and  had  been  accepted  even  by  many 

:  Churchmen,  but  which 

:       WERE  ATTACKED  AND   SLAUGHTERED,   WITHOUT   KNOWLEDGE  OR   WISDOM 

:  ("  By  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe  "), 

:  but  with  a  vast  display  of  theological  acumen  and  presumption, 

BY  THE  REV.  DR.  MOSSBACK  LANGTRY, 
Ably  assisted  by  the  Toronto  Glube,  on  the  13th  day  of  May,  1905. 

:  PEACE  TO   THEIR   ASHES. 


Dr.  Langtry  is  one  of  those  devout  churchmen  who  have  no  doubt 
heard  a  faint  whisper  of  the  results  of  modern  criticism  and  inquiry, 
but  who  live  in  a  world  of  mental  stagnation,  in  which  **  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints  "  is  regarded  as  the  sinnmuni  honum  of  all  wisdom 
and  the  only  basis  of  human   happiness  and  righteousness.     For  them, 


288  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

the  welfare  of  the  human  race  is  inextricably  bound  up  with  belief  in 
the  saving  power  of  the  "  atoning  blood  of  Ohrist"  and  the  legitimacy  of 
the  Anglican  Apostolic  Succession.  It  is  of  no  use  to  appeal  to  them  on 
grounds  either  of  fact  or  reason,  for  do  they  not  tell  us  that  God  has 
**  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  has  revealed  them 
unto  babes  "  ?  Dr.  Langtry  is  a  babe  ;  rather  an  old  one,  truly,  but 
still  intellectually  only  a  babe.  Like  many  others  of  his  class,  who  with 
a  claim  to  culture  and  wisdom  that  they  say  entitles  them  to  deliver 
judgment  on  questions  that  are  above  the  mental  grasp  of  the  ordinary 
educated  layman,  display  an  ignorance  of  what  is  going  on  even  in  their 
own  department  of  theology  that  would  be  astonishing  could  we  believe 
it  to  be  honest.  Dr.  Langtry  tells  us  that  all  the  scientific  work  of  the 
past  century  has  been  subverted.  The  pitiful  part  of  it  is,  that  a  crowd 
of  people  can  be  found  to  listen  to  him  without  protest. 

Nothing  is  surer  than  the  fact  that — for  intelligent  men,  that  is — the 
whole  scheme  of  theology  has  undergone  a  complete  revolution  during 
the  past  century.  When  Laplace  told  Napoleon  that  he  had  "no  place 
for  God  "  in  his  scheme  of  the  universe,  he  only  echoed  the  thought  of 
the  brightest  thinkers  of  all  ages.  To-day,  the  most  intelligenfof  even 
the  theologians  have  arrived  at  the  point  reached  more  than  a  century 
ago  by  Laplace.  They  talk  of  '*  god,"  but  as  an  individual,  a  supreme 
**  being,"  god  has  disappeared  from  their  schemes,  and  is  replaced  by 
some  more  or  less  vague  idea  of  a  more  or  less  beneficent  or  impartial 
and  infinite  '*  power,"  which  places  them  practically  beside  Voltaire, 
Spencer,  and  Ingersoll. 

Dr.  Langtry's  utterances  are  only  worthy  of  notice  because,  like  those 
of  Newell,  Torrey,  Roberts,  and  other  semi-demented  fanatics  or  fakers, 
they  indicate  the  mental  condition  of  the  large  crowds  who  hang  upon 
their  words.  It-  may  be  presumed  that  the  proportion  of  heretics  and 
sceptics  is  somewhat  the  same  among  the  preachers  as  among  laymen, 
but  the  latter  pay  the  salaries,  and  that  fact  is  strongly  in  favor  of  their 
honesty.  In  any  case,  it  seems  quite  clear  that  to-day,  though  the 
schoolmaster  has  had  a  fair  show  for  half-a-century  at  his  task  of  in- 
structing the  people,  the  great  mass  of  the  Christian  world  is  as  fully 
prepared  to  believe  that  the  whale  swallowed  Jonah  as  were  those  who 
listened  to  the  indorsation  by  Jesus  of  the  old  myth. 

And  the  people  who  go  to-day  to  Spiritualistic  seances  to  get  commu- 
nications from  their  dead  friends  are  mentally  just  on  a  par  with  Saul 
when  he  went  to  the  Witch  of  Endor  to  get  speech  with  Samuel. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  289 

Dr.  Langtry's  idiotic  utterances  are  contradicted 
THE  "  WANING  by  so  many  of  his  fellow-preachers,  that  it  seems 

MIRACLE   AND  almost  absurd  to  speak  of  scientists  and  philo- 

THE  CRUMBLING  sophers  in  any  sort  of  relation  to  them.  Just 
CREED."  now,  the  case  of  an  Episcopal  clergyman.  Dr.  A. 

S.  Crapsey,  of  Rochester,  said  to  be  **  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  and  scholarly  ministers  of  the  Episcopal  Church,"  is 
under  investigation  by  a  commission  appointed  by  his  bishop,  he  having 
been  charged  with  heresy  in  taking  a  rational  view  of  the  Bible.  It  is 
not  likely  that  the  case  will  come  to  trial,  for  the  feeling  of  Dr.  Crapsey's 
congregation  is  very  strongly  in  his  favor,  however  heretical  his  sermons 
may  be.     Some  of  his  heretical  utterances  are  as  follows  : 

''Belief  in  the  inerrancy  of  the  Bible  is  no  longer  possible  to  an  edu- 
cated man,  or  to  any  one,  in  fact,  who  reads  his  Bible  with  reasonable 
intelligence  and  attention. 

"  Science  has  mide  the  primitive  miracle  incredible,  because  the  an- 
cient miracle  and  the  modern  conception  of  natural  law  cannot  co-exist 
in  the  same  mind. 

"  Under  the  pressure  of  the  scientific  concepfcion  of  uniformity  and 
continuity,  the  miracle  has  been  driven  from  one  stronghold  to  another, 
until  novv  it  isnaikia^  a  li^t  d3  5p3rit3  stini  in  one  region  of  the  world 
and  in  one  period  of  time. 

**  Industrial  commercialism  is  not  afraid  of  the  truth.  It  rewards 
discovery  with  its  greatest  prizes,  while  in  the  churches,  even  to  this 
']  ly,  discovery  is  a  crime  and  invention  is  of  the  devil. 

"As  long' as  we,  the  ministers,  are  desperately  holding  on  to  the 
waning  miracle  and  the  crumbling  denominational  differences,  we  are  in 
no  condition  to  fight  for  eternal  truth  and  justice. 

**  The  churches  and  denominations  which  now  claim  to  represent  the 
religious  interests  of  mankind  are  the  rearguard  of  the  powers  that 
make  for  religious  progress :  the}^  are  the  product  of  spent  forces. 

*'  In  the  light  of  scientific  research,  the  Founder  of  Christianity,  Jesus 
the  son  of  Joseph,  no  longer  stands  apart  from  the  common  destiny  of 
man  in  life  and  death,  but  he  is  in  all  things  like  as  we  are  ;  born  as  we 
are  born,  dying  as  we  die." 

It  is  understood  that  Dr.  Crapsey  refuses  to  recant  or  to  modify  his 
opinions,  and  those  who  know  him  best  believe  that  he  will  not  do  so, 
and  that  he  will  not  attempt  in  any  way  to  evade  full  responsibility  for 
the  opinions  he  has  expressed.  Other  preachers  oppose  anything  like  a 
-heresy  trial,  especially  as  in  the  discussion  of  a  proposal  to  divide  the 
diocese  of  Western  New  York,  making  Rochester  a  new  cathedral  city, 
^^"  ^'rapsey  has  been  the  only  one  mentioned  as  fit  for  its  bishop. 


290  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

The  brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew  held  a  series  of 
IS  CANON  CODY  meetings  during  the  last  week  in  May,  and,  if 

BETTER  THAN  A  the  proceedings  were  of  a  commonplace  character 
**  BEAST  OF  THE  and  need  no  notice,  some  words  of  Canon  Cody 
FIELD?"  demand  comment.     He  said   he  **  regretted  the 

materialistic  and  commercial  views  taken  ^by 
many  men,  which  had  lowered  the  standard  of  life  and  made  them  little 
better  than  the  beasts  of  the  field." 

This  is  one  of  those  remarks  that  need  explanation  and  illustration  to 
raise  them  above  the  level  of  ordinary  preachers'  drivel.  Who  are  the 
men  who  are, not  "a  little  lower  than  the  angels,"  but  only  a  little  above 
the  beasts,  on  account  of  their  philoso[)hical  or  commercial  views  ? 

Coming  down  to  actualities.  Canon  Cody  might  tell  us  by  what  tests 
we  shall  differentiate  the  clerical  from  the  legal,  medical  and  commercial 
professions  so  as  to  save  it  from  the  application  of  his  own  criticism.  In 
all  that  characterizes  the  strenuous  seeker  after  shekels  and  soft  snaps, 
the  clerical  profession  is  not  a  whit  behind  any  other.  There  is,  indeed, 
no  profession  which  is  so  strongly  marked  by  materialistic  ideas  and 
commercialism  as  that  of  a  preacher.  We  do  not  believe  that  any  of 
the  others  are  so  marked  as  it  is  by  selfish  greed  and  shabby  meanness 
in  dealing  with  dependents.  It  alone  stands  out  conspicuous  in  its  de- 
mand for  discounts  on  purchases,  half-rates  for  transportation,  and 
exemption  from  taxation. 

But  a  few  days  ago,  in  conversation  with  a  pious  churchman  who  had 
been  a  lay  delegate  to  a  Synod  meeting,  he  told  us  that  he  had  been 
horrified  to  find  that  almost  the  only  question  of  interest  discussed  by 
the  ministers  was  that  of  money — how  to  increase  salaries  and  how  best 
to  squeeze  more  money  out  of  the  laity.  It  is  said  that,  here  in  Toronto, 
only  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  young  "  lady"  asked  for  a  discount  on  some  pur- 
chases because,  as  she  whispered  to  the  salesman,  she  was  just  about  to 
be  married  to  a  minister. 

There  are  no  doubt  some  bright  exceptions,  as  there  are  among  artists, 
politicians,  doctors,  and  other  professions  ;  but  we  venture  to  say  that 
there  is  no  business  that  so  tends  to  encourage  a  low,  materialistic,  and 
merely  commercial  view  of  life  as  that  of  the  preaching  fraternity. 

"  Men  require  a  more  strenuous  morality  !  "  said  Canon  Cody.  We 
agree  with  him.  Only,  we  would  remark,  for  his  benefit,  that  morality, 
like  charity,  should  begin  at  home.  The  preachers  would  do  well  to 
begin  practising  a  little  more  strenuously  that  morality  and  that  unsel- 


J 


^m  SECULAR  THOUGHT.  291 

^■fishness  which  they  are  so  ready  to  impress  upon  other  people.     At  the 
^^^resent  time,  preachers  and  deacons,  Sunday  school  superintendents  and 
teachers,  and  other  prominent  Christian  professors,  enjoy  an  unenviable 
notoriety  that  by  no   means   justifies    their   assumption  of  the  role  of    \ 
moral  exemplars  for  the  rest  of  mankind. 

Prof.  George  Bryce,  LL.D.,  of  Winnipeg,  was  in 
A  COLLEGE  PRO-  Ottawa  recently,  attending  a  meeting  of  the 
FESSOR  ON  THE  Royal  Society,  and  being  a  prominent  Canadian 
SCHOOL  CLAUSES,    educationist,  was  interviewed  by  a  Toronto  Globe 

representative.  Prof.  Bryce  denounces  the  op- 
ponents of  the  school  clauses  as  "  a  narrow-minded  handful  in  Toronto," 
though  we  had  understood  that  Premier  Haultain,  of  the  Territories  to 
be  dealt  with,  was  an  equally  strong  opponent.  This  somewhat  lowers 
our  estimate  of  the  value  of  Prof.  Bryce's  opinions,  and  some  things  he 
admits  still  further  discounts  them. 

One  of  his  chief  arguments  is  that  **  the  people  are  satisfied."  Even 
if  this  is  the  case — and  it  is  certainly  only  partially  true — it  does  not  at 
all  follow  that  the  rest  of  the  Dominion  should  pass  legislation  which  in 
the  future  may  become  a  source  of  dangerous  dispute,  in  the  inevitable 
changes  of  public  opinion.  But  his  admissions  in  regard  to  the  outcome 
of  school  legislation  in  Manitoba  prove  how  dangerous  it  will  be  to  place 
authority  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  party  in  the  new  Provinces,  if 
backed  by  Dominion  legislation. 

Prof.  Bryce  admitted  that  he  had  been  a  strong  advocate  of  purely 
secular  schools  in  the  time  of  the  trouble  over  the  Manitoba  schools,  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  discussion,  opposing  Archbishop  Tache  in  a 
newspaper  controversy  as  "  Veritas."  **  Why,  then,"  he  was  asked,  '*  are 
5'ou  not  opposed  to  the  educational  clauses  now  proposed?  " 

"  Well,  I  find  the  people  of  the  Territories  satisfied  with  the  present 
system  of  education.  They  have  as  near  to  a  pure  public  school  system 
as  is  workable  in  Canada.  In  Winnipeg  city  to-day,  fifteen  years  after 
the  passing  of  our  Act,  we  have  the  Roman  Catholics  still  dissatisfied. 
They  are  paying  taxes  towards  the  support  of  the  Public  schools,  and 
are  maintaining  parochial  schools  of  their  own.  This  is  undesirable. 
Then  sixty  or  seventij  of  their  seJtools  in  country  })laces,  nominally  Public 
HchooU.are,  it  is  declared,  beinc/  conducted  as  Separate  schocds.  This,  again, 
is  undesirable.     Thus  the  Territories  have  practically  a  better  working 


292  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


system  of  Public  schools,  in  so  far  as  religious  parties  are  concerned, 
than  we  have  under  our  Manitoba  Public  school  system." 

"  But  is  not  this  a  surrender  of  principle  on  yonr  part?  "  was  asked. 

*'  Not  at  all.  A  Public  school  system,  pure  and  simple,  is  imp)ossihle  in 
Canada.  Most  of  us  believe  in  the  principle  of  tlie  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  but  this,  if  logically  followed  out,  would  make  the  Public  school 
a  secular  school.  But  logic  is  not  everything.  We  as  Presbyterians  are 
not  prepared  for  secular  schools.  In  our  deliverances  we  insist  on  liberty 
to  have  the  Bible  in  the  schools.  Manitoba  in  1890  had  to  yield  this. 
In  this  *  John  Knox'  year  we  are  stronger  than  ever  on  that  point.  Both 
in  Manitoba  and  the  Territories  we  have  insisted  on  the  liberty  of  having 
religious  instruction  in  the  so-called  Public  schools  from  3.30  to  4  o'clock 
in  the  school  day — of  course,  with  a  conscience  clause.  This  has  been 
allowed." 

**  But  what  about  the  charge  of  *  coercion  '  ?  " 

*'  To  me,  that  is  absurd.  To  my  mind,  the  only  coercion  in  sight  is 
that  of  a  narrow-minded  handful  in  Toronto  who  wish  to  coerce  our 
Western  people  into  an  agitation  that  is  distasteful  to  them." 

**But  isn't  the  Dominion  fixing  the  terms  for  the  new  Provinces?  " 

**  No  more  than,  in  my  judgment,  it  has  the  right  to  do.  For  more 
than  thirty  years  in  Manitoba  I  have  advocated  a  United  Canada  and  a 
strong  Central  Authority.  I  want  no  Manitoba  First,  Ontario  First,  or 
anything  of  the  kind." 

Professor  Bryce,  it  will  be  seen,  is  a  Presbyterian 
PROF.  BRYCE 'S  who  believes  in  a  strong  central  executive  to  deal 

BAD  LOGIC  AND  with  matters  of  opinion,  which  we  conceive  to  be 
DANGEROUS  not  only  logically  unsound,  as  he  admits,  and 

POLICY.  extremely  dangerous,  but  the  very  antithesis  of 

a  rational  idea  of  government  in  a  democratic 
country.  **  You  cannot  have  a  strong  country  if  you  allow  every  Pro- 
vince to  have  its  own  '^sweet  will,'  or  to  pass  laws  which  are  inimical  or 
threatening  to  the  people  of  the  whole,"  was  his  crude  and  schoolboyish 
way  of  putting  the  matter  ;  as  if  the  passing  of  an  Education  Act  satis- 
factory to  its  people  by  the  Manitoba  Legislature  might  endanger  the 
ability  of  the  Dominion  to  pay  its  debts  or  to  build  a  transcontinental 
railway.  How  any  question  as  to  Manitoba  First  can  be  involved  in  the 
passage  of  an  Education  Act,  specially  reserved  to  its  Legislature  ty  the 
British  North  America  Act,  is  a  mystery  ;  but  Prof.  Bryce  admits  that 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  293 

in  this  question  the  Presbyterians  have  thrown  logic  to  the  winds  ;  and 
he  also  shows  us  how  religious  and  political  prejudice  and  partyism  may 
destroy  the  consistency  of  a  man  of  great  ability.  Asked  "  Why  not  let 
the  people  decide  the  matter  in  their  new  Provinces  ?  "  he  replied  : 

"  Well,  because  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Dominion  to  decide  it.  The  Do- 
minion, for  prudential  reasons  easy  to  name,  should  not  give  up  one  iota 
of  its  responsibility  in  these  new  Provinces.  We  want  all  Canada  to 
pronounce  upon  this  important  question.*' 

But  Canada  has  already  pronounced  upon  the  question.  The  British 
North  America  Act  is  the  pronouncement  of  both  Canada  and  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  and  the  education  clauses  of  the  Autonomy  Bills  are 
an  attempt  to  procure  in  an  illicit  manner  an  amendment  of  that  Act. 

"  And  besides,  to  refer  the  school  question  to  the  Provinces  them- 
selves would  be  to  throw  a  bone  of  contention  into  each  new  Province. 
Leave  the  matter  open,  and  what  would  happen  ?  The  Roman  Catholics 
would  endeavor  by  legal  process  to  obtain  what  they  claimed  to  have 
under  the  Act  of  1875,  namely,  church-controlled  schools." 

Logic  is  evidently  not  a  strong  point  with  Prof.  Bryce.  The  Terri- 
tories having  already  made  an  amicable  settlement  of  this  matter,  to 
allow  this  satisfactory  settlement  to  continue  would  be  to  "  throw  a  bone 
of  contention  into  each  new  Province !  "  A  better  explanation  of  the 
present  attempt  is,  that  the  Catholics  having  failed  to  secure  anything 
more  than  what  they  are  compelled  to  admit  is  a  fair  arrangement,  the 
education  clauses  have  been  so  framed  as,  under  pretence  of  continuing 
the  present  system,  to  give  them  all  the  advantages  they  seek,  and  this 
by  an  unconstitutional  exercise  of  the  power  of  the  Dominion  Parlia- 
ment !  Surely  this  is  encouraging,  especially  from  '*  a  prominent  edu- 
cationist" who  was  once  an  advocate  of  purely  national  secular  schools. 
Such  is  the  effect  of  partyism. 

King  Edward,  it  is  said,  has  aroused  the  fanati- 
KING  EDWARD  cism  of  the  British  Sabbatarians  by  watching 

ASSISTING  AT  Premier  Balfour  playing  a  game  of  golf  on  a 

SUNDAY  GOLF.  recent  Sunday  afternoon.     One  writer  in  a  daily 

paper  asks  :  "  Is  it  not  time  that  both  I  the  King 
and  the  Premier]  were  made  to  realize  that  there  is  in  this  country  a 
religious  sentiment  which  will  not  permit  itself  to  be  left  out  of  account?" 
This  is  not  the  first  time  that  Royalty  in  Britain  has  run  foul  of  Sabba- 


294  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


tarianism  ;  for,  if  our  memory  does  not  deceive  us,  the  late  Queen  was 
on  one  occasion  ''  called  down  "  by  the  same  crowd  for  attending  an 
aristocratic  amateur  theatrical  rehearsal  on  a  Sund:iy  afternoon. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  there  is  in  Britain,  as  there  is  in  Canada,  a 
"  religious  sentiment  which  will  not  permit  itself  to  be  left  out  of  ac- 
count." It  is  noisy,  self-assertive,  overbearing,  and  hypocritical ;  but 
the  palpable  fact  is  that  it  is  not  really  the  sentiment  of  the  mass  of  the 
people.  It  is  the  object  of  the  Sabbatarians  to  create  such  a  sentiment 
among  the  masses,  and  we  believe  they  will  succeed  unless  prominent 
and  influential  men  of  liberal  views  openly  announce  their  sentiments. 

No  fact  is  more  patent  than  that,  whenever  a  relaxation  is  permitted 
of  the  Puritanical  Sunday  laws,  a  vast  number  of  overworked  mechanics 
and  their  families  are  ever  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
given  for  much-needed  relaxation  and  enjoyment.  The  Sabbatarians 
know  as  well  as  we  do  that,  if  Sunday  excursions  by  boat  and  rail  were 
permitted  by  our  rulers,  they  would  be  most  extensively  patronized. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that,  without  the  tyranny  at  present  exercised  by  those 
who  talk  so  much  about  "  the  religious  sentiment,"  but  who  are  simply 
working  in  the  interests  of  a  strict  clerical  trade-union,  the  Sunday  laws 
would  disappear  within  a  few  weeks. 

The  one  great  argument  used  to-day  by  the  preachers,  who  have  been 
forced  to  admit  that  there  is  no  authority  whatever,  Biblical  or  ecclesi- 
astical, for  observing  Sunday  as  a  sacred  or  holy  day,  is  one  which  is 
intended  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  workmen,  who  are  told  that,  if 
Sunday  is  allow^ed  to  be  "  desecrated,"  it  will  soon  be  converted  into  an 
ordinary  working  day,  and  the  laborer  will  then  be  compelled  to  slave 
seven  days  for  six  days'  pay. 

Large  numbers  of  workmen  are  misled  by  this  foolish  cry.  We  call 
it  foolish,  for  if  the  employers  could  compel  men  to  work  seven  days  a 
week,  either  for  six  days'  pay  or  for  seven  days'  pay,  they  could  compel 
them  equally  as  easily  to  work  longer  hours  per  day  or  to  accept  other 
disagreeable  terms.  If  the  workmen  can  protect  themselves  from  op- 
pression on  week-days,  they  can  also  do  so  on  Sundays. 

Britain's  experience  of  Sunday  freedom  shows  that  there  is  not  the 
slightest  tendency  to  convert  it  into  an  ordinary  working  day ;  and  the 
tendency  in  Europe  generally  seems  to  be  rather  in  the  direction  of 
converting  Sunday  into  a  day  of  rest  and  recreation. 

It  is  astonishing  that  the  laborers  cannot  see  that  the  Sabbatarians 
are  simply  working  in  the  interests  of  a  clerical  trade-union. 


SECULAK    THOUGHT.  295 


fIDoralltij  "Mitbout  1RcUQion< 

BY    W.   MANN. 

:o: 


"  One  beautiful  starlight  night  Hegel  stood  with  me  at  an  open  window.  I, 
being  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  and  having  just  eaten  well  and  drank  coffee, 
naturally  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  the  stars,  and  called  them  abodes  of  the 
blest.  But  the  master  muttered  to  himself  :  '  The  stars  !  H'm,  h'm  !  The 
stars  are  only  a  brilliant  eruption  on  the  firmament.'  '  What  ?'  cried  I  ;  '  then 
there  is  no  blissful  spot  above  where  virtue  is  rewarded  after  death  ?'  But  he, 
glaring  at  me  with  his  dim  eyes  remarked,  sneering  :  '  So  you  want  a  pourboire* 
because  you  have  supported  your  sick  mother  and  not  poisoned  your  brother  :'  '■ 
Heinrich  Heine,  Confessions.. 

"  He,  likewise,  who  still  needs  the  expectation  of  a  future  recompense  as  a 
spring  of  action  stands  in  the  outer  court  of  morality,  and  let  him  tike  heed 
lest  he  fall.  For  supposing  that  in  the  course  of  his  life  this  belief  is  overthrown 
by  doubt,  what  then  becomes  of  his  morality  ?  Nay,  how  will  it  fare  with  the 
latter,  even  in  the  case  of  the  former  remaining  unshaken  ?  He  who  does  good 
in  view  of  future  beatitude  acts,  after  all,  only  from  selfish  motives." — STRAUSS, 
The  Old  Faith  and  the  New  (p.  145). 


It    is   a   common  argument  with  Christians  that  if  people  lose  their  faith  in  a 

future  life,  in   which   they  are  to   be  rewarded  or  punished   according   to   their 

actions  in   this  life,  they  will  rush  to  crime  and    immorality  as    swiftly  as  the 

be  devilled  swine  rushed  to  the  sea.     The  Christian  poet,  Young,  declared  : 

"  Virtue  with  Immortality  expires. 
Who  tells  me  he  denies  his  soul  immortal, 
Whate'er  his  boast,  has  told  me  he's  a  knave." 

To  which  piece  of  ignorant  fanaticism  George  Eliot  made  the  crushing  rttort  : 

'*  We  can  imagine  the  man  who  '  denies  his  soul  immortal'  replying:  '  It  is 
possible  that  you  would  be  a  knave,  and  Icve  yourself  alone,  if  it  were  not  for 
your  belief  in  immortality  ;  but  you  are  not  to  force  upon  me  what  would  result 
from  your  own  utter  want  of  moral  emotion.  I  am  just  a<<  honest,  not  because  I 
expect  to  live  in  another  world,  but  because,  having  tcit  the  pain  of  injustice  and 
dishonesty  towards  myself,  I  have  a  fellow-feeling  with  other  men,  who  would 
suffer  the  same  pain  if  I  were  dishonest  or  unjust  towards  thc-m.  Why  should  I 
give  my  neighbor  short  weight  in  this  world  because  there  is  not  another  world  in 
which  I  should  have  nothing  to  weigh  out  to  him  ?  I  am  ho  lest  because  I  don't 
like  to  inflict  evil  on  others  in  this  life,  not  becanse  I'm  afraid  of  evil  to  myself  in 
another.  The  fact  is,  I  do  not  love  myself  alone,  whatev.  r  logical  necessity 
there  may  be  for  that  conclusion  in  your  mind.  .  .  It  is  possible  that  you  might 
prefer  to  "  live  the  brute,"  to  sell  your  country,  or  to  slay  your  father,  if  you  were 
not  afraid  of  some  disagreeable  consequences  from  the  criminal  laws  of  another 
world  ;  but  even  if  I  could  conceive  no  motive  but  my  own  worldly  interest  or 
the  gritification  of  my  animal  desires,  I  have  not  found  that  beastliness, 
treachery,  and  parric  de  are  the  direct  way  to  happiness  and  comfort  on  earth.' " 
('*  Worldliness  and  Oiher-Worldliness,"  Westminster  Review,  1857.  Reprinted 
with  "  Theophrastus,  and  Essays,"  vol.  xii ,  George  Eliot's  Works,  pp.  350-351. 
Warwick  edition  ;  Blackwood.) 

♦  Pourboirey  a  "  tip  "  or  drink-money  given  for  services  rendered. 


296  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

George  Eliot  said  that  Young  appeared  to  think  that  the  better  part  of  virtue 
consists  "in  contempt  for  mortal  joys,  in  'meditation  of  our  own  decease,'  and 
in  *  applause  '  of  God  in  the  style  of  a  congratulatory  address  to  her  Majesty — 
all  which  has  small  relation  to  the  well-being  of  mankind  on  this  earth."  And 
-she  declares  that  morality  no  more  depends  "on  the  belief  in  a  future  state  than 
•^the  interchange  of  gases  in  the  lungs  on  the  plurality  of  worlds."  Continumg, 
in  beautiful  prose  poetry,  she  says  : 

"  Nay,  it  is  conceivable  that  in  some  minds  the  deep  pathos  lying  in  the 
thought  of  human  morality — that  we  are  here  for  a  little  while  and  then  vanish 
away,  that  this  earthly  life  is  all  that  is  given  to  our  loved  ones  and  to  our  many 
suffering  fellow-men — lies  nearer  the  fountains  of  moral  emotion  than  the  concep- 
tion of  extended  existence.  And  surely  it  ought  to  be  a  welcome  fact,  if  the 
thought  of  mortality  as  well  as  of  immortality  be  favorable  to  virtue.  We  can 
imagine  that  the  proprietors  of  a  patent  water  supply  may  have  a  dread  of  common 
springs ;  but  for  those  who  only  share  the  general  need  there  cannot  be  too  great 
a  security  against  a  lack  of  fresh  water — or  of  pure  morality.  It  should  be 
matter  of  unmixed  rejoicing  if  this  latter  necessary  of  healthful  life  has  its 
evolution  ensured  in  the  interaction  of  human  souls  as  certainly  as  the  evolution 
of  science  or  of  art,  with  which,  indeed,  it  is  but  a  twin  ray,  melting  into  them, 
with  indefinable  limits." 

These  words,  ringing  with  the  most  piercing  truth  and  sincerity,  are  among  the 
noblest  ever  penned  upon  the  subject.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  women 
deal  with  this  subject  so  much  better  than  men,  as  indeed  is  but  natural,  seeing 
that  men  learn  the  alphabet  of  morality  at  their  mother's  knee.  When  men  begin 
preaching  morality  they  generally  leave  the  impression  that  the  practice  of 
morality  is  something  very  distressing  and  painful,  but  that  it  pays  a  good 
dividend  in  the  end.  On  the  other  hand,  vice  is  depicted  as  very  seductive  and 
alluring,  but  a  bad  speculation  in  the  long  run.  That  is  not  the  way  a  free-minded 
woman  teaches  her  child. 

Here  is  another  extract  from  a  woman  writer — Miss  Edith  Simcox  She  is 
answering  the  Christian  taunt  that  people  only  want  to  get  rid  of  their  religion  so 
that  they  may  live  in  wickedness  : 

"  But  men  who  wish  to  disbelieve  in  the  existence  of  a  personal,  more  or  less 
righteous,  Deity,  because  they  imagine  that  such  an  existence  is  the  only  obstacle 
to  their  finding  happiness  in  an  unprincipled  self-indulgence,  have  not  even 
taken  the  first  steps  towards  embracing  the  doctrines  of  scientific  Atheism  ;  .  .  . 
and  if  they  were  to  develope  their  conceptions,  would  be  more  likely  to  arrive  at 
some  form  or  other  of  Theistic  superstition  than  at  the  recognition  of  the 
universe  as  a  system  of  phenomena  bound  together  by  laws,  or  existing  in 
constant  intersecting  relations."  "  Though  we  say  that  the  God  in  whose  name 
men  have  clung  to  an  ideal  of  perfection  is  but  a  dream  of  the  mind,  a  shadow 
of  the  will,  giving  them  no  real  help  in  their  endeavor,  the  fact  remains  that  men 
have  owned  the  infinity  of  duty,  not  as  a  dream  or  shadow,  but  in  living  truth, 
and  if  men  have  sought  perfection  before  now  without  receiving  superhuman 
help  in  their  search,  shall  they  in  these  latter  days  turn  with  open  eyes  to  a  less 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  297 

worthy  goal  ?     To  say  they  must  is,  indeed,  a  godless— say,  rather,  a  soulless — 
creed  ;  to  say  they  will  is  false  and  faithless."     ("Natural  Law,"  pp.  270-357.) 

Moreover,  the  )Oung  men  or  women  who  have  sense  enough  to  emancipate 
themselves  from  the  toils  of  superstition  will  have  sense  enough  to  know  that  the 
practice  of  vice  does  not  lead  to  happiness. 

However,  there  is  no  necessity  to  discard  religion  in  order  to  lead  an  immoral 
life.  The  first  thing  Mr.  Jabez  Balfour  asked  for  when  he  was  arrested  was  his 
Bible.  Mr.  De  Cobain,  who  debauched  his  Sunday-school  scholars,  is  another 
example.  Mr.  Suthers  has  been  giving  his  experiences  of  Russia  in  the  pages  of 
the  Clarion.     He  says  : 

*'  There  are  two  hundred  churches  in  Petersburg,  supplemented  by  shrines  and 
open  chapels  at  nearly  every  street  corner,  and  holy  pictures  lighted  with  lamps 
in  every  restaurant,  railway  refreshment  room,  and  drinking  shop  ;  and,  I  am 
assured,  even  in  places  too  infamous  to  be  named.  In  the  streets,  before  each 
church  and  holy  picture,  the  passers-by  make  more  or  less  devout  obeisance,  and 
the  sign  of  the  cross  three  times  repeated."     (Clarion,  September  16.) 

The  Russians  saw  no  incongruity  in  placing  holy  pictures  "  in  places  too 
infamous  to  be  named."  Piety  and  vice  flourished  arm-in-arm  in  these  places> 
naked  and  unashamed. 

To  take  another  instance,  of  which  history  gives  many  examples,  see  the 
recently-published  Life  of  the  debauched  and  profligate  George  Villiers,  second 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  written  by  Lady  Burghclere,  who  says  :  *'  Buckingham  has 
undoubtedly  given  serious  off'ence  to  all  decent-minded  people  by  his  loose  talk 
and  ribald  sermons,  and  it  was  the  more  inexcusable  since  he  frequented  meeting- 
houses and  prayed  as  lustily  as  any  Anabaptist  or  Leveller."  This  conduct  was, 
by  his  contemporaries,  ascribed  to  hypocrisy;  but  Lady  Burghclere  suggests  that 
his  conduct  was  "an  unedifying  instance  of  the  unbridled  emotional  tempera- 
ment," and  that  "  a  man  so  cursed  with  a  dual  nature  is  not  always  consciously 
insincere.  Nothing  is  more  communicable  than  religious  fervor.  And  Bucking- 
ham was  the  last  person  to  resist  the  infection  of  such  an  atmosphere."  (Cited  in 
Literary  World,  January  8,  1904.)  Just  so.  As  Lord  Shaftesbury  wisely  re- 
marked :  "  If  we  are  told  a  man  is  religious,  we  still  ask,  What  are  his  morals  ? 
But  if  we  hear  at  first  that  he  has  honest  morals,  and  is  a  man  of  natural  Justice 
and  good  temper,  we  seldom  think  of  the  other  question,  whether  he  be  religious 
or  devout." 

And  why  should  Christians  distress  themselves  so  much  over  the  supposed 
civil  consequences  of  a  rejection  of  Christianity  ?  Have  the  Christian  nations  a 
monopoly  of  morality  ?  How  is  it  that  the  greatest  curse  of  this  country, 
drunkenness,  is  practically  unknown  among  the  Mohammedan  populations  of  the 
East  ?  How  is  it  that  heathen  '*  India  has  not  half  as  many  homicides  annually 
as  England?"  ("Crime  and  Its  Causes,"  by  D.  \V.  Morrison,  p.  51.)  If  Chris- 
tianity is  so  superior  to  all  other  religions,  why  do  heathens  show  a  cleaner  record 


298  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

in  these  matters  than  the  Christian  nations  ?  "I  have  Hved,"  says  Mr.  Russell 
Wallace,  "  with  communities  of  savages  in  South  America  and  in  the  East  who 
hive  no  laws  or  law  courts,  but  the  public  opinion  of  the  village  freely  expressed. 
Each  man  scrupulously  respects  the  rights  of  his  fellows,  and  any  infraction  of 
these  rights  rarely  or  never  takes  place."  (Cited  in  "  Crime  and  Its  Causes,"  p.  36.) 
These  people  had  not,  hke  Mr.  Jabez  Balfour,  the  advantage  of  a  Christian 
education  ;  they  had  no  Bible  to  guide  them  in  the  path  of  virtue.  They  knew 
nothing  of  Noah  and  Lot,  of  David  and  Solomon ;  nothing  of  Christ  and 
heavenly  crowns  for  the  good  and  the  Devil  and  flaming  hell  for  the  bad.  Yet 
what  an  example  they  set  to  the  Christian  nations  ! 

It  costs  about  ten  million  pounds  a  year  in  police,  prisons,  judges,  etc.,  to  make 
the  Christian  "  respect  the  rights  of  his  fellows  "  in  this  country  (England)  alone, 
in  spite  of  which  enormous  sum  there  is  an  annual  crop  of  "  between  500,000 
and  600,000  cases  annually  tried  in  the  criminal  courts  of  England  alone."  (W. 
D.  Morrison,  cited  in  Gore's  "Scientific  Basis  of  Morality,"  p.  512.)  And  yet 
money  is  poured  out  like  water  to  send  missionaries  to  the  heathen,  to  give  them 
tlie  benefits  of  Christianity  !  "  It  is  a  mad  world,  my  masters,"  and  a  sad  one, 
too,  when  we  think  of  the  wasted  energy  and  treasure  which  might  be  put  to  such 
good  purpose  in  our  own  country. 

Before  trumpeting  the  superior  morality  of  their  religion,  let  Christians  consider 
the  sea  of  blood  shed  by  its  professors  when  it  had  the  power.  M.  Paul  Bert,  in 
a  famous  speech,  at  which  Gambetta  took  the  chair,  answering  the  priestly  threat, 
"You  have  sent  me  from  the  school  ]  I  carry  with  me  morality,  its  basis  and 
sanction  ;  I  leave  you  to  the  abyss  and  the  mud  in  which  you  will  roll,"  replied  : 

"  We  answer  him,  with  the  map  of  Europe  and  the  world  before  our  eyes, 
history  in  our  memory,  commencing  with  the  opening  of  that  sombre,  bloody, 
and  fanatical  Middle  Age,  that  modern  societies  march  towards  morality  in  pro- 
poition  as  they  leave  religion  behind."  (Speech  at  the  Cirque  d'Hiver,  August, 
1881.) 

The  Middle  Ages  were  the  Dark  Ages— the  Ages  of  Faith.  This  is  not  an 
Age  of  Faith.  The  clergy  of  all  denominations  deplore  the  advancing  tide  of 
unbelief.  Yet,  as  Professor  Huxley  pointed  out,  the  sense  of  duty  is  more  widely 
spread  now  than  at  any  other  period  of  the  world's  history.  Replying  to  a 
Catholic  apologist,  he  says  : 

"■  Ah  !  but  says  Mr.  Lilly,  these  are  all  products  of  our  Christian  inheritance  ; 
when  Christian  dogmas  vanish,  virtue  will  disappear  too,  and  the  ancestral  ape 
and  tiger  will  have  full  play.  But  there  are  a  good  many  people  who  think  it 
obvious  that  Christianity  also  inherited  a  good  deal  from  Paganism  and  Judaism, 
and  that  if  the  Stoics  and  the  Jews  revoked  their  bequest  the  moral  property  of 
Christianity  would  realize  very  little.  And  if  morality  has  survived  the  stripping 
off  several  sets  of  clothes  which  have  been  found  to  fit  badly,  why  should  it  not 
be  able  to  get  on  very  well  in  the  light  and  handy  garments  which  Science  is 
ready  to  provide?"     ("  Essays  on  Controverted  Questions,"  pp.  234-235.) 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  299 


Morality  existed  before  Christ,  and  will  continue  to  exist  after  he  has  been 
placed  on  the  shelf  along  with  all  the  defunct  gods  of  antiquity.  Let  those 
timid  Christians  who  think  otherwise  hear  the  words  of  the  great  Faraday,  who 
was  himself  a  believer.  He  says  :  "  I  have  no  intention  of  substituting  anything 
for  religion,  but  I  wish  to  take  that  part  of  human  nature  which  is  independent 
of  it.  Morality,  philosophy,  commerce,  the  various  institutions  and  habits  of 
society,  are  independent  of  religion  and  may  exist  either  with  or  without  it.  They 
are  always  the  same,  and  can  dwell  alike  in  the  breasts  of  those  who,  from 
opinion,  are  entirely  opposed  to  the  set  of  principles  they  include  in  the  term 
*  religion,'  or  of  those  who  have  noie." — Freethinker. 


Zhc  3flutterinQ6  of  tbe  Bovecotee* 

:o: 

BY    AN    IDLER. 

:o: 

The  staid,  respectable  church  goer  who  attends  regularly  twice  every  Sunday, 
and  pays  his  pew-rent  and  other  church  dues  as  punctually  as  he  pays  those  of 
the  I.  O.  F.  or  the  A.  O.  U.  VV.,  in  the  "  sure  and  certain  hope  "  of  a  ten  per  cent, 
dividend  in  the  next  world,  with  a  large  bonus  addition  of  eternal  happiness,  if 
he  reads  his  newspaper  must  have  been  shocked  at  the  vagaries  of  some  of  his 
company's  directors  a  few  weeks  ago.  Here  is  a  passage  from  the  Toronto 
Telegram  : 

"  Montreal,  May  9. — His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Montreal  and  Bishop 
Carmichael  have  issued  a  joint  letter  to  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Montreal 
relating  to  the  letter  which  has  been  sent  to  all  the  clergy  in  Canada,  in  the 
interest  of  the  movement  known  as  the  'higher  criticism.*  We,  the  prelates, 
state  that  we  have  read  the  document  with  care  and  consider  it  of  sufficient 
importance  to  counsel  the  clergy  with  reference  to  it.  They  repudiate  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  clergy  should  cease  to  build  the  faiih  of  souls  upon  the  details 
of  New  Ttstament  narrative  until  the  matter  is  ultimately  determined  by  a  court 
of  trained  research.     The  circular  concludes  : 

"  '  The  danger  of  this  suggestion  as  far  as  congregations  are  concerned  is,  to 
our  minds,  saddening  in  the  extreme,  and  only  shows  how  men,  otherwise 
honorable,  can  be  blinded  to  the  demands  of  honor  in  conn  ction  with  matters 
in  which  they  are  deeply  interested.  If  the  gentlemen  who  have  signed  this 
document  cannot  buiTd  up  the  faith  of  their  people  on  the  New  Testament 
narrative,  there  is  a  widely  open  door  through  which  they  can  pass  and  save  their 
honor,  which  they  certainly  cannot  do  in  the  light  of  their  ordination  vows  by 
remaining  in  the  Church  of  England.' " 

The  Archbishop  knows  his  business  ;  and  my  sympathies  are  with  him  and 
the  open  door.  I  do  not  like  those  people  who  so  aptly  illustrate  the  old  nursery 
rhyme —  * 

"  He  is  not  in,  he  is  not  out, 
But  somewhere  or  other  poking  about." 


300  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


The  circular  mentioned  in  the  article  shows  the  spread  of  what  are  called  the 
'Neo-Anglican  views.  The  details  of  Christ's  life,  as  reported  by  the  Evangelists, 
are  thrown  as  a  bone  to  the  Higher  Critics.  Only  the  miracles  of  the  Virgin 
Birth,  the  Resurrection,  the  Ascension,  and  the  Founding  and  Guiding  of  the 
Church  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  necessary  for  Christianity,  and  these 
alone  are  properly  authenticated. 

The  Archbishop  fears  the  effect  of  such  views  on  the  laity,  and  I  agree  with 
him.  If  the  stories  we  learned  at  our  mother's  knee  and  in  Sunday  school  are 
merely  jokes  perpetrated  on  succeeding  generations  by  some  first  or  second  cen- 
tury humorist,  or  if  these,  like  the  tales  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  Little  Jack 
Horner,  and  Buster  Brown,  are  only  valuable  for  their  literary  merit,  there  may 
be  a  wholesale  stampede  of  the  laity  to  Agnosticism  ;  which  I  would  deplore 
•equally  with  the  venerable  prelate,  unless  accompanied  by  a  very  strong  growth 
in  intelligence  and  culture  among  the  converts. 

The  old  theory  that  the  writers  of  the  Bible  were  simply  the  Remingtons,  the 
Underwoods,  the  Smith-Premiers,  and  the  Densmores  by  means  of  which  the 
Almighty  Typist  wrote  the  Revelation,  and  that  its  details  are  as  true  and  exact 
as  the  cinematograph  films  of  the  latest  prize-fight  between  Jimmy  Butt  and 
Jabez  White,  is  the  only  safe  theory.  The  moment  you  remove  a  single  prop 
Humpty  Dumty  is  apt  to  get  his  great  fall. 

But  the  Anglicans  are  not  the  only  ones  affected.  This  is  from  the  Toronto 
Ohbe  : 

"■  New  York,  May  14.  —  Before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  meets  at  Winona  Lake,  Ind.,  is  to  be  discussed  the  overture 
made  by  the  Presbytery  of  Nassau  for  the  dropping  of  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  the  brief  statement  of  the 
Reformed  faith. 

'*  On  September  15  last  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  T.  Carter,  of  New  York  city,  in 
an  open  letter  to  the  Presbytery,  which  attracted  wide  attention,  assailed  certain 
doctrines  '  received '  by  the  Church,  but  not  generally  believed. 

*'  For  the  penning  of  the  letter  it  was  thought  that  Dr.  Carter  might  be  tried 
for  heresy^  but  after  appearing  before  the  Presbytery  of  Nassau  and  making  an 
appeal  for  truth  and  the  dropping  of  all  misstatements,  however  time-honored, 
he  triumphed  in  that,  instead  of  trying  him  for  heresy,  the  Presbytery  voted  to 
overture  the  General  Assembly  to  drop  the  Westminster  Confession  and  substitute 
the  brief  statement  of  the  Reformed  faith. 

"  Dr.  Carter,  whose  defence  of  his  beliefs  led  to  the  overture  of  the  Presbytery, 
has  given  out  a  statement  in  which  he  says  in  part  : 

*' '  The  Westminster  Confession  in  fact  says  that  God  is  a  monster ;  modern 
theology  ^ays  that  he  is  not.  In  this  sentence  lies  the  whole  gist  of  the  conten- 
tion. Tamerlane  built  a  pyramid  of  two  thousand  men  of  the  garrison  of  Herat, 
laid  in  brick  and  mortar,  and  history  calls  him  a  monster  for  doing  it.  Lord 
Jeffreys  presided  over  the  'bloody  circuit'  in  which  he  condemned  700  to 
execution,  and    he  stands  scorned  and  by  himself  on  the  roll  of   England's 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  301 


Chancellors.     But   Tamerlane  and   Jeffreys  were   sweet  souls  compared  with  a 
God  who  could  condemn  a  whole  race  to  endless  torment  for  a  single  sin. 

"'Readers  of  "  Lorna  Doone"  will  remember  how  the  robber  Doones  of 
Bagworthy  looted  a  farmer's  cottage  and  found  a  little  babe  in  its  cradle.  One 
of  ihem  called  to  his  comrade  to  have  a  game  with  him.  He  tossed  the  infant 
to  the  other,  who  caught  it  upon  the  point  of  his  pike.  We  call  these  men  fiends, 
but  they  were  bright  angels  and  seraphs  compared  with  a  ^od  who  could  send 
millions  of  infants  to  eternal  torments.  Every  fibre  of  my  moral  being  rises  up 
against  this  God-dishonoring  theology ;  with  the  utmost  fervor  of  my  soul  I 
reject  this  God  of  the  Confession,  and  as  fully  as  I  reject  this  God  so  gladly  do 
I  receive  the  God  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ — the  Father  in  the  great  parable 
who  runs  forth  to  meet  his  wretched  but  repenting  son,  falls  upon  his  neck  and 
kisses  him. 

" '  The  moral  sense  of  the  people  is  shocked  by  the  shilly-shallying  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  as  to  the  Confession.  The  present  connection  of  tlic  Pres- 
byterian Church  with  the  Confession,  if  it  were  not  so  serious,  would  be  a  farce  ; 
being  so  serious,  it  is  a  crime.  What  must  the  people  think  of  the  ministers 
if  they  accept  this  God  of  the  Confession  ;  what  must  they  think  of  them  if  they 
do  not  accept  him,  but  solemnly  aflfirm  that  they  do  in  the  act  of  ordination  ?  A 
sham  theology  is  sure  to  make  a  sham  religion,  and  a  sham  religion  is  sure  to 
lead  to  the  honors  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  French  Revolution,  the 
eruption  of  the  human  volcano,  most  dreadful  of  all' ' 

Dr.  Carter  does  not  like  the  Confession  of  Faith.  The  Presbytery  of  Nassau 
— very  accommodating  body — sends  an  overture  to  the  General  Assembly  to  fix 
up  a  new  one  to  suit  him.  The  General  Assembly,  1  understand,  have  since 
refused  the  job.  No  doubt  they  were  afraid  that  the  reverend  doctor  might  also 
take  a  dislike  to  the  Bible,  and  that  the  Presbytery  might  ask  them  to  write  a 
new  one  to  please  him.  I  may  say  that  I  prefer  the  god  created  by  the  West- 
minster divines  to  one  of  the  doctor's  make.  The  god  of  the  VVestminster  pattern 
was  not  very  lovable,  but  he  had  a  grim,  austere  respectability  about  him,  while 
the  doctor's  calf-killing,  slobbeiing  affair  is  sillier  than  S  ntimental  Tommy. 

I  am  happy  to  find  myself  in  agreement  with  the  Assembly  and  with  the  Arch- 
bishop in  repudiating  Agnostic  Christians  and  Christian  Agnostics  and  all  their 
woiks. 


The  London  Hospital  issues  a  warning  against  revivals,  saying  that  **emotion 
is  a  force  seeking  outlet  in  action,  capable  of  being  guided  by  those  who  have 
been  trained  to  bring  it  into  subjection,  but  certain,  when  suffered  to  accumulate, 
to  overpower  persons  of  feeble  will  and  compel  them  into  courses  which  sound 
judgment  would  often  be  unable  to  approve."  Abandonment  to  religious 
feeling,  it  says,  is  the  surrender  of  the  will  to  the  emotiops,  and  the  effect  is  to 
give  emotion  the  predominant  place  in  the  organism. — Path  Finder^  Washinii^- 
ton,  D.C,  April  i,  1905. 


302  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

fIDat)  flDurt)ocft'6  animal  Storiee. 

:o: 

THE  HOG. 

That  is  the  modern  name  for  our  family.  It  is  just  with  us  as  with  our  cousins, 
the  Human  Family  :  while  our  name  differs  in  different  parts  of  the  world  we  are 
much  alike  under  the  skin.  We  are  known  as  pigs,  swine,  peccaries,  wild  boar, 
the  office  bore,  the  end-seat  hog,  the  most  highly  civilized  of  the  race  being  the 
bacon  hog.  There  are  the  Berkshire,  Yorkshire  and  grass  hogs,  the  razor-back 
hog,  and — the  one  that  shows  the  result  of  good  feeding  most  quickly  and  is 
considered  by  the  professors  in  our  colleges  to  be  the  most  highly  developed  of 
all  the  races — the  office  hog.  A  common  hog  will  get  bodily  into  the  trough 
and  feed  his  fill,  then  lie  down  and  grunt  his  satisfaction  ;  but  the  office  hog 
would  like  to  stand  in  all  the  troughs  at  once. 

One  of  the  great  and  distinguishing  features  in  the  history  of  the  hog  is  that 
we  were  filled  with  the  Spirit  long  before  humans  got  a  stock  of  it.  It  was  in 
Galilee  and  long  ago  that  a  ghost  entered  into  a  whole  herd  of  our  forefathers, 
and  they  immediately  got  ready  to  enter  on  another  incarnation,  turned  baptist 
all,  and  entered  into  their  rest.  We  can  point  with  pride  to  the  fact  that  we 
furnished  the  first  batch  of  sanctified  suicides  by  drowning. 

In  recent  times  the  hog  has  done  more  for  the  advancement  of  civilization 
than  any  other  of  the  creatures  of  God.  How,  we  may  ask,  could  the  missionary 
be  kept  at  his  task  of  converting  the  heathen,  were  it  not  for  the  great  and 
benevolent  men  who  have  gone  "  long  "  on  short  ribs,  or  who  went  "  short "  on 
lard  just  when  the  market  had  reached  high  water  mark  ?  Or  take  corn,  one  of 
the  grains  that  go  largely  to  make  "genuine  pea-fed  bacon;"  how,  we  ask, 
could  a  man  gather  in  the  blessings  of  godolmity  so  quickly  as  by  cornering  it 
and  so  raising  the  price  of  pork  ?  Millions,  aye,  tens  of  millions  of  dollars  have 
been  "  made "  by  a  deal  in  corn.  Now,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  expect  the 
recipient  of  so  much  grace,  or  grease — the  terms  are  generally  synonymous — to 
give  a  tithe  to  the  work  of  praising  him  who  said, 

"  The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you,  but  me  ye  have  not  always." 

Where,  we  ask,  would  the  great  American  nation  be  to-day  but  for  US  ?  A 
town  in  the  State  of  Ohio  was  once  named,  on  our  account,  Porkopolis,  and 
now,  a  greater  one  in  Illinois  is  as  celebrated  on  our  account  as  another  is 
•because  of  beer.  Speak,  ye  high-stepping  advocates  of  beef,  and  say  how  could 
ye  build  your  railroads  but  for  US  ?  How  mine  your  coal,  or  pump  your  oil, 
but  by  OUR  aid  ?  Beef?  It  won't  do.  Polacks,  Hungarians,  Hibernians, 
Hottentots,  fed  on  beef  at  sixteen  cents  a  pound  ?  Never  !  the  thing  is  monstrous 
and  unspeakable.  Ye  who  have  nothing  to  live  on  but  dividends  mu^t  walk 
warily  or  ye. are  undone.     And  the  farmer  who  must  sell  his  wheat  and  his  beef 


« 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  303 

to  pay  you  the  interest  on  his  mortgage,  how  shall  he  maintain  himself  and  his 
offspring  without  his  "  hawgs,"  scrofula,  and  salt  rheum  ?  But  for  us,  where 
would  be  the  result  of  the  researches  of  the  scientists  ?  No  trichinae  and  no 
triumph  for  them.  We  say  to  you  gentlemen  that  we  scatter  more  blessings 
broadcast  than  any  animal  that  ever  dug  tubers  out  of  God's  footstool. 

The  office  bore  is  an  old  tried  breed  with  points  all  his  own  He  is  found  in 
all  latitudes  and  is  allowed  a  good  deal  more  by  the  long-suffering  editor.  His 
uses  are  many  ;  he  won't  let  your  tobacco  become  stale,  and  will  see  to  it  that 
the  cushion  of  your  revolving  chair  is  kept  warm  should  you  rise  for  the  paper 
cutter.  In  winter  he  is  as  good  as  an  automatic  thermostat  to  regulate  the  heat 
of  the  stove  by  vigorous  and  regular  expectoration.  Be  it  summer-time,  and  you 
have  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  he  will  remind  you  of  your  ill  manners  by  a-king 
you  for  a  piece  of  "  chewing,"  and,  indicating  the  cuspidor  wiih  his  lefi  hind  leg, 
say  : 

"Shove  that  dam  thing  over,  will  you  ?  they  ain't  no  fun  in  spittin'  on  a  cold 
stove  ;  y'  don't  hear  no  sizzle." 

If  the  breeze  comes  in  the  window  you  needn't  be  afraid  of  any  of  the  ex- 
changes or  loose  copy  flopping  off  your  desk,  for  he'll  hold  them  down  with  both 
hind  feet.  If  your  chronic  warfare  with  the  Weekly  Boil  over  the  way  waxes 
tame  and  your  literary  sword  is  dulled  and  hacked,  he  will  put  you  on  your 
mettle  and  show  you  how  to  give  an  upper  cut  thus  : 

"  Oh,  say,  old  man,  you  were  away  off  last  week.  You  didn't  swat  the  rag 
sheet  half  hard.  Oh,  yes,  I  knew  what  you  were  driving  at,  but  it  lacked  ginger. 
If  I'd  known  you  were  overworked  I'd  have  wrote  that  article  myself.  I'd  have 
give  'em  hell." 

Suppose  the  pastor  of  the  Peanutville  Anglican  Church  sends  you  a  four- 
column  article  on  "  Evidences  of  Christianity  Having  Flourished  Among  the 
Aztecs  in  the  Latter  Half  of  the  Second  Century  B.C.,"  and  hints  that  he  will 
consent  to  accept  an  honorarium  if  }0u  publish  his  article  ;  and,  suppose  that 
by  the  same  mail  comes  a  notice  of  a  sight  draft  by  Pulp  and  Clay  for  three 
months'  paper ;  also,  suppose  that  you  dictate  a  note  to  your  typewriter,  telling 
his  reverence  that  you  regret  that  you  do  not  find  his  communication  available 
at  this  time,  without  reference  to  its  literary,  etc.  The  office  bore  is  sure  to  be 
so  engaging  and  altogether  so  gallant  that  the  note  and  enclosure  will  go  to  the 
wrong  party,  and  that  cursed  sight  draft  will  be  stood  off  for  a  week  at  least.  The 
office  bore  is  mangy,  razor-backed,  long  snouted  and  altogether  unlovely,  but  he 
is  a  useful  beast,  as  he  increases  your  need  of  salvation  for  violation  of  section 
three  of  the  decalogue. 

The  literary  bore  is  of  the  same  family  or  sub-family.  He  meets  you  at  the 
post-office  when  you  are  in  a  hurry.  He  has  been  at  the  public  library,  and  is  in 
no  haae.     Do  )0U  know  how  Karl   Marx  proves  there  is  no  capital  except — ? 


304  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


You  don't    know,  of  course.       Have  you   read    Henry  George's  quotation  from 
McCulloch  to  prove — ?     No  ?     He'll  read  you  a  little  ;  it  won't  take  long.    Just 

a  minute.     He  wants  to  show  you  that  you  don't  understand  the 

If  you  have  a  spark  of  manhood  your  gun  should  speak  out  with  no  uncertain 
sound  or  aim.  After  a  few  cases  like  this  you  will  be  able  to  pot  twenty-nine 
clay  pigeons  out  of  a  possible  thirty,  eighty  yards'  rise ;  the  literary  bore  has  his 
uses. 

The  end-seat  hog  is  of  another  sort  and  is  found  of  both  sexes  and  all  sects.  It 
thrives  well  in  either  church  or  theatre,  but  the  finest  specimens  are  always 
found  in  the  street  cars  from  June  to  November.  It  is  generally  twins  and  sits 
facing  itself  on  both  seats,  and  you  have  to  drag  yourself  through  the  barrier  of 
knees  as  best  you  may,  unless  you  happen  to  be  very  large,  active  and  fierce,  or 
very  young,  well-dressed  and  pretty.  Let  us,  dear  brethren,  close  with  the 
doxology  : 

Praise  God  from  whom  all  bacon  flows, 

Praise  heavy  jowl  ana  pudgy  nose. 

Praise  him  who  makes  the  sausage  meat. 

Praise  spare  ribs,  ham  and  pickled  feet. 


IRocftcfeller  Iplan  for  innitiriQ  tbe  Cburcbee* 

:o: 

BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

Last  Sunday  John  D.  Rockefeller  listened  to  a  sermon  at  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Baptist  Church,  New  York,  by  the  pastor  in  favor  of  organizing  a  great  universal 
church,  doing  away  with  creeds  and  dogmas.  At  the  close  of  the  discourse,  Mr. 
Rockefeller  congratulated  the  minister  on  the  sermon,  and  added  : 

"  Excuse  me  for  speaking  sharply,  but  when  we  first  began  work  in  consoli- 
dating the  competitive  system,  A  said  :  '  You  cannot  do  it ;  it  can't  be  done.' 
VV^e  said  :  '  It  can  be  done.     It  must  be  done.     It  has  got  to  come.' 

"  And  to-day  we  are  vindicated  in  our  judgment,  for  we  can  show  the  world 
the  progress  achieved  by  consolidation  and  its  benefits  to  civilization. 

"  As  we  become  more  and  more  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ, 
individually,  I  mean,  the  church  will  naturally  follow  in  the  same  channels  and 
tend  toward  one  great  end." 

Mr.  Rockefeller  consolidated  the  oil  industry  by  purchasing  or  wrecking  and 
crushing  out  all  concerns  that  were  competing  with  him,  until  he  had  practically 
secured  a  monopoly  of  the  business  and  was  able  to  control  production  and 
prices  to  suit  himself. 

This  was  done  by  injuring  and  ruining  thousands  ;  and  even  hundreds  of 
tnousands  were  involved  in  the  effects  of  his  predatory  methods.  The  result  to 
him  is   a   fortune  now  estimated  at  $500,000,000.     How  the  public  has  been 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  305 

benefited  is  not  apparent.  With  competition,  prices  would  be  lower  than  they 
now  are. 

Now  Mr.  Rockefeller  says  that  "  the  church  will  follow  in  the  same  channels 
and  tend  toward  one  great  end." 

How  are  the  churches  to  be  consolidated  ?  They  are  distinct  organizations, 
representing  diversity  of  religious  belief  and  different  methods  of  church 
government. 

The  churches  are  not  engaged  in  making  money.  If  they  were,  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller's methods  might  succeed  in  wrecking  and  destroying  the  weaker  ones  and' 
unifying  the  strongest  ones,  numerically,  and  obtaining  for  them  a  monopoly  of 
the  business.  He  might  thereby  close  most  of  the  churches,  reduce  the  number 
of  ministers  and  confine  the  work  to  the  "  hustlers  "  among  them.  But  since 
money-making  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  churches,  Mr.  Rockefeller'.^  mcihods 
would  be  unavailable,  and  the  only  way  to  bring  about  a  consolidation  of  the 
churches  is  to  bring  about  unity  of  belief  and  feeling.  Since  the  different  deno- 
minations are  not  immediate  constructions,  but  outgrowths  from  pre-existent 
religious  forms  and  beliefs,  and  have  historic  associations  with  different  beliefs 
and  methods,  their  unification,  if  it  is  ever  effected,  must  be  the  result  of  pro- 
cesses of  growth  and  gradual  assimilation.  That  cannot  be  brought  about  by 
manipulation.  It  involves  a  change  impossible  except  one  extending  through 
centuries.  But  since  the  church  organization  becomes  more  specialized  every 
year,  consolidation  becomes  more  difficult,  and  the  extinction  of  the  weaker 
religious  organizations  .widely  different,  is  more  likely  than  their  unification. 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  attempt  to  justify  his  methods,  by  pointing  to  them  as  those 
by  which  religious  unity  is  to  be  secured,  is  transparently  absurd. 

A  union  might  be  effected  between  the  less  conservative  elements  of  some  of 
the  most  recently  formed  organizations  with  the  parent  bodies,  but  the  union  of 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  or  of  Protestant  sects,  like  the  Presbyterians  and 
Baptists,  the  Methodists  and  Unitarians,  for  instance,  is  not  even  within  the 
range  of  possibility. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 


"THE  ALrOGETHP:R."— Helen  Sharman  Griffith  tells  this  "true  story"  in 
LippincoiVs  :  A  little  girl  of  eight  with  her  mother  was  visiting  at  the  house  of 
her  aunt,  whose  son  was  about  the  same  age.  "  .Vly  dear,"  said  the  little  girl's 
mother,  "  I  want  you  to  be  careful,  when  i)laying  with  your  cousin,  never  lo  let 
him  see  you  in  your  chemise."  A  few  days  after  this  the  little  boy  knocked  at 
his  cousin's  door  and  was  refused  admittance.  Presently,  however,  she  opened 
the  door  and  bade  him  enter.  *'  Why  wouldn't  you  let  me  come  in  before  ?"  he 
asked.  "  Because,"  she  replied  frankly,  '*  mamma  said  I  must  never  let  you  see 
me  in  my  chemise.     But  now  that  I  have  taken  it  off,  you  can  come  in." 


-306  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 


AN  EPISCOPAL  LION-KING— It  was  an  MP.,  if  we  remember  rightly, 
^'ho  came  across  a  lion  as  he  was  cycling  in  Somaliland  and  frightened  the  beast 
away  by  ringing  his  bell.  He  has  been  outdone  now,  however,  as  we  learn  from 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  missionary  address  at  the  Church  House.  The  Bishop  of 
Mashonaland  came  across  three  lions  together,  and  resorted  to  reading  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  aloud  to  them.  When  he  reached  the  Article  touching  Jus- 
tification by  Faith,  they  turned  tail  and  fled.  The  policy  of  a  cassowary,  on  the 
plains  of  Timbuctoo,  as  we  know,  should  be  to  eat  up  a  missionary,  hymn-book 
and  all  — if  only  because  "hymn-book  too  "  rhymes  with  Timbuctoo,  and  nothing 
else  does.  The  king  of  beasts,  however,  evidently  has  less  spirit.  These  three 
lions  seem  to  have  waited  meekly  to  the  Eleventh  Article,  patiently  enduring  the 
enumeration  of  the  Canonical  Books  of  Scripture  and  the  edifying  Apocryphal 
Books,  and  even  the  denunciation  of  the  Pelagians.  But  their  courage  was 
gradually  oozing  out  at  their  paws,  and  at  Article  XI.  all  was  over.  The  lion  is 
fast  upsetting  our  childhood's  trust  in  his  kingliness. — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 


DRUNK  IN  CHURCH  :  HEAVY  SENTENCE.— At  Montreal,  a  few 
weeks  ago,  Victoria  Johnson  was  charged  in  the  Recorder's  Court  with  being  in 
St.  James's  Cathedral  while  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  The  reporter  tells  us  that 
"  as  Miss  Johnson  was  unable  to  explain  her  conduct  satisfactorily,  she  was  sen- 
tenced to  nine  months'  imprisonment."  We  should  like  to  know  what  explana- 
tion would  have  been  satisfactory,  and  we  should  also  like  to  know  what  the 
imposition  of  such  a  heavy  sentence  has  to  do  with  Christian  charity.  Nine 
months'  imprisonment  for  straying  into  a  church  while  drunk  !  Is  this  forgiving 
a  brother  "seventy  times  seven?"  (Matt.  21  :  22).  But  this  was  a  sister,  and 
might  have  contaminated  the  holy  brotherhood  of  priests. 


A  RELIGIOUS  MANIAC— Montreal,  June  5.— Max  Lassonde  is  confined 
in  a  padded  cell  at  police  head-quarters,  a  raving  maniac,  as  a  result  of  attending 
the  meetings  of  a  French-Canadian  Protestant  revivalist  named  Mage.  Last 
night  Lassonde  tried  to  kill  his  wife,  and  then  destroyed  all  the  things  in  his 
house,  saying  that  he  had  no  further  use  for  worldly  light,  heat,  or  food.  He 
made  an  effort  to  kill  himself  before  being  locked  up. 


A  PEACEFUL  PHILOSOPHER.— The  old  colored  man  was  sitting  on  the 
fence  tuning  up  his  fiddle  when  a  tourist  from  the  north  happened  along,  and 
queried,  "  Well,  uncle,  doesn't  the  present  agitated  state  of  the  world  worry  you  ?"' 

"  What's  dat,  sah  ?  "  responded  the  old  darkey,  turning  the  well-worn  key. 

"  Why,  the  great  war,  for  instance?  " 

"  VVah  ?  Huh  ?  Ah  hab  a  wife  en  a  mule.  Dey  creates  mo'  trouble  den  all 
de  wahs." 

"  Well,  cyclones  and  floods  ?  " 

"  Huh  !  Las'  time  we  had  a  cyclone  a  strange  bahn  blew  in  mah  yahd,  en 
nobody  has  ebber  claimed  it  yet  De  flood  cum  rushin'  down  de  ribbah  en 
landed  three  chicken  coops  right  at  mah  do'." 

"  Well,  the  beef  trust,  don't  that  worry  you  ?  " 

"No,  sah.     Ah  libs  on  bacon  en  pones.     Nufifin  worries  me,  sah  ;  nuffin  'tall." 

And  the  old  man  struck  up  a  jig. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  307 


Zoilct  Ibinte. 

("  A  well-known  woman  writer  has  some  excellent  advice  for  the  woman  who 
would  keep  her  youth.  .  .  .  '  Severe,  critical,  faultfinding,  intolerant  thoughts,  all 
sharpen  the  features  and  dry  the  cuticle  and  take  the  lustre  from  the  eye.' " — Daily 
Gironide. 

There  are  mrny,  many  quacks  abroad,  with  soft,  seductive  tongue, 
Who  persuade  you  they  can  aid  you  in  the  art  of  keeping  young  ; 
One  will  tell  you  with  assurance  you  may  confidently  hope 
For  perfection  of  complexion  if  you  only  use  his  soap  ; 
Number  two  will  pledge  his  honor  to  the  solemn  gospel  truth 
That  devotion  to  his  lotion  will  insure  you  lasting  youth  ; 
Number  three  suggests  a  nose  peg  that  will  give  your  pug  a  turn 
Whence,  he  urges,  it  emerges  a  presentable  concern  ; 
While  another  has  a  corset  which  will  keep  you  comme  il  faut 
When  your  figure  waxes  bigger  than  you  care  to  see  it  grow. 

But,  if  people  buy  the  rubbish  that  is  only  made  to  sell, 
Why,  the  ninnies  waste  their  guineas  and  their  foolish  pains  as  well, 
And  they  ought  to  know  that  beauty  lies  far  deeper  than  the  skin, 
1  hat  the  features  are  the  creatures  of  the  soul  that  works  within. 
Are  your  thoughts  severe  and  critical  ?     Your  cuticle  gets  dry, 
And  it  crinkles  into  wrinkles,  and  the  lustre  leaves  your  eye  : 
Vulgar  spite  and  petty  scandal  pay  the  mischief  with  your  hair. 
Make  your  forehead  dry  and  horrid  and  your  temples  bald  and  bare, 
While  a  tendency  to  slander  makes  your  epidermis  bag 
Till  its  simply  hanging  limply  round  a  dessicated  hag. 

So.  my  ladies,  when  the  mirror — candid  critic — lets  you  know 

That  your  color  waxes  duller  than  in  days  of  long  ago. 

Vain- the  golden  transformations  which  you  order  from  the  stores, 

Vain  the  creaming  and  the  steaming  of  your  overburdened  pores  ; 

Vain  to  rail  at  Father  Chronos  and  abuse  his  wicked  arts. 

For  your  faces  bear  the  traces  of  your  own  perverted  hearts. 

Would  you  boast  the  bloom  of  peaches,  let  your  soul  be  pure  within  ! 

To  be  truthful  keeps  you  youthful,  and  it  lubricates  the  skin  ; 

Tf  your  locks  are  growing  thinnish,  study  poetry  with  care. 

Read  Othello  and  Sordello  — they  are  matchless  for  the  hair ! 

—  Punch. 


Socialism  now  knocks  at  the  gate  leading  to  Petet's  chair.  T'lere  has  just  died 
at  X'erona,  Antoine  Samson,  a  printer  brother  of  the  present  Pope,  and  the 
priestly  papers  have  taken  no  notice  of  the  decease.  The  reason  is  not  very  fir 
to  seek.     Antoine  Samson  was  a  Socialist. — London  Labor  Leader. 


Nine  hundred  and  thirty-six  cases  of  poisoning  among  British  workmen  were 
reported  last  year,  of  which  189  were  due  to  white  lead,  106  to  pottery,  and  49 
to  electric  accumulators. 


Suspicious  men  are  mostly  dishonest. 


308 


SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


A  TRIP  TO  A  STAR. 

"  Let  us  suppose  a  railway  to  h'ave 
been  built  between  the  earth  and  the 
fixed  star  Centauri,"  said  the  lecturer. 
"  By  a  consideration  of  this  railway's 
workings  we  ean  get  some  idea  of  the 
enormous  distance  that  intervenes  be- 
tween Centauri  and  us. 

*'  Suppose  that  I  should  decida  to 
take  a  trip  on  this  new  aerial  line  to  the 
fixed  star.  I  ask  the  ticket  agent  what 
the  fare  is,  and  he  answers  : 

"  *  The  fare  is  very  low,  sir.  It  is 
only  a  cent  each  hundred  miles.' 

"  '  And  what,  at  that  rate,  will  the 
through  ticket  one  way  cost  1 ' 

"  'It  will  cost  just $2,750,000,000,' 
he  answers. 

"  I  pay  for  ray  ticket  and  board  the 
train.  We  start  off  at  a  tremendous 
rate. 

"  '  How  fast,'  I  ask  the  brakeman, 
'  are  we  going  ? ' 

"  '  Sixty  miles  an  hour,  sir,'  says  he, 
'  and  it's  a  through  train.  There  are 
no  stoppages.' 

"  '  We'll  soon  be  there,  then,  won't 
weV  I  resume. 

"  'We'll  make  good  time,  sir,'  says 
the  brakeman. 

'*'"*  And  when  will  we  arrive  ? ' 

•*"In  just  48,663,000  years.'"— 
Philadelphia  Bulletin. 


IN  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Teacher — Why  did  Saul  hide  when 
he  had  been  elected  King  ? 

Johnnie  (son  of  a  hotelkeeper) — 
S'pose  he  was  afeared  he'd  have  to 
stand  treat. 


**IS  IT   HOT  EN3UCjH   FOR  YOU?" 

The  man  who  has  no  work  to  do, 
Who  spends  a  frequent  hour  or  two 

In  watching  to  see  whether 
The  mercury  is  low  or  high, 
Is  he  who  suffers  most  from  sly 

Vagaries  of  the  weather. 
But  he  who  his  appointed  task 
Performs,  and  never  stops  to  ask 

How  hot  it's  getting. 
Is  happy  though  the  mercury  climb, 
And  squanders  very  little  time 

In  vain  regretting. 
So,  if  you  would  be  calm  and  cool, 
This  lesson  learn  in  Wisdom's  school, 

Taught  by  a  Poet  : 
Work  hard,  and  don't  talk  politics. 
And,  even  though  it's  ninety-six, 

You'll  hardly  know  it. 


The  boy  had  shown  such  a  degree 
of  ignorance  and  mental  obtuseness 
that  the  teacher  was  disheartened,  and 
she  finally  asked  sarcastically  :  "  Do 
you  know  whether  George  Washington 
was  a  iioldier  or  a  sailor  ?  " 

"He  was  a  soldier,"  replied  the 
urchin,  promptly. 

"  How  do  you  know  that  1 "  she  per- 
sisted. 

"'Cause  I  saw  a  picture  of  him 
crossing  the  Delaware,  an'  any  sailor'd 
know  enough  not  to  stand  up  in  the 
boat." — Chicago  Evening  Post. 


An  Irishman,  looking  at  the  grave 
of  his  brother  during  wet  weather,  was 
heard  to  remark :  "Be  jabers,  if  Oi 
iver  live  to  die,  which  Oi  hope  Oi 
won't,  Oi  hope  they  won't  bury  me  in 
a  ditch  loike  this,  wdiere  Oi'll  be  a 
drowning  for  the  remaining  days  of 
ane  loife." 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS.  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  ii. 

TORONTO,  JUNE  30, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

flDan  0  mxt^. 

—  :o: 

Man  is  not  born  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  universe,  but  to 
find  out  what  he  has  to  do  ;  and  to  restrain  himself  within  the 
limits  of  his  comprehension. — Goethe. 


EDITORIALS 


DR.  PATTON  ON 
"  RIGHT-LIYING 
RASCALS !  " 


One  of  the  strangest  sermons  we  have  heard  of 
for  a  long  time  was  one  delivered  by  President 
Patton,  of  Princeton  (N.  J.)  Theological  Semi- 
nary, on  Sunday,  June  4th.  The  report  in  the 
daily  press  runs  thus  : 

"  *  The  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth,'  [it  is  said,]  but  we  all  want  the 
earth,  and  there  is  poor  show  for  the  meek.  In  the  future  meekness 
will  not  be  considered  a  virtue,  but  tne  maxim  that  might  makes 
right  shall  prevail.  Now,  the  philosophers,  headed  by  Nietzsche,  are 
slapping  at  the  validity  of  the  principles  of  Christian  ethics,  and  in  the 
future  the  moral  standard  is  destined  to  be  lowered.  It  is  easier  to  write 
a  perfect  system  of  ethics  than  to  practise  it.  A  man  may  sit  all  day 
evolving  ethical  problems,  but  keep  an  eye  on  him  at  night. 

'*  I  hate  to  yee  a  cold-blooded,  right-living  rascal,  who  has  his  $40,- 
000,000  and  can  teach  Sunday-school  regularly  and  drive  his  hard  bar- 
gain every  week,  always  keeping  just  within  the  range  of  the  law.  If  I 
were  asked  what  I  thought  of  such  a  man,  I  would  say  he  was  lucky  not 
to  be  in  jail." 


Dr.  Patton  not  only  scoffs  at  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  but  he 
bteras  also  to  deny  the  existence  of  any  "power  that  makes  for  righteous- 
ness," and  predicts  the  ultimate  triumph  of  might  over  right.  And  yet 
h(^  tills  us  that,  philosophers  of  the  modern  school  slapping  at  Christian 


310  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

ethics — and,  we  presume,  destroying  its  basis — the  moral  standard  will 
be  lowered. 

Dr.  Patton  appears  to  identify  Christian  ethics  with  a  high  moral 
standard  ;  but,  if  so,  we  can  only  deplore  the  fact  that  a  man  in  his 
influential  position  should  be  deluded  by  such  a  belated  superstition. 
In  our  opinion,  almost  any  change  from  Christian  morality  must  be  an 
improvement ;  for,  as  nineteen  centuries  of  history  down  even  to  our  own 
day  unmistakably  assure  us,  Christian  morality  has  not  saved  mankind 
from  reaching  the  lowest  depths  of  vice  and  crime. 

With  such  a  poor  ethical  basis  for  a  foundation,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  Dr.  Patton  should  talk  about  writing  a  "  perfect  system  of  ethics" 
being  easier  than  practising  it.  A  perfect  system  of  ethics,  we  take  it, 
is  one  of  those  things  that  may  be  regarded  as  a  possibility  in  the  long 
distant  future ;  though  perhaps  Dr.  Patton  would  say — having  rejected 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount — that  the  Golden  Rule  is  a  perfect  system. 

The  doctor's  inconsistency,  however,  reaches  a  climax  in  his  discussion 
of  "  right-living  rascals,"  who  can  amass  millions  and  teach  Sunday- 
school  w^hile  "keeping  just  within  the  range  of  the  law."  By  what 
ethical  standard  can  a  man's  conduct  be  termed  *'  right-living  "  if  it  is 
so  immoral  as  to  merit  the  term  "  rascality  ?  " 

It  is  deplorable  that  such  men  as  Dr.  Patton  should  be  in  a  position 
where  they  can  impress  their  loose  and  illogical  notions  upon  the  plastic 
brains  of  young  students. 

Certainly,  a  man  who  can  spend  his  days  evolving  such  ethical  pro- 
blems as  Dr.  Patton  appears  to  indulge  in  should  be  watched  at  night, 
whatever  may  be  done  with  his  '*  right-living  rascals."  Rather,  perhaps, 
should  he  be  watched  all  the  time. 

The  claim  that  "  true  Christianity"  is  ethically 
WHAT  IS  "  TRUE  good,  and  that  it  can  be  differentiated  from  the 
CHRISTIANITY  "  ?       current  theological  ecclesiasticism  or  "  churchi- 

anity,"  is  probably  the  most  effective  weapon 
of  the  Christian  apologist,  as  it  is  also  one  of  his  greatest  fallacies.  For 
it  is  manifest  that,  while  Christianity,  like  all  other  religions,  has  a  basis 
in  theology  which  entirely  vitiates  its  ethical  value,  its  history  proves 
that  it  has  utterly  failed  as  a  moral  force.  We  are  entitled  to  formulate 
our  objections  to  the  claim  in  this  form  : 

1.  Whatever  "  true  Christianity  "  may  be,  it  has  been  unable,  during 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


311 


nineteen  centuries,  to  make   headway  against  ecclesiasticism.     It  is  a 
sheer  assumption  that  it  can  do  better  in  the  future. 

2.  It  is  a  pure  assumption  also  that  this  "  true  Christianity"  ever 
existed  as  a  dominating  power  in  the  church.  The  New  Testament  gives 
evidence  that  the  earliest  Christians  were  by  no  means  moral  or  peace- 
able (see  1  Cor.  5  :  1,  etc.),  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Christians 
were  at  any  time  more  moral  than  the  pagans. 

3.  The  theological  basis  of  Christianity  is  entirely  opposed  to  that  of 
ethics  ;  and  the  claim  of  Christianity  to  be  an  ethical  force  only  has  a 
semblance  of  validity  because  it  has  been  co-existent  with  the  social  and 
humanitarian  forces  that  are  revolutionizing  society. 

If  Christians  to-day  are  taking  part  in  some  of  the  movements  the 
object  of  which  is  to  improve  the  moral  condition  of  the  people,  this  is 
because  they  are  abandoning  the  **  pure  Christianity  "  which  instructs 
the  believer  to  save  his  own  soul  by  belief,  regardless,  of  all  his  fellows, 
and  even  of  his  parents  and  his  children. 

It  is  evident  that  the  advocate  of  **  pure  Christianity  "  in  course  of 
time  will  claim  it  to  comprise  all  that  experience  shows  to  be  good  and 
useful  to  mankind  ;  and  perhaps  that  is  not  an  unsatisfactory  phase  of 
Christian  evolution.  But  the  claim  that  these  things  ever  existed  as 
leading  features  of  the  Christian  system  in  past  ages  is  pure  poppycock. 

Pure  Christianity,  like  Tennyson's  '*  Christ  that  is  to  be,"  whatever  it 
may  be,  is  a  thing  of  the  future,  not  of  the  past. 


THE  RELIGIOUS 
DEATH  OF 
GERMANY. 


At  a  recent  meeting  at  Wycliffe  College,  a  Mr. 
J.  A.  Morrison,  for  thirty  years  an  officer  of  the 
Euroi3ean  Bible  Society,  read  a  paper  on  "  The 
Religious  Life  of  Germany,"  in  which  he  made 
some  remarks  about  the  status  and  work  of  the 
preachers  of  Germany  that  contain  a  suggestion  as  to  the  possible  utili- 
zation of  the  preachers'  services  in  other  lands.  Mr.  Morrison  thought 
there  were  no  signs  of  another  Reformation  in  Germany — "  the  religious 
tendency  was  rather  downwards,"  he  said  ;  and,  if  so,  the  downward 
tendency  must  evidently  carry  the  preachers  to  their  legitimate  destina- 
tion.    What  is  the  cause  ? 

"  One  cause  was  the  increasing  materialism.  Since  the  victory  over 
the  French,  the  rural  population  had  drifted  into  the  cities,  and  the 
church    had   not   followed    them.      They   had  adopted  a  shibboleth  of 


312  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

socialism,  and  within  a  generation  the  working  classes  had  become  the 
most  irreligious  in  Europe.  The  evangelical  church  had  lost  a  great 
opportunity.  Its  weakness  was  largely  due  to  its  connection  with  the 
State.  A  synod  could  not  move  without  the  State  entering  into  the 
question.  Ministers  were  officials  registering  births,  deaths  and  marriages. 
They  had  many  other  duties  to  secularize  their  thoughts,  and  had  little 
time  for  pastoral  duties.  Religion  had  sunk  to  a  mere  perfunctory  per- 
formance. Since  1865  the  population  had  increased  20  per  cent.,  while 
the  supply  of  students  for  ecclesiastical  work  had  decreased  50  per  cent. 
Even  some  Christians  held  piety  in  contempt.  Preachers  appealed  to 
their  congregations  to  do  their  duty  to  their  neighbor  and  to  the  State — 
mostly  the  State.  The  people  took  great  heed  to  the  Kaiser,  whose  reli- 
gious impulses,  like  his  political  impulses,  were  ephemeral.  He  was  as 
versatile  in  politics  as  in  art  and  science." 

Mr.  Morrison  is  not  the  only  man  who  sees  destruction  to  the  church 
by  connection  with  the  State ;  but  there  are  others  who  think  differently, 
and  especially  the  clergymen  who  draw  salaries  from  the  State  coffers. 
We  might  also  ask,  What  would  have  been  the  result  had  neither  the 
Catholic  nor  the  Anglican  Church  been  attached  to  and  supported  b}^ 
th9  State  ?  We  see,  both  in  Canada  and  in  the  States,  how  religious 
bodies  are  being  fostered  by  State  connection  ;  for,  though  ostensibly 
neither  the  Canadian  nor  the  American  Government  has  (or  should 
have)  any  connection  with  the  churches,  both  of  them  are  so  dominated 
by  clerical  influences,  that  practically  there  is  a  most  intimate  connec- 
tion between  Charch  and  State. 

In  both  countries,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  of  public  money 
are  paid  every  year  to  chaplains  tjonnected  with  the  public  services ;  and 
millions  of  dollars  are  given  to  the  churches  in  the  shape  of  remission 
of  taxes.  In  both  countries,  the  welfare  of  the  people  is  being  sacrificed 
at  the  bidding  of  an  unscrupulous  hierarchy,  in  order  to  secure  Catholic 
political  support. 

Mr.  Morrison's  suggestion  that  the  preachers  could  become  official 
registrars  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths  might  be  a  good  one,  if  it 
were  carried  out  so  as  to  secure  from  the  preachers  the  honest  perform- 
ance of  their  duties,  but  the  record  of  such  work  hitherto  done  is  not 
encouraging.  The  reverend  registrars  have  often  proved  themselves  the 
most  culpably  negligent  of  all  such  officials  ;  and  it  seems  evident  that 
it  would  be  the  most  fatuous  policy  to  employ  them  in  any  capacity  re- 
quiring common  business  ability  or  honesty.  The  safest  policy  seems  to 
be  to  allow  them  to  die  out  as  preachers  with  their  religion,  and  to  find 
their  level  like  other  citizens  in  th^  great  army  of  useful  workers. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  313 

At  present  they  have  certainly  got  the  "  pull  "  on  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  throughout  Christendom,  hut  it  is  pleasing  to  have  the  testi- 
mony of  a  man  like  Mr.  Morrison  to  the  fact  that  Germany  is  following 
rapidly  in  the  footsteps  of  France  in  throwing  off  the  great  incuhus. 

The  Langtrys  and  the  Pottses,  the  Torreys  and 
THE  BIBLE  UP  the  Sam  Joneses,  may  continue  to  shout,  "  The 

TO  DATE.  Bihle  is  still  supreme,"  that  the  Higher  Critics 

are  mistaken  pedant»s,  and  that  science  has  heen 
discomfited  in  its  encounter  with  ancient  faiths  ;  but  their  cries  only 
serve  to  remind  us  that  the  human  race  to-day,  as  in  all  preceding  ages, 
is  by  no  means  a  homogeneous  race  which  has  attained  a  uniform  stage 
-of  evolution.  Mankind  varies,  in  its  physical  as  well  as  in  its  mental 
aspects,  from  the  ape-like  Pygmies  and  the  Australian  Bushmen  to  the 
well-developed  Caucasian ;  in  each  se[)arate  race  we  find  variations 
of  an  almost  equal  extent ;  and  the  extremely  small  advance  yet  made 
from  the  simian  mental  status,  even  with  all  our  modern  educational 
advantages,  b}^  the  mass  of  the  people  is  emphasized  by  the  loud  appeals 
made  to  them  by  priests  of  all  sects  to  preserve  their  faith  in  the  ancient 
theological  stories,  which  have  been  dismissed  by  every  intelligent  man  ; 
we  might  say,  by  every  intelligent  preacher  in  the  church  itself. 

})y.  John  P.  Peters,  of  New  York — not,  of  course,  a  theological  scholar 
like,  say.  Canon  Cody,  but  only  a  Babylonian  explorer  and  archaeologist, 
discoverer  of  tablets  of  king  Ur-Gur  and  of  the  site  of  the  ancient  city 
of  Nippur,  and  author  of  many  works  on  Biblical  research — is  one  of 
the  latest  to  give  unequivocal  testimony  to  the  destructive  character  of 
modern  archaeological  investigation  and  Biblical  criticism.  Only  a  week 
or  two  ago,  before  the  Church  Congress,  held  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building, 
Fulton  Street,  Brooklyn,  repeated  some  of  the  conclusions  he  had  arrived 
at  and  recorded  in  his  book,  "  The  Early  Hebrew  Story."  Some  of  these 
are  thus  reported  : 

"  The  characters  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  are  no  more  than  myths, 
created  by  the  Hebrew  writers  with  a  deep  religious  purpose  ....  but 
have  no  historical  value  ivJiatcver..'' 

"  1  have  heard  much  about  the  disturbance  of  faith,  and  I  have  the 
greatest  sympathy  with  those  who  feel  that  we  are  taking  away  views 
that  were  sacred  to  them  ;  for  I  love  traditions,  and  it  is  hard  to  give 
them  up.  But  I  have  come  in  contact  more  with  those  whose  faith  has 
been  shaken,  not  because  those  traditions  are  disturbed,  but  because  it 


314  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 

seems  to  them  that  teachers  of  religion  are  not  jprepared  to  meet  present 
conditions.'' 

"The  Bible  should  be  examined  in  the  same  way  that  Roman  history 
was  examined — by  bringing  historical  canons  to  your  aid.  That  is  the 
only  faithful  way.  He  who  believes  it  to  be  inspired,  and  that  the  word 
of  God  is  sure,  will  not  be  disturbed  by  the  result." 

"  When  the  exploration  of  Babylon  began,  searches  were  made  for 
proofs  of  the  stories  in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  hut  the  discoveries  were  not  in 
accordance  icith  the  stories'' 

"The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  myths  and  traditions,  even  Abraham, 
and  Isaac,  and  Joseph.     I  suppose  they  were  not  real  people." 

"The  Gospels  had  no  chronological  order,  and  they  did  not  agree  in 
various  ways,  but  they  give  you  such  a  picture  of  Christ  as  you  could 
not  have  got  in  any  other  way. 

"  The  jews  did  not  call  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  history  ;  they 
called  them  '  the  Prophets,'  and  their  conception  was  the  taking  of  the 
story  of  God's  workings  in  the  past,  which  should  throw  a  light  on  the 
future.  They  may  have  made  mistakes,  but  that  is  the  true  concep- 
tion ;  that  is  the  true  historical  value." 

Dr.  Peters  points  out  that  the  fact  that  fiction 
MYTH,  TRADITION,  enters  very  largely  into  the  story  of  Moses  by  no 
AND  FICTION  OF  means  proves  that  he  was  not  a  real  historical 
"  TREMENDOUS  personage  ;  but  he  concludes  that  the  stories  of 

VALUE  "  TU  the  Flood,  Adam  and  Eve,  Cain  and  Abel,  Jeph- 

RELIGION.  thah's  Daughter,  Joseph,  Jacob,  and  many  other 

characters,  are  partly  or  wholly  mythological  or 
taken  from  Babylonian  history  ;  yet  he  believes  them  to  have  been  of 
tremendous  value  to  religion,  and  that  they  shed  a  real  light  upon  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  times  in  which  they  were  written.  He  tells 
this  regarding  the  story  of  Lot's  wife : 

"  Another  of  the  stories  connected  with  the  name  of  Abraham  repre- 
sents the  attempt  to  explain  certain  striking  natural  phenomena.  To 
the  north  of  Damascus,  on  the  road  to  Palmyra,  is  a  salt  marsh,  the 
rocks  to  the  east  of  which  are  fantastic  in  thier  shapes.  When  I  tra- 
velled through  that  country,  the  Arabs  pointed  out  to  me  these  rocks  as 
men  and  women,  turned  into  salt  by  God  as  a  punishment  for  their 
misdeeds.  In  fact,  the  story  of  Lot's  wife  was  told  to  me  with  regard  to 
these  rocks,  precisely  as  in  the  Bible  it  is  told  of  the  strange  salty  for- 
mations at  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea." 

And  he  believes,  like  many  other  Churchmen,  that  the  Bible,  though 
challenged  as  a  narrative  of  historical  fact,  still  stands  as  "  the  founda- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  815 

tion-stone  of  religion  and  as  the  inspiration  of  all  literature  !  "  Such 
utterly  extravagant  assumptions  make  us  despair  of  the  intellectual 
capacity  or  good  faith  of  those  who  utter  them.  Certainly,  myth  and 
miracle — belief  in  them,  that  is,  as  actualities — are  of  tremendous  value 
to  religion  ;  they  are  its  very  life-blood.  But  that  is  hardly  what  Dr. 
Peters  means.  And  what  ethical  lessons  of  value  can  be  extracted  from 
the  Biblical  stories  ?  Is  a  woman  always  to  be  punished  by  sudden  death 
for  trying  to  gratify  a  very  natural  curiosity,  as  in  the  case  of  Lot's  wife  ? 
Is  an  adulterer  and  assassin  to  be  rewarded  with  God's  favor,  as  in  the 
case  of  4)avid  ?  Are  hypocrisy,  fraud,  and  cowardice  to  meet  with  the 
most  supreme  blessing,  as  in  the  case  of  Jacob  ? 

The  fact  is,  peoople  who  talk  about  **  the  dealings  of  God  with  man  " 
being  capable  of  affording  any  moral  lesson  are  ethically  blind. 
•  Still,  we  must  be  thankful  for  small  mercies,  and  when  we  remember 
that  Dr.  Peters'  criticisms  were  listened  to  without  a  word  of  dissent  by 
a  Church  Congress  which  comprised  many  of  the  most  learned  men  in 
the  profession,  their  real  import  may  be  comprehended. 

"  Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness,"  we  have 
THE  GEEAT  been  told,  and  to  us  the  greatest  mystery  of  all 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  is  the  mystery  of  Christian  godliness.  One  can 
PICNIC  IN  understand  the  godliness  of  a  Hindoo  fakir,  who 

TORONTO.  mortifies  his  flesh  with  cruel  scourgings  accord- 

ing to  his  faith,  and  inflicts  untold  agonies  upon 
himself  as  a  religious  duty.  But  who  can  understand  the  godliness  of 
Christian  professors,  who  go  on  a  big  picnic  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
who,  clothed  in  broadcloth  and  silken  attire  and  gorgeous  millinery,  ask 
charity  in  the  shape  of  gratuitous  board  and  lodging,  so  they  may  have 
more  cash  available  to  spend  on  bric-a-brac  to  take  home  as  mementoes  ? 

The  modern  well-to-do  Christian  believes  in  sacrifice,  but  the  sacrifice 
must  be  chiefly  of  other  people's  goods.  And  if  he  can  get  a  government 
grant  to  swell  his  charity  fund,  why,  so  much  the  greater  his  godliness. 

Toronto  the  Good  has  just  been  overrun  and  overcrowded  with  some 
thousands  of  delegates  to  the  International  Sunday  School  Convention, 
and  no  one  could  see  the  crowds  of  them  who  filled  the  streets  and  the 
street  cars  without  understanding  that  they  were  having  a  **good  time" 
in  Toronto  the  Good,  and  were  thoroughly  satisfied  with  both  themselves 
and  their  hosts. 


316  SECULAR  TH0UC4HT. 


We  like  to  see  these  religious  conventions.  In  more  ways  than  one 
they  do  good.  In  spite  of  much  sanctimonious  preaching  and  praying, 
and  occasionally  a  squabble  and  a  fight,  they  distinctly  encourage  a  spirit 
of  toleration  and  good-fellowship.  In  the  present  case,  the  newspapers 
tell  us  that  the  proceedings  were  not  without  some  lingual  asperities,  in 
one  instance  the  struggle  approaching  the  character  of  a  Donnybrook 
Fair  dispute.  Though  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  professional  religious 
shibboleth,  still  the  union  of  religion  and  picnic  cannot  fail  to  have  a 
softening  effect  upon  the  stern  features  of  theological  dogmas. 

The  wrestling-match  between  Jacob  and  Yahve  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  prototye  of  that  going  on  between  the  good  of  mankind  and  the 
powers  of  priestcraft.  Given  a  free  field,  and  the  contest  between  the 
Cook  and  the  Priest  is  certain  to  end  in  favor  of  the  former. 

"Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness;"  and  when  the  delegates  have 
had  a  good  taste  of  fun  and  pleasure  in  attending  these  conventions,  we 
have  no  doubt  they  vvill  hanker  after  more  of  the  same  kind,  as  the  Jews 
hankered  after  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt,  and  will  be  less  amenable  to  every 
form  of  priestly  dictation. 

One  or  two  features  of  the  Convention  may  be 
SOME  NOTABLE  noted.     On  the  whole,  Toronto  possesses  one  of 

FEATURES  OF  the  best  street  railway  services  in  the  world,  and 

THE  CONVENTION,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  it  is  simply  indis- 
pensable. Toronto's  main  street  east  and  west  is 
just  nine  miles  long,  and  north  and  south  the  leading  streets  vary  from 
two  to  over  three  miles.  The  delegates  were  billeted  in  every  available 
corner  where  lodgings  could  be  had  for  nothing,  and  without  the  street 
cars  one-half  of  such  places  could  not  have  been  utilized.  We  wonder 
how  many  of  these  delegates  who  crowded  the  Sunday  cars  will  hesitate 
about  voting  in  favor  of  Sunday  street  cars  in  any  town  in  which  they 
may  reside.  Why,  even  with  an  extra  elastic  Christian  conscience,  they 
would  feel  themselves  to  be  mean  skunks  to  vote  against  a  convenience 
they  had  found  so  useful,  so  enjoyable,  nay,  even  indispensable,  when 
they  visited  Toronto. 

Another  feature — and  one  that  speaks  volumes  for  the  "  practical 
Christianity"  of  the  delegates — came  to  us  in  this  wise.  Sympathizing 
with  one  of  Toronto's  hotel-keepers  on  the  possible  loss  of  his  license 
as  a  result  of  the  strong  talk  of  the  Convention  on  Prohibition,  etc.,  our 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  317 

friend  gently  smiled  as  he  remarked  :  ''I  wish  they  would  have  a  Con- 
vention every  month."  "How's  that?  Aren't  you  afraid  they  may 
succeed  in  stopping  your  business  ?  "  "  Not  much,"  he  replied  ;  "  why, 
since  the  Convention  began,  I  have  been  busier  than  I  had  been  for 
many  months."  How  far  his  experience  coincides  with  that  of  other 
liquor-sellers  we  do  not  know,  but  we  have  our  suspicions.  Beer  and 
Bible  have  always  run  well  together  in  harness. 

Perhaps,  however,  our  inexperience  gives  us  an  exaggerated  idea  of 
our  own  failings  in  the  drink  line.  A  delegate  from  Toledo,  0.,  said  that 
in  that  city,  with  only  one-half  the  population  of  Toronto,  there  were 
five  times  as  many  saloons.  In  any  case,  the  S.  S.  delegates  found  no 
difficulty  in  reaching  a  friendly  bar-tender. 

One  leading  event  was  the  selection  of  the  locality  for  the  next  year's 
picnic.  This  shows  how  eager  these  folks  are  for  another  good  outing. 
After  a  number  of  places  had  put  forward  their  claims,  the  contest  sim- 
mered down  to  a  struggle  between  Louisville  and  San  Francisco.  Either 
place  could  supply  unlimited  spirituous,  if  not  much  spiritual  comfort. 

It  would  not  be  profitable  to  attempt  to  follow 
CONVENTION  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention,  even  if  we 

WISDOM.  had  space  to  do  so ;  but  some  of  the  preachers' 

sayings  may  be  noted  with  interest,  as  showing 
something  of  the  greatness  of  the  wisdom  assembled  to  do  honor  to  the 
Bible  and  its  author. 

"  Wherever  the  Sunday  school  thrives,  religion  in  the  home  revives," 
said  Rev.  Richards,  with  a  feeble  attempt  at  doggerel.  Which  must  be 
the  reason  why,  with  25,000,000  pupils  in  the  Christian  Sunday-schools, 
the  complaint  has  lately  been  so  universal  that  *' family  worship  "  has 
almost  disappeared.  But  perhaps  family  worship  is  not  **  religion  in  the 
home,"  and  this,  we  imagine,  is  often  the  truth. 

**  The  most  common  expression  in  a  pastor's  ear  is,  *  Pray  have  me 
excused.'  "  said  Rev.  Jo.  Clarke,  which  is  doubtless  also  true — and  very 
significant.  Mr.  Clarke  also  thinks  that  *'  Almost  all  the  people  in  the 
world  to-night  over  21  who  are  not  saved  never  will  be  ;"  which  Osleric 
dictum  is  probably  true  also,  though  it  consigns  to  eternal  perdition  the 
great  bulk  of  the  human  race.  Luckily,  the  people  fear  one  anathema 
as  little  as  the  other. 

"  Wherever  humanity's  footsteps  have  trod,  there  is  the  harvest  of  the 


318  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


Cross,"  is  the  oracular  utterance  of  r^ev.  McFarlane ;  and  we  might  ask, 
where  else  should  the  Cross  seek  its  harvest — in  a  hornet's  nest,  in  an 
elephant  jungle,  or  above  the  clouds?  The  harvest  of  the  Cross  has 
been  billions  of  slaughtered  men  in  every  country  from  China  to  Peru. 
It  is  time  that  such  a  fearful  harvest  should  cease,  but  the  Cross  seems 
rather  to  increase  than  to  decrease  it. 

"  Christian  education  and  Protestantism  came  together ;  they  will 
stand  or  fall  together,"  said  Eev.  Kichards  ;  and,  if  so,  we  may  perhaps 
be  allowed  to  hope  that  their  falling  together  may  come  soon.  The  idea 
of  associating  Christianity  with  Education  shows  how  easy  it  is  for  the 
clerical  mind  to  overlook  eighteen  centuries  of  dense  ignorance  among 
the  masses  when  Christianity  was  supreme,  when  to  utter  a  new  idea 
meant  torture  and  death,  even  after  the  birth  of  Protestantism  ;  and  to 
talk  as  if  the  education  which  has  been  forced  upon  the  church  was  the 
outcome  of  Christian  principles. 

'*  If  education  is  an  all-round  matter,  then  the  Sunday-school  stands 
second  to  none  among  the  educational  forces,"  said  Eev.  Hammill— a 
claim  which  at  once  negatives  that  made  on  behalf  of  Bible  teaching  in 
the  Public  schools.  It  is,  however,  an  enigmatical  opinion  which  may 
mean  anything  or  nothing  ^iccording  to  interpretation  ;  but,  looking  at 
the  Sunday-school  Lessons,  we  suppose  Mr.  Hammill's  idea  of  an  "  all- 
round  "  education  is,  that  the  idiotic  side  of  a  child's  character  should 
be  cultivated  equally  with  the  rational  side. 

"All  denominations  help,"  said  Kev.  Allan  Hudson.  "Methodists 
pick  a  man  out  of  the  gutter.  Baptists  wash  him,  Episcopalians  starch 
him,  and  there  jou  have  him."  And  by  the  time  'the  sects  have  done 
with  him,  he  is,  as  Jesus  said,  as  great  a  hypocrite  as  the  rest. 

*'  When  I  became  mayor,"  said  Mayor  Urquhart, 
MAYOR  URQU-  "  1  was  asked  if  I  was  going  to  give  up  being 

HART'S  NOBLE  superintendent  of  Walmer  Road  Sunday-school. 

AND  CHRISTIAN  I  said,  *  No,  I  would  rather  give  up  being 
SELF-SACRIFICE.       mayor.'  "     Considering  that  there  was   not  the 

slightest  necessity  to  choose  between  the  two 
offices,  that  the  mayoralty  is  worth  $5,000  per  annum  (with  a  neat  train 
already  laid  for  a  surreptitious  increase  to  $7,500)  and  "  perks,"  the 
reader  can  judge  of  Mayor  Urquhart's  honesty.  He  is  a  Christian,  no 
doubt,  and  his  story  will  be  appreciated  by  Christian  children. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  319 

"  If  education  is  only  learning,  and  culture,  and  ability,  then  the  finest 
educated  man  I  ever  saw  served  seven  years  in  the  penitentiary,"  was 
Rev.  Hammill's  way  of  serving  up  a  long-since  worn-out  argument  and 
titillating  the  egotism  of  his  hearers.  The  story  may  be  worth  its  face 
value,  though  most  likely  it  is  grossly  distorted  or  a  sheer  invention.  In 
any  event,  Mr.  Hamill  forgot  to  say  how  many  Christian  preachers  and 
other  church  officials  are  in  prison  at  this  moment  for  vile  offences. 

"  John  Wanamaker,  my  personal  friend,  said  to  Marion  Lawrence,  the 
international  secretary,  *  When  the  church  saves  a  man,  it  saves  a  unit ; 
when  it  saves  a  boy,  it  saves  a  multiplication  table.'  "  Which  is  another 
way  of  saying  that,  when  you  have  filled  a  boy's  head  with  religion,  you 
have  converted  him  into  a  fanatic  or  a  lunatic. 

The  liquor  traffic  came  in  for  a  vast  amount  of  denunciation.  Mr.  St. 
John,  the  Speaker  of  our  Legislature,  said  that  the  Sunday  afternoon 
meetings  had  been  held  regularly  for  seventeen  years,  and  from  fifteen 
to  190  persons  had  signed  the  pledge  every  Sunday.  The  strange  thing 
is,  that  with  all  the  efforts  so  far  made,  there  has  been  no  appreciable 
effect  in  the  way  of  a  reduction  either  of  drunkenness  or  of  the  amount 
of  liquor  produced  and  sold.  We  would  suggest  that  this  result  is  pos- 
sibly due  to  the  connection  of  the  temperance  cause  with  religion. 

Certain  it  is,  that  so  little  has  been  accomplished  by  education  upon 
this  question,  that  only  the  present  restrictions — ineffective  as  they  are 
— stand  in  the  way  of  an  alarming  increase  of  drunkenness  among  the 
laboring  classes — and  possibly  also  among  the  richer  classes. 

Rev.  D.  H.  Day,  of  Los  Angeles,  thinks  **  the  Savior's  parables  cast  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  nature  of  God."  Mr.  Day  is  one  of  the  greatest 
discoverers  of  any  age,  and  we  shall  look  anxiously  for  some  further 
explanations. 

Dr.  Urquhart,  of  Scotland,  attacked  the  Higher  Critics.  He  admitted 
that  they  had  gained  a  complete  victory  in  the  old  land  and  in  India, 
but  was  sure  they  could  be  routed  in  Canada  and  in  the  United  States 
"if  the  people  w^ere  only  true  to  the  Bible  !  "  If.  Why,  that  is  the 
whole  issue.  How  could  anybody  live,  let  alone  gain  victories  over  it, 
if  the  people  were  true  to  the  Bible?  It  would  be  the  reign  of  the  pious 
Inquisition  once  more.  But  Dr.  Urquhart  is  still  more  optimistic.  If 
the  people  of  Canada  and  the  States  are  true  to  the  Bible,  they  may  not 
only  rout  the  Higher  Critics  at  home,  but  may  cross  the  Atlantic  and 
turn  the  tables  upon  them  in  the  old  country  !  For  a  Scotchman,  Dr. 
Urquhart  has  a  big  bump  of  imagination. 


320  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


IRc^lIncarnation. 

:o: 

BY    CHILPERIC,    IN    LONDON    "  FREETHINKER." 

:o: 

During  the  past  few  years,  the  Aborigines  of  Australia  have  been  closely  studied 
by  several  trained  scientific  persons  ;  more  especially  by  Messrs.  Spencer  and 
Gillen,  who  have  had  the  advantage  of  being  initiated  into  the  tribal  brotherhood, 
and  have  therefore  had  exceptional  opportunities  of  learning  the  legends,  and 
witnessing  the  magical  ceremonies,  of  the  natives.  Their  latest  publication  is  a 
remarkable  testimony  to  their  industry,  as  well  as  a  proof  of  the  complete  way  in 
which  they  have  gained  the  confidence  of  the  Australian  savages. 

As  is  well  known,  the  Aborigines  of  Australia  represent  the  lowest  level  of 
savagery  at  present  existing  on  the  earth.  They  have  no  houses,  no  clothing, 
and  no  means  of  preserving  or  storing  food.  Even  at  this  moment  several  of 
their  tribes  make  use  of  the  most  primitive  forms  of  stone  implements,  although 
knives  and  hatchets  of  iron  are  gradually  being  introduced  from  the  white 
settlers.  It  therefore  follows,  that  by  studying  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the 
Australian  natives,  we  get  as  far  back  into  the  mind  and  notions  of  early  man  as 
it  is  possible  to  go. 

One  most  extraordinary  discovery  is,  that  the  Australians  have  no  idea  that 
the  procreation  of  the  race  has  any  connection  with  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes. 
It  has  never  occurred  to  the  native  mind  that  the  one  has  anything  to  do  with 
the  other.  Instead  of  this,  the  Aborigines  have  a  very  simple  explanation  of  the 
whole  matter.  In  the  *'  Long  Ago  "  there  roamed  over  the  face  of  the  earth  a 
small  number  of  individuals  who  were, half  human  and  half  animal  or  plant,  and 
who  were  endowed  with  far  greater  magical  powers  than  any  man  or  woman  now 
possesses.  Those  semi-human  beings,  in  their  wanderings  over  the  country,  left 
behind  them  small  deposits  of  souls,  the  deposit  being  marked  by  some  special 
natural  feature,  such  as  an  erratic  rock,  a  peculiar  tree,  or  a  gloomy  water-hole. 
A  semi-snake  being  would  thus  leave  a  deposit  of  souls  belonging  to  the  snake 
totem  ;  a  lizard,  souls  of  the  lizard  totem,  and  so  on. 

When,  therefore,  a  woman  of  child-bearing  age  passes  one  of  these  deposits, 
there  is  always  the  chance  that  a  soul  may  pop  out,  enter  into  her,  and  be 
ultimately  born  as  a  black  baby.  The  women  are,  as  a  rule,  not  at  all  anxious 
to  entertain  these  vagrant  souls.  Therefore,  on  passing  near  the  rock,  or  tree,  or 
other  feature,  they  resort  to  minor  magical  practices  to  deceive  them.  A  young 
woman  will  double  herself  up  and  hobble  past,  leaning  on  her  yam  stick,  in 
order  to  delude  the  souls  into  the  belief  that  she  is  too  old  and  decrepit  for 
child-bearing  ;  or  she  will  repeat  ancient  formulae  that  are  supposed  to  have 
power  to  charm  the  souls  and  render  them  powerless. 

These  magical   practices  do  not  always  deter  the  vagrants,  and  a  boy  or  girl 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  321 

esents  itself  in  due  course.  The  boy  or  the  girl  grows  up  into  a  man  or  a 
Oman,  dies,  and  the  soul  returns  to  the  deposit  to  remain  with  the  other  souls 
til  it  is  born  again.  Each  changes  its  sex  with  each  incarnation.  That  is  to 
y,  the  soul  of  a  man  becomes  a  woman  at  the  next  birth  ;  then,  on  the  death 
f  this  woman,  it  is  reborn  as  a  man,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum.  Consequently, 
very  man  and  woman  in  the  tribe  is  the  re-incarnation  of  a  series  of  male  and 
male  ancestors  that  stretch  right  back  to  the  "  Long  Ago,"  and  he  may  look 
rward  to  a  succession. 

The    procreation  of  the  lower  animals  is  accounted  for  in  an  equally  facile 

anner.     The  reader  need   not  be  reminded  that  totemism  is  a  characteristic 

stitution  in  these  tribes.     In  Australia  the  totemic  idea  is,  that  each  individual 

Tmystically  connected  with  some  creature,  plant,  or  element,  and  can  influence 

e  growth  of  these  things.     A  man  does  not  eat  his  totem,  except  under  certain 

traordinary  circumstances  ;  but,  by  the  performance  of  set  magical  ceremonies, 

e  is  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  increasing  the  stock  of  kangaroos,  grubs,  or 

her  things  that   form   the   totem.     And  it  is,  of  course,  to  the  interest  of  his 

ibesmen  to  see  that  he  does  it.     Thus,  a  man  of  the  grass  totem  will  work 

agic,  to  further  the  growth  of  grass  seeds,  that    he  must  not    eat,  though   his 

Hows  may.     Then    a   man   of  the  kangaroo  totem  will  work  magic  to  ensure 

ngaroos  that  he  cannot  eat,  but  the  grass  man  may  ;  and  so  on.     It  therefore 

Hows  that  every  Australian  blackfellow  believes  himself  to  be  dependent  upon 

e  other  blackfellows'  performing  the   proper   ceremonies   for   producing    the 

various  animals,  plants,  and   things  by  which  life  is  sustained.     There  has  thus 

grown  up  a  complicated  form  of  superstition,  manifested  chiefly  in  ceremonial 

games  that  occupy  a  large  part  of  the  men's  time. 

It  will,  consequently,  be  appreciated  that  the  totems  are  considered  to  be  of 

vital  importance   to   the  tribesmen.     The   totem  is   born,  not  made.     In  some 

tribes  it   is   more  or  less  erratic.     The  mother  recalls  the  locality  where  she  first 

found  herself  to  be  pregnant,  and  the  child  is  of  the  totem  that  is  known  to  be 

peculiar  to  the  souls  of  that  place.     In  other  tribes  the  child  follows  the  father's 

totem  ;  or  the   mother's   totem  ;  according  as  whether  the   patriarchate  or  the 

inatriarchate  is  the   rule.     While,  in  some  parts  of  Australia,  the  child's  totem 

depends  upon  a  peculiar  code  of  rules  that  varies  in  each  tribe.     In  any  case, 

however,  it   is  believed   that   the  child  is   a   re  incarnation  of  an  ancestor  of  the 

ame  totem  ;  and  the  child   is  supposed  to  know  the  proper  woman  in  which  it 

as  to  enter   in  order  to  be  born  in   the  proper  tribal  rule.     If  a   miscarriage 

'( curs,  or  if  the  birth  is  fatal  to  the  mother,  the  accident  is  attributed  to  the  fact 

that  the  soul  has  made  a  mistake,  and  got  into  the  wrong  woman. 

Now,  all  this  is  very  important  to  the  student  of  religious  ideas,  for  this  theory 
of  re-incarnation,  which  is  the  normal  standpoint  of  the  Australian  savage,  is 
continually  cropping  up  in  the  religions  of  the  higher  races.     Those  peoples  that 


322  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


have  more  correct  notions  upon  the  procreation  of  the  species,  are  continually 
telling  stories  of  miraculous  births,  which  are  clearly  unconscious  survivals  ot  the 
aboriginal  idea.  We  have  stories  of  the  preternatural  imf)regnation  of  women, 
through  their  innocently  catching  at  a  ball  floating  in  the  air,  or  through  bathing 
in  a  certain  stream,  or  eating  some  special  fruit,  or  in  some  other  way,  without 
the  intervention  of  man.  The  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary  as  she  goes  to 
draw  water  at  the  well,  as  traditionally  represented  in  Christian  Art,  is  on  all 
fours  with  the  Australian  theory  that  the  native  woman  is  entered  by  one  of  the 
souls  lurking  in  the  water-hole. 

The  famous  Indian  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  is  still  more  akin  to 
the  Australian  view.  It  is  important  to  note  that  this  doctrine  is  not  Aryan. 
None  of  the  nations  of  Europe  held  it,  with,  perhaps,  the  exception  of  the  Gauls 
— though  even  here  it  is  not  very  clear.  Pythagoras,  who  introduced  the  theory 
of  metempsychchosis  into  Greece,  was  popularly  supposed  to  have  derived  it 
from  India.  At  any  rate,  the  Greeks  understood  it  to  be  entirely  foreign.  The 
Persians  had  no  such  doctrine,  as  far  as  we  can  discover  from  the  ancient  writers, 
or  the  Zend-Avesta.  It  is  only  in  India  that  we  have  a  perfect  instance  of  an 
Aryan  people  holding  the  idea  of  transmigration,  or  re-incarnation.  It  must, 
therefore,  have  been  derived  from  some  source  outside  the  circle  of  the  Indo- 
European  races  ;  and,  as  we  know  that  India  was  thickly  peopled  by  tribes  in  a 
comparatively  low  state  of  culture  at  the  time  of  the  Aryan  invasion,  the  obvious 
explanation  is,  that  the  Hindus  derived  all  their  ideas  of  re-incarnation  from  their 
savage  neighbors. 

Anthropology  is  continually  giving  us  instances  of  customs  and  beliefs  that 
appear  exceptionable  among  higher  races,  and  yet  are  the  common  practice 
among  the  lower ;  and  these  strange  theories  of  the  Australian  blackfellows  will 
enable  us  to  understand  that  the  religious  doctrines  of  miraculous  conceptions 
are  not  inexplicable  and  ineffable  mysteries  ;  but  are  merely  the  belated  survivals 
of  the  erroneous  ideas  of  our  savage  ancestors. 


Cbrietian  Science^ 

:o: 

BY   AN    IDLER. 

:o: 


Mr.  Eovi^ARD  Steadman,  C.S.D.,  lectured  in  Massey-hall,  Toronto,  a  week  or 
so  ago,  on  Christian  Science.  The  hall  was  crowded,  and  the  Star  devoted  two 
columns  to  the  report  of  it.  I  waded  through  the  weary  waste  of  words  in  a 
vain  endeavor  to  obtain  some  glimpse  of  common  sense.  As  I  read  more  and 
more  the  idea  was  impressed  on  my  mind  that  certain  statements  were  wanting 
to  thoroughly  clarify  the  lecture.  It  was  necessary  for  a  proper  understanding 
of  the  matter  to  know  just  how  many  dollars  and  cents  Mr.  Steadman  made  an- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  323 

nually  as  a  C.  S.  D.,  how  many  he  made  prior  to  his  conversion,  and  how  much 

his  services   would   be  worth   in  any   other  capacity   than    as  a   C.  S.  D.     F'or 

nothing  else  besides  substantial  financial  reasons  can  I  understand  why  anyone 

would  pile  up  such  Pelions  of  nonsense  on  top  of  such  Ossas  of  humbug.     The 

whole  thing  reeked  of  charlatanism.     There  was  a  mechanical  mixture  of  words 

of 

"  Learned  length  and  thunderous  sound," 

to  overawe  the  ignorant  ;  and  a  few  allusions  to  the  first  and  second  persons  of 
the  Godhead,  with  a  few  texts  to  give  the  mixture  a  religious  flavor  to  suit  the 
superstitious. 

Why  it  is  called  Christian  Science  I  do  not  know.  Assuredly,  there  is  but 
very  little  Christianity  about  it,  and  still  less  science.  For  the  last  nineteen 
centuries,  priest,  presbyter,  parson,  and  pastor  have  prayed  that  the  "  sick  and 
afflicted  be  restored  to  their  wonted  health,"  and  the  lesson  of  the  centuries  is, 
that  prayer  has  no  therapeutic  value. 

Bu  what  was  denied  to  the  zeal  of  the  theologian  or  the  piety  of  the  saint  was 
revealed  lo  Mrs.  Eddy,  of  New  York.  Christ,  the  Divine  Healer,  used  neither 
lancet  nor  powder  nor  pill,  and  Mrs.  Eddy  claims  to  have  discovered  how  he  did 
it.  It  was  certainly  fortunate  that  the  discovery  was  not  made,  as  discoveries  so 
often  are,  by  persons  who  give  the  best  of  their  brain  and  their  life  to  their  fellow 
man,  but  by  a  lady  with  the  Midas  touch,  who  straightway  turned  it  into  a  few 
comfortable  millions.  We  only  know  what  Jesus  did  from  the  Evangelists,  and 
a  good  many  orthodox  people  are  not  a  little  puzzled  to  say  how  much  of  their 
reports  is  true,  and  how  much  is  due  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  reporters  ;  but 
such  slight  things  as  these  make  no  difference  to  Christian  Scientists. 

Christ  not  only  healed  the  sick,  but  raised  the  dead,  so  that,  according  to  Mr. 
Steadman,  there  is  no  reason  why,  if  there  were  sufificient  cash  in  it,  Mrs.  Eddy 
should  not  proceed  to  depopulate  the  graveyards. 

Christian  Science  recognizes  no  diseases  as  fatal.  All  alike  can  be  cured  by 
the  proper  incantations,  and  henceforth  Christian  Scientists  should  live  for  ever 
or  else  die  in  perfect  good  health. 

Germs,  bacilli,  bacteria,  and  the  hidden  worlds  of  the  microscope,  are  but 
delusions.  No  one  is  afflicted  with  disease;  only  an  overdose  of  carnal  mind, 
to  be  charmed  away  by  Mrs.  Eddy's  patent  one-dollar  prayers. 

The  serious  aspect  of  such  a  question  is  not  the  harm  this  foolish  belief  may 
inflict  on  its  dupes,  but  the  ignorance  and  superstition  which  it  proves  still  exists 
in  our  midst.     This  is  chiefly  the  work  of  our  good  Mother  Church. 


As  to  the  priestly  organization,  the  practical  effect  of  the  Christian  organization 
— the  church — has  always  been  averse  to  morality,  and  is  so  now. —  William 
Ktngdon  Clifford. 


324  .  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

flDaJ)  flDur6ocft'6  animal  Stories. 

:o: 

THE  ELEPHANT. 

There  are  not  many  scientists  in  our  tribe,  but  what  there  are  have  been  trying 
to  trace  our  family's  origin  back  to  the  baboon  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the 
opossum  on  the  other.  They  may  both  be  wrong,  but  I  feel  morally  certain  that 
one  is.  My  own  observations  confirm  my  first  impressions — that  we  resemble 
the  elephant  family  more  than  either  of  the  others.  I  don't  think  that  it  matters 
now,  as  we  have  been  ourselves  so  long,  that  a  return  to  our  original  form  and 
habits  would  be  too  radical  a  change  for  the  majority  of  us,  as  we  are  strongly 
conservative. 

There  are  some  Reformers  among  us  who  call  themselves  Utilitarians.  They 
theorize  that  the  vital  energy  expended  in  developing  our  noses  might  ail  be 
saved  and  the  expectancy  of  life  increased  by  twenty-one  and  seven-eleventh 
years  by  using  our  tails  instead  of  our  trunks.  The  theory  would  be  all  right 
but  for  the  fact  that  our  tails  have  not  been  attached  to  the  right  end  for  trunk 
purposes. 

Our  family  come  partly  from  India  and  partly  from  Africa,  and  some  of  our 
forbears  used  to  roam  in  northern  countries  where  there  does  not  appear  that 
there  was  much  to  live  on,  save  the  cached  provisions  of  the  Arctic  explorers. 
Some  humans  say  that  these  places  enjoyed  a  tropical  climate  in  those  old  days, 
but  they  have  little  besides  ice  to  support  their  contentions  now.  Perhaps  these 
forefathers  of  ours  were  explorers  and  were  seeking  ihe  North-west  Passage,  or 
mayhap  they  were  missionaries  to  the  heathen  elephants  of  those  northern  soli- 
tudes, to  bring  them  to  a  knowledge  of  a  savior  and  of  the  advantages  of  a  sys- 
tem of  taxation — for  revenue  only,  the  true  Reform  principle.  Anyhow,  that 
they  did  go  there  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  they  did  not  get  away,  but  were 
gathered  to  their  mothers— fathers  being  dead — without  benefit  of  clergy. 

Our  family  in  India  consists  of  an  unlimited  monarchy  ;  each  one  of  us  being 
a  king  in  his  own  right,  unless  he  happens  to  be  a  quec;n.  Our  rule  is  the  law 
of  the  strong,  and  we  fear  nothing  save  small  dogs  ;  the  smaller  the  dog,  the 
greater  our  fear,  as  he  might  run  up  our  legs  or  get  into  our  noses.     Waugh  ! 

Our  masters,  who  know  us  and  whom  we  know,  only  part  with  us  when  they 
lack  rupees  and  are  in  the  hands  of  the  lenders  of  money  ;  those  who  will  take 
a  mortgage  on  their  patrimony — the  word  "  mortgage  "  is  rendered  in  Bengalese 
"  death-grip,"  and  is  a  fair  term  and  in  accordance  with  such  case  made  and  pro- 
vided. We  are  then  sold  to  some  Philanthropists,  who  take  us  over  the  black 
water  and  chain  us  up  in  a  park,  that  the  children  of  the  poor  white  trash 
may  gaze  on  us  and  vex  our  souls  with  the  smell  of  peanuts  that  they  may  not 
give  to  us. 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  325 

It  is  all  very  wonderful,  and  is  a  proof  to  us  that  the  great  and  merciful  Father 
who  is  all  wise  does  things  that  are  all  foolish.  How  do  we  know  that  the  sahibs 
of  the  RICH  WHITE  TRASH  are  Philanthropists  ?  It  is  very  simple.  They  have 
lands,  or  mills,  or  tramways,  the  gift  of  persons  now  dead.  These  the  poor  white 
trash  must  use,  or  die  for  want  of  things.  The  sahibs  let  them  work  for  wages, 
and  pay  them  so  much  that  if  they — the  poor — live  on  less  than  they  receive 
they  can  save.  Now,  were  it  but  one  rupee  per  mensem  that  is  saved,  there  be 
twelve  rupees  in  a  year.  These  they  can  put  in  the  sahib's  bank  and  get  interest. 
In  forty  or  fifty  years  they  can  have  many  rupees,  with  which  to  fee  the  fathers 
of  the  public  trust,  and  so  get  a  gift  of  lands  or  roads,  and  become  sahibs.  Had 
the  sahibs  given  but  living  wage,  could  these  things  be? 

Again,  the  sahibs  take  the  profit  of  the  labor  of  the  workers,  and  with  it  buy 
one  of  us  to  stand  in  a  park  through  all  eternity.  Had  they  not  been  philan- 
thropists, they  would  have  taken  their  lakhs  of  rupees  to  the  grave  with  them, 
and  so  have  hidden  the  light  of  their  countenance  from  a  hell-deserving  world. 

But  are  the  banks  of  the  sahibs  safe  ?  Will  the  lake  dry  up  that  is  fed  by  the 
streams  from  the  everlasting  hills,  and  that  hath  no  outlet? 

There  have  been  inroads  on  our  family  by  the  princes,  the  yonnger  sons  of 
the  sahibs,  who  came  out  with  fire-irons,  servants,  and  reporter?,  and  shot  us  to 
death  in  the  jungle  ;  but  they  talk  of  saving  our  lives  now,  as  if  there  were  none 
of  us  there  would  be  no  balls  to  knock  about  on  green-cloth-covered  tables,  and 
no  chance  for  the  son  of  a  would-be  sahib  to  say  between  hiccups  — 

"  Go  y'  five  bucks  I  win  this  game,  ole  fella." 


^be  Ibigber  dtitxce  anb  SupcrnaturaU^m* 

:o: 

BY    JOHN    MADDOCK. 

:o: 

Your  criticism  of  Sir  Robert  Anderson's  article,  "  Blasphemers  or  Benefactors," 
is  worthy  of  a  Secularist's  steel.  It  does  not  matter  who  wrote  the  Bible  ;  every- 
thing in  it  is  now  before  the  bar  of  science  and  reason.  Defenders  of  the  Bible, 
it  must  be  expected,  will  appeal  to  authority  instead  of  to  truth,  because  the 
latter  is  not  of  their  theological  dispensation.  Sir  Robert's  question  applies  to 
the  men  who  wrote  the  Bible  rather  than  to  the  Higher  Critics.  The  former 
libel  both  God  and  man,  while  the  latter  seek  to  purify  theology  and  to  be  more 
charitable  to  the  human  race.  The  Higher  Critics,  therefore,  are  benefactors  to 
that  extent — they  are  in  line  in  the  grand  march  of  intellectual  evolution. 

The  Higher  Critics  have  lived  in  every  age  since  Naturalism  was  born  ;  it  has 
been  their  special  function  to  battle  against  the  supernatural  fallacies  set  forth 
under  the  name  of  divine  revelations,  which  are  now  positively  shown  to  be  a 
lot  of  incoherent  and  unverifiable  human  assumptions.     When  the  people  learn 


326  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

this  fact  thoroughly,  and  fully  realize  how  they  have  been  deceived,  they  will  not 
be  long  in  deciding  between  the  teachers  of  the  old  Christian  theology  and  the 
Higher  Critics. 

It  is  really  amusing  to  see  such  men  as  Sir  Robert  Anderson  and  Goldwin 
Smith  predicting  the  lowering  of  the  morals  of  the  people  generally,  when  they 
fully  realize  what  sad  havoc  the  Higher  Critics  are  making  of  the  old  barbarous 
religious  beliefs.  They  seem  to  think  that  morality  is  a  specific  result  of  a  specific 
belief  in  "  old  wives'  fables,"  and  that  when  the  fables  are  destroyed,  morality  is 
slain.  Both  of  them  are  very  poor  students  of  history,  or  they  would  know  that 
the  morals  of  the  people  were  not  lowered  by  the  Lutheran  reformation,  nor  by 
any  reform  that  has  taken  place  since  Moral  and  intellectual  reform  keep  pace 
together;  hence  there  is  no  danger  of  morality  declming  with  the  demolition  of 
superstition.  Genuine  morality  is  sure  to  hold  its  own,  and  the  artificial  kind, 
which  is  now  kept  up  by  fear  of  punishment  and  coaxing  reward,  will  be  kept 
from  declining  by  stern  governmental  law.  If  morality  depends  upon  a  specific 
belief  in  fables,  then  the  Higher  Critics  had  better  let  Christian  theology  alone. 
We  Secularists  do  not  want  morality  lowered,  we  want  it  raised,  because  we  know 
that  the  happiness  of  mankind  will  be  increased  thereby. 

Rationalistic  Materialism  seems  to  bother  such  men  as  Sir  Robert  Anderson 
and  Goldwin  Smith,  and  well  it  may.  Rationalists  are  not  wasting  time  on 
"  collateral  issues  ;"  they  are  strictly  attending  to  the  "  vital  point  "  of  the  great 
controversy — Rationalism  vs.  Supernaturalism,  which  means  sanity  against  in- 
sanity ;  the  insanity  being  in  the  foolish  contention  that  things  can  be  immaterial, 
that  miracle  is  possible,  that  old  wives'  fables  are  divine  revelations  of  truth,  and 
that  God  commissioned  a  church  to  preach  the  only  gospel  to  every  creature — a 
church  that  never  had  anything  to  offer  but  contradicto-y  theological  assump- 
tions, and  that  never  was  adequately  equipped  to  perform  such  a  great  and 
momentous  work.  The  question  is  indeed  one  of  "tremendous  urgency,"  and 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  supernaturalists  are  getting  frantic  about  the  loss  of  their 
airy  ideals. 

Rationalistic  Materialism  can  verify  all  of  its  statements  ;  Supernaturalism 
cannot ;  it  has  nothing  but  subjective  assumptions  to  offer ;  it  stands  before  the 
bar  of  science  and  reason  like  the  man  in  the  parable  of  the  marriage  feast,  who 
did  not  have  on  a  wedding  garment.  With  the  false  idea  of  the  supernatural 
came  the  false  dogma  of  omnipotence.  Both  will  die  together  before  the  grand 
march  of  Rationalism. 


The  Bible  is  being  offered,  we  are  told,  as  a  premium  to  the  subscribers  of  a 
newspaper  in  Texas,  and  is  taking  in  good  shape.  Texans  are  fond  of  novelties, 
and  Bibles  have  hitherto  baen  pretty  scarce  down  there.  What  the  subscribers 
will  do  with  them  when  they  begin  to  read  them  is  questionable. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  827 


H  Ibinboo  IPiew  of  tbe  Salvation  Hrmi?. 

:o: 

IN  our  issue  of  Friday  last  appeared  an  account  of  how  the  Salvationists, —white, 
)lack  and  yellow — performed  their  "  Two  Days  With  God  "  ceremony  in  London. 
"he  Vaishnavas  have,  in  the  same  manner,  their  ''  Chabbish  Proharies  "  or  "  two- 
lays'-ceremony."     The   Vaishnavas   spend  these  forty-eight  hours  in  "  kirtan  "  ; 
Salvationists  did   almost  the   same  thing.     They,  these  Salvationists,  began  with 
msic,  and    "  a   hymn  was  sung  with  full-throated  energy  by  the  multi-colored 
pirong."     The  General  (Booth)  then  ordered  the  clapping  of  hands,  and  again 
the  verse  was  sung  to  an  accompanying  fusillade  of  hand-claps."     The  Vaish- 
navas have  their  cymbals,  and   those   who  have  them   not  accompany  the  Kirtan 
songs  with  "a   fusillade   of  claps."     The   Salvationists   added  to  the  volume  of 
sound  by   crying  "  Glory  !  "  or  "  Hallelujah  !  "     The  Vaishnavas  have  their  cry 
of  •'  Joy  ! "   which  also  means  "  glory  "  or  "  hallelujah."     They  "  swayed  to  and 
fro  in  ecstasy,"  and  this  the  Vaishnavas  also  do.     Some  "  laughed  aloud,''  and 
some  no  doubt   wept   (though   it   is   not  mentioned),  as  the  Vaishnavas  do.     In 
shoit,  the  Salvationists  have  adopted    the  Kirtan  of  the  Vaishnavas,  though"  for 
reasons  to  be  explained  presently,  in  a  partial  manner. 

We  fear  the  Salvationists  are  trying  to  accomplish  something  which  is  hardly 
possible,  namely,  to  make  two  incompatibles  meet.  Would  you  give  a  pair  of 
wings  to  an  elephant?  Or,  the  beak  of  a  bird  to  a  lion  ?  The  beak  would  not 
fit  in  the  lion  who  has  to  kill  buffalo,  and  the  wings  will  not  suit  an  elephant  who 
is  too  heavy  for  flying  in  the  air.  In  the  same  manner,  a  picture,  representing  a 
hippopotamus  or  a  rhino  dancing,  would  be  considered  fantastic.  In  the  same 
manner,  we  say,  dancing  and  laughing  scarcely  suits  Christianity,  as  it  is  taught 
by  the  priests.  To  be  faithful  to  his  creed,  the  devout  Christian  should  appear 
before  God  with  a  rueful  face,  beating  his  breast  and  tearing  his  hair.  Such  an 
attitude  will  suit  him  better  than  dancing  and  singing. 

God  has  his  sweetness,  for  he  granted  the  bliss  of  love  and  immortal  life  to 
man.  He  has  his  mightiness,  too,  as  indicated  by  hurricanes,  earthquakes,  and 
the  like.  Vaishnavism  is  the  only  religion  which  worships  his  sweetness  alone. 
The  Vaishnavas  have  given  God  the  figure  of  a  beautiful  youth,  bedecked  with 
wild  flowers  and  peacock  feathers,  and  armed  with  no  other  weapon  than  a  flute 
by  which  he  bewitches  his  creatures. 

Every  other  religion  prescribes  mainly  the  worship  of  the  mightiness  of  God, 
and  seems  to  scarcely  recognize  his  sweetness.  Thus,  even  one  of  our  goddesses 
has  a  sword  in  one  hand,  though  this  fearful  aspect  is  sought  to  be  counter- 
balanced by  another  hand  offering  assurance  and  blessings.  The  Christians  do 
not  give  any  form  to  the  deity  ;  nevertheless  their  description  of  God  excites, 
more  fear  than  love.  God,  according  to  them,  is  "jealous  ;"  he  is  "  wrathful  " 
and  •*  vindictive."     He  at  one  time  destroyed  in  bis  wrath  all  men  on  earth,  with 


328  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

the  exception  of  half-a-dozen  elect.  He  has  in  readiness  hell-fire  for  the  damned 
where  he  will  hurl  his  creatures  and  torment  them.  In  this  manner,  he  will  keep 
the  damned  for  ever  and  ever  in  eternal  suffering.  He  is  ever  on  the  alert  to 
find  fault  with  his  creatures ;  and,  though  belief  and  unbelief  are  beyond  the 
control  of  men,  he  will  punish  with  eternal  fire  those  who  have  no  faith  in  him 
or  his  son.  In  this  manner  it  is  only  a  select  few  who  will  be  permitted  to  enter 
heaven,  and  the  vast  majority  will  be  tormented  in  hell  for  ever  and  ever  more. 

Those  who  have  read  Dante  are  so  overcome  by  horror  and  fear  that  we  think 
it  is  a  book  which  no  sensitive  man  or  woman  should  read.  Fancy  a  man  or 
a  woman  converted  into  a  tree  or  stone  for  their  sins,  without  the  power  of 
motion  but  fully  alive,  and  thus  living  an  everlasting  life  of  torture. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  above  description  is  to  be  found  what  an 
orthodox  Christian  believes.  For  ourselves,  we  believe  in  the  Divinity  of  Christ. 
We  believe  that  every  sincere  Christian  will  be  saved.  What  Jesus  taught  was 
perhaps  suited  to  the  fierce  races  of  the  West.  Perhaps  Christ  has  been  misin- 
terpreted or  misunderstood.  It  would  be  impertinent  on  our  pert  to  find  fault 
with  the  teachings  of  a  prophet  of  God.  What  we  only  mean  to  say  is  that  the 
Vaishnavas  have  one  method  of  worshipping  God,  and  the  Christians,  have 
another.  The  Vaishnavas  worship  the  sweetness  of  God,  so  dancing  and 
singing  suit  them.  The  Christians  worship  what  is  dreadful  in  God,  and  Kirtan 
therefore  does  not  suit  them. 

The  Methodists  are  the  natural  products  of  Christianity  as  taught  by  the 
priests.  The  most  important  duty  of  a  man,  according  to  Christians,  is  to  avert 
eternal  damnation,  which  a  wrathful  God,  always  seeking  an  opportunity  of 
venting  his  anger  upon  his  creatures,  has  kept  ready  for  them.  Man  is  naturally 
a  sinful  creature  ;  he  is  led  from  one  sin  to  another,  and  the  chances  of  his 
escape  are  feeble.  The  chances  of  entering  heaven  are  so  small  that  gigantic 
efforts  are  to  be  made  to  secure  it.  And  the  Methodist,  therefore,  prays  for 
forgiveness;  he  beats  his  breast  and  tears  his  hair,  and  groans  his  agony.  The 
preachers  describe  the  tortures  of  hell-fire  and  the  shrieks  of  the  damned,  so 
that  the  hearers  go  into  hysterics,  and  some  even  lose  their  senses  altogether. 

We  think  this  altitude  is  more  natural  in  a  Christian  than  the  holy  dance  of 
the  Vaishnavas.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Salvationists  have  blended  the  two — 
Vaishnavism  and  Christianity  — and  created  a  curious  mixture,  which  is  unnatural. 

Why  do  the  Salvationists  dance  and  sing,  clap  their  hands  and  laugh  in 
ecstasy?  It  is  because  each  thinks  he  is  saved.  Let  us  quote  here  from  the 
Proceedings  of  the  "  Two  Days  With  God  "  ceremony  of  the  Salvationists  : 

"  A  burly  Australian  told  the  story  of  his  conversion.  The  listening  soldiers 
broke  in  ever  and  anon  with  cries  of  *  Praise  the  Lord,'  '  It's  true,'  *  I  believe  it.' 
Each  nation,  after  its  kind,  showed  its  joy  in  the  recital.  The  blacks  swayed  to 
and  fro  in  ecstasy,  the  soberer  Teutons   beamed,  the  United  Slates  delegates 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  329 


lauj^hed    aloud,  and   one  and   all  at    the  close  sent  up  a  thunderclap  of  *  I'm 
ved.'  " 

So,  at  the  ceremony  referred  to  above,  their  war  cry  was  "  I  am  saved,"  and 
thus  they  were  happy.  They  were  happy  that  they  had  escaped  the  clutches  of 
God  who  had  destined  them  for  everlasting  damnation.  They  were  happy, 
because  they  form  ihe  select  minority  who  will  go  to  heaven,  and  the  others  to  hell. 
But  the  happiness  which  has  self  for  its  basis  is  not  ecstasy — the  ecstasy  which 
leads  the  devotee  to  dance  and  sing.  The  fact  is,  the  ecstasy  of  the  Vaishnavas 
proceeds  from  a  cause  which  is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  Salvationists. 
The  Vaishnava  conception  of  God  is  that  he  is  the  partner  of  the  soul  and 
therefore  dearer  than  all  men.  They  realize  the  fundamental  creed  upon  which 
Vaishnavism  is  based,  namely,  that  "  He  is  mine  and  I  am  his."  The  realization, 
though  partial,  of  such  an  idea  causes  ecstasy,  and  ecstasy  is  followed  by  its 
manifestations,  such  as  dancing  and  singing.  In  the  Vaishnava  "  Kirtan  "  there 
is  no  thonght  of  punishment  or  reward,  or  self-salvation,  or  of  hell  or  brimstone. 
The  Vaishnava  dances  because  he  has  a  great  future  ;  the  Salvationist  dances 
because  he  has  escaped  hell,  as  an  accused  dances  when  a  convicting  magistrate 
of  India  has  acquitted  him.  The  prisoner  does  not  dance  for  his  love  of  the 
magistrate,  nor  do  the  Salvationists  for  their  love  of  God — they  dance  because  of 
their  escape  from  punishment. 

We  know  that  men  who  serve  Christ  sincerely  will  be  saved,  as  men  who  serve 

e  Krishna  will  be.     But  what  we  contend  for  is  this  :  if  you  remain  Christian 

a  Methodist  ;  instead  of  dancing,  roll   on   the  ground  in  the  anguish  of  your 

a\  ;  instead  of  clapping   your  hands   in  joy,  beat  your  breast  in  agony;  and 

instead  of  singing,  utter  groans.     But  if  you  will  adopt  Kirtan,  then  accept  him, 

the  Avatar  of  Nadia,  Sree  Gauranga,  who  brought  it  into  the  world  for  the  benefit 

(A  mankind,  and    his  idea  of  God  as  a  partner  of  the  soul.     To  accept  Kirtan, 

and  not  to  accept   Sree  Krishna  and  Sree  Gauranga,  or  to  remain  Christian  and 

dance   and    sing,  is    to    make    sweet  religion  ridiculous. — The    Amrita  Bazar 

Pntrika^  Calcutta. 


Iln  Xigbter  Dcln* 

:o: 

BY    ERNEST    PACK,    IN   "AGNOSTIC   JOURNAL." 

:o: 

A  CANTERBURY  TALE. 

His  Grace  of  Canterbury  is,  by  some,  considered  a  rare  humorist,  and  I  am 
disposed  to  agree,  feeling  thankful  there  are  only  a  few  such.  Maybe  it  was  on 
account  of  his  facetiousness  that  he  was  dubbed  ai-c/^ bishop.  His  latest  discourse 
was  delivered  to  a  number  of  old  dames  and  duchesses  on  the  duties  of  mother- 
V>ood.    The  subject  was  "  Milk,"  and,  naturally,  the  Primate  skimmed  very  lightly 


330  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


over  the  topic.  But  his  remarks  were  to  the  pint  and  well  condensed,  as  usual. 
We  are  told  that  His  Grace  "  suggested  that  the  members  of  the  Mothers'  Union 
were  not,  of  necessity,  medical  officers,  nor  sanitary  inspectors,  but  he  meekly 
and  mildly  suggested  that  the  daily  milk  should  be  well  overhauled,  boiled,  and 
generally  inspected."  VV^e  are  not  told,  however,  which  is  the  first  process,  and 
I  should  like  very  much  to  know.  When  a  lecturer  gets  £15,000  a  year  for 
discoursing  on  milk,  cow's  milk,  ass'  milk,  and  "the  pure  milk  of  the  word,"  he 
should  give  full  particulars,  or  somebody  will  certainly  overhaul  and  inspect  him, 
though  they  may  draw  the  line  at  the  boiling  point.  1  once  had  something  to 
do  with  a  quart  of  milk,  but  whether  I  proceeded  correctly  or  not  I  cannot  say. 
I  think  the  method  was  this.  I  boiled  it  first,  then,  turning  suddenly  round, 
overhauled  it,  as  also  did  the  cat  and  her  four  kittens. 

But  I  presume  this  is  not  the  sort  of  inspection  to  which  the  Archbishop 
refers.  I  fancy,  when  he  advises  mothers  to  inspect  their  daily  milk,  what  he 
means  is  that  they  should  search  the  bottom  of  the  jug  to  ascertain  that  some 
eager  kitten  has  not  climbed  up  on  theft  intent,  and  accidentally  started  for 
Abraham's  bosom,  via  the  milky  way.  Who  knows  ?  Perhaps  in  his  early  days, 
His  Grace  may  have  been  nearly  choked  while  in  the  act  of  gulping  down  a  big 
draught,  through  having  failed  to  fish  out  a  door-knob  or  a  cake  of  "Sunlight," 
and,  if  so,  small  wonder  he  recommends  others  to  boil  the  milk.  But  another 
difficulty  must  be  met.  Allowing  a  cake  of  soap  to  have  fallen  in,  unperceived, 
the  flavor  would  not  be  over  palatable  ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  boiled  kitten  the 
same  objection  would  arise,  and  all  the  overhauling  and  inspecting  in  the  wide, 
wide  world  would  not  make  the  stuff  drinkable.  So,  my  dear  Canterbury,  you 
see,  that  though  we  have  settled  the  kitten,  the  question  has  still  to  be  solved. 
Unless  I  hear  more  about  this  in  a  week  or  two,  I  shall  agitate  for  2s.  6d.  per 
week  to  be  docked  off  your  salary — I  should  say,  wages  —that  is,  I  beg  pardon  — 
stipend  :  yes,  that's  it,  stipend — or — er— emolument.     What  ? 


HAVE  YOU  READ  THIS? 

I  read  that  the  "  Kah-gyur,"  or  Tibetan  Bible,  consists  of  108,000  pages.  It 
comprises  108  volumes,  and  weighs  1,080  lbs.,  or  something  about  half-a-ton  ; 
and  placed  volume  upon  volume  it  stands  seventy-two  feet  high.  The  ])rice  of 
it  is  seven  thousand  oxen  per  copy,  which  figure,  however,  does  not  include  225 
volumes  of  commentaries  which  are  necessary  for  its  understanding,  nor  the 
large  collection  of  revelations  which  supplement  the  B  ble  I  have  placed  an 
order  for  fifty  copies,  and  anyone  may  have  one,  upon  application  to  the  offices 
of  the  A.  y.,  as  far  as  they  will  go.  First  come,  first  served.  A  ladder,  seventy- 
two  feet  long,  will  be  given  with  each  copy,  in  case  the  applicant  should  not  be 
tall  enough  to  reach  the  top  volume.  The  books  in  each  case  will  be  sent  home, 
carriage  paid,  in  a  large  pantechnicon.  I  am  doing  this  to  encourage  a  healthy 
taste  for  literature,  and  trust  the  effort  will  be  appreciated.  Saladin  asks  me  to 
say  that  as  he  is  not  in  any  way  busy  just  now,  he  is  pre[):ired  to  read  it  to  any 
who  desire  him  to  do  so. 


MISSIONS  AND  MUSIC. 

The  Bishop  of  Manchester  recently  said,  "  In  iny  opinion  there  is  nothing 
like  the  cornet  for  open-air  services."  A  hit,  a  pali)able  hit,  my  Lord  Bishop. 
There  never  was,  is  not,  and   never   will   be,  anything  like  the  cornet,  world 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  331 


without  end,  Amen.  It  is  good  for  mission  services,  and  is  a  fine  forerunner  of 
burial  services.  I  look  upon  the  cornet  player  as  a  criminal,  and  the  instrument 
he  carries  as  a  deadly  weapon.  The  further  away  you  get  from  this  brazen 
thing  the  better  you  like  it  ;  in  fact,  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  sound. 
In  the  hands  of  a  Reynolds,  it  may  be  coaxed  into  giving  off  the  soothing 
strains  that  are  the  solace  of  the  soul.  But,  in  the  clutches  of  the  inexperienced, 
the  cornet,  with  its  fearful  blast,  can  be  said  to  constitute  only  a  blasted 
nuisance. 


OWED  TO  A  CORNET. 

The  ''  musician  "  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the  fold, 

And  his  cornet  was  gleaming  like  nine  carat  gold  ; 

And  he  strained,  till  the  tears  down  his  cheeks  you  could  see, 

As  he  "  murdered  "  "  The  Bonnets  of  Bonnie  Dundee." 

Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  Summer  is  green, 
A  great  host  gathered  round  him,  at  sunset,  serene  ; 
Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  (when  once  he  had  blown) 
That  host  in  the  roadway  lay  withered  and  strewn. 

For  the  Angel  of  Death  fluttered  out  on  the  blast, 

And  the  air  that  he  breathed  was  for  each  man  the  last  ; 

Then  the  multitude  fell,  overcome  by  his  will 

As  their  "lights  "  were  snuffed  out  by  the  cornet  so  shrill. 

And  there  lay  the  steed  with  his  nostri's  all  wide, 
And  the  ass,  and  the  cow,  and  the  cat  by  her  side ; 
And  the  cocks  and  the  hens  stiffened  out  on  the  earth  ; 
And  their  feathers  were  scattered  from  Putney  to  Perth. 

And  there  lay  the  master,  distorted  and  pale, 
And  there  lay  the  missus,  and  there,  Abigail  ; 
And  the  tents  were  deserted,  and  stood  there  alone. 
Not  a  gipsy  survived  when  the  cornet  had  blown. 

And  the  *'  widdies  "  and  "kiddies  "  were  loud  in  their  wail, 

But  they  captured  the  player  and  clapped  him  in  gaol ; 

He  was  made  an  example,  and  slain  by  the  sword  ; 

Though  he  would  have  been  hanged,  had  they  found  the  Lost  Chord. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


THE  SOUL  IMMORTAL. 

The  Soul  immortal,  why  then  doth  the  mind 
Complain  of  death  ?     Why  not  rejoice  to  find 
Herself  let  loose,  and  leave  this  clay  behind, 
As  snakes,  whene'er  the  circling  year  returns, 
Rejoice  to  cast  their  skins,  or  deer  their  horns  ? 


— Lucretius  (first  century  B.C.)t 


332  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


Mrs.  Maine-town — Is  there  a  druggist  near  here,  boy  ?  I  want  to  get  some- 
thing for  my  nerves. 

Boy — You  needn't  bother,  ma'am.  You  can  get  all  the  drinks  you  want  right 
here  in  the  hotel. 


"  Mamma,"  said  Dolly,  after  she  had  listened  to  a  discussion  of  the  day's  news, 
"doesn't  the  Lord  know  how  big  this  country  is?"  "Why,  dear,"  exclaimed 
mamma,  shocked,  "  what  do  you  mean  ?  "  "  Well,"  replied  Dolly,  "  the  people 
in  New  York  prayed  for  rain,  and  it  landed  'way  out  in  Kansas  !  " 


Recently  four  children  of  an  Italian  named  Joseph  Oddo  were  conimitted  by 
a  magistrate,  upon  the  death  of  their  mother,  to  the  Catholic  asylum  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Dominic,  near  this  city,  and  the  father  was  instructed  by  the  court 
to  pay  the  asylum  $4  a  week  for  their  board.  Oddo  paid  the  money  up  till  last 
week,  when  he  found  himself  able  to  furnish  the  children  with  a  home  and  went 
to  reclaim  them.  Then  he  was  told  that  one  of  them,  a  little  girl,  had  been 
dead  for  six  weeks.  The  asylum  managers  had  not  only  neglected  to  inform  him 
of  the  death  of  his  child,  but  had  continued  to  receive  the  pay  for  her  board. 
Oddo  has  begun  proceedings  in  the  courts  to  recover  his  children  from  the 
religious  ghouls  and  grafters. — N,  Y.  Truth  Seeker. 


A  FALLACY  NAILED.— Mrs.  Brahma,"  cackled  the  Brown  Leghorn,  who 
was  something  of  a  Socialist,  "  I  should  think  you'd  protest  against  the  way  these 
incubators  are  depriving  you  of  your  rights  and  driving  you  out  of  business." 

"  Nonsense,"  clucked  the  Wise  Old  Hen  ;  "  they  are  depriving  me  of  nothing, 
but  on  the  contrary  are  relieving  me  of  much  unnecessary  toil.  You  will  observe, 
if  you  keep  your  eye  peeled,  that  I  still  furnish  the  raw  material." — Cleveland 
Leader. 


WHEN  SYLVIA  SPRAYS  THE  LAWN. 

When  Sylvia  in  the  morning  takes  the  sinuous  garden  hose 

And  flutters  to  the  verdant  spot  in  front, 
She  has  a  monster  sun-hat  set  to  shield  her  piquant  nose 

While  busy  with  that  world-refreshing  stunt. 
Then  woe  to  the  pedestrian  who  Coesn't  watch  and  dodge 
When  Sylvia  sprays  the  lawn  in  front  of  where  she's  known  to  lodge. 

When  Sylvia  holds  the  nozzle  pointed  out  toward  the  street 

And  looks  at  the  geraniums  near  by, 
There's  danger  on  the  sidewalk — O  you  never  saw  the  beat  ! 

For  Sylvia  has  a  wondrous  wand'ring  eye. 
Then  dodge  like  all  creation  when  you  pass  the  pretty  place, 
Where  Sylvia  sprays  the  verdancy  with  such  consummate  grace. 

O  many  a  stenographic  job  has  fallen  to  the  lot 

Of  that  particular  angel  who  records 
The  sin  that  is  most  common  when  humanity  gets  hot  — 

The  habit  of  employing  naughty  words — 
And  all  because  of  Sylvia  with  her  careless  little  way, 

When  she  takes  out  the  garden  hose  and  lets  the  nozzle  play. 


SEC  UL AE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Myr. 

V^OL.  XXXI.  No.  12. 

TORONTO,  JULY 

15, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

^be  Coming  of  tbc  Common  fiDan, 


■:o: 


For  centuries  the  world  has  been  preparing  for  the  coming  of 
the  common  man.  And,  the  period  of  preparation  virtually 
past,  labor,  conscious  of  itself  and  its  desires,  has  begun  a 
definite  movement  towards  solidarity.  It  believes  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  the  historian  will  speak  not  only  of  the 
dark  ages  of  feudalism,  but  of  the  dark  ages  of  capitalism. 
And  labor  sincerely  believes  itself  justified  in  this  by  the 
terrible  indictment  it  brings  against  capitalistic  society.  In 
the  face  of  its  enormous  wealth,  capitalistic  society  forfeits  its 
right  to  existence  when  it  permits  widespread,  bestial  poverty. 

All  the  social  forces  are  driving  man  on  to  a  time  when  the 
old  selective  law  will  be  annulled.  There  will  be  no  escaping 
it,  save .  by  the  intervention  of  catastrophes  and  cataclysms 
quite  unthinkable.  It  is  inexorable.  It  is  inexorable  because 
the  common  man  demands  it.  The  twentieth  century,  the 
common  man  says,  is  his  day  :  the  common  man's  day,  or, 
rather,  the  dawning  of  the  common  man's  day. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied.  The  evidence  is  with  him.  The 
previous  centuries,  and  more  notably  the  nineteenth,  have 
ifiarked  the  rise  of  the  common  man.  From  chattel  slavery 
to  serfdom,  and  from  serfdom  to  what  he  bitterly  terms  **  wage 
slavery,"  he  has  risen.  Never  was  he  so  strong  as  he  is  to- 
day, and  ?.iever  so  menacing.  He  does  the  work  of  the  world, 
and  he  is  beginning  to  know  it.  The  world  cannot  get  along 
without  him,  and  this  also  he  is  beginning  to  know.  All  the 
human  knowledge  of  the  past,  all  the  scientific  discovery, 
governmental  experiment,  and  invention  of  machinery,  have 
tended  to  his  advancement.  His  standard  of  living  is  higher. 
His  common  school  education   would  shame  princes  ten  cen- 


334  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


turies  past.  His  civil  and  religious  liberty  makes  him  a 
free  man,  and  his  ballot  the  peer  of  his  betters.  And 
all  this  has  tended  to  make  him  conscious — conscious  of 
himself,  conscious  of  his  class.  He  looks  abont  him  and 
questions  that  ancient  law  of  development.  It  is  cruel  and 
wrong,  he  is  beginning  to  declare.  It  is  an  anachronism.  Let 
it  be  abolished.  Why  should  there  be  one  empty  belly  in  all 
the  world,  when  the  work  of  ten  men  can  feed  a  hundred  ? 
What  if  my  brother  be  not  so  strong  as  I  ?  He  has  not  sinned. 
Wherefore  should  he  hunger — he  and  his  sinless  little  ones  ? 
Away  with  the  old  law.  There  is  food  and  shelter  for  all  ; 
therefore  let  all  receive  food  and  shelter. — Jack  London,  in 
*'  War  of  the  Classes'  (quoted  in  The  Conservator)^ 

EDITORIALS. 

As  was  plainly  foreseen,  the  coercion  clauses  of 

FINAL  PASSING  the  Autonomy  Bills,  founding  the  two  new  Pro- 

OF  THE  COERCION    vinces  of  Alberta  and  Saskatchewan,  have  been 

CLAUSES.  passed  through  their  final  stages  in  the  House 

of  Commons  at  Ottawa  by  a  vote  of  96  to  28. 

These  bills  give  special  rights  and  privileges  to  the  Catholics  in  the 
new  Provinces,  and,  however  unjust  or  detrimental  they  may  turn  out  in 
practice,  these  rights  and  privileges  can  only  be  modified  by  an  appeal 
to  the  Dominion  Parliament,  where  it  would  meet  with  the  opposition  of 
the  whole  Catholic  power  in  Canada,  or  to  the  Privy  Council,  which 
would  most  probably  refuse  to  interfere. 

The  cry  of  the  Government  party  throughout  the  discussion  has  been 
that  the  Bills  simply  perpetuate  the  present  system,  which  the  existing 
Territories  have  established  of  their  own  free  will.? 

The  iniquity  of  this  plea  should  present  itself  to  men  of  sense, — and 
perhaps  it  does, — but  this  made  no  difference  in  the  result.  In  our  view, 
the  Dominion  has  no  right  to  deal  with  the  matter  at  all,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  British  North  America  Act,  unless  a  grievance  has 
actually  arisen  which  demands  a  remedy.  If  the  Catholics  are  satisfied 
with  the  present  arrangement — and  it  is  admitted  that  they  are,  this 
being  the  very  ground  on  which  the  Government  ask  support, — then  no 
remedy  can  be  demanded,  for  no  grievance  exists. 

In  any  case,  no  Parliament  has  a  right  to  perpetuate  an  established 
system,  especially  under  circumstances  that  are  certain  to  be  modified 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  335 

very  greatly  in  the  future.  But  it  is  clear  that  the  Catholics  would  never 
have  made  such  a  strenuous  fight  for  the  hills  were  it  not  that,  instead 
of  merely  perpetuating  an  existing  system,  they  hope  to  gain  a  decided 
advantage  by  means  of  the  new  clauses,  with  which  the  Government 
has  done  so  much  juggling. 

It  is  something  to  offset  this  result,  however,  that  the  impudent  at- 
tempt to  establish  the  dual  language  system  in  the  new  Provinces  was 
frustrated  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote.  Such  an  attempt  exposes  the 
hollowness  of  the  pretensions  of  the  men  who  make  it,  whose  real  object 
is  the  subjection  of  the  whole  of  Canada  to  the  Catholic  system — an  aim 
largely  on  the  road  to  accomplishment,  however  it  may  be  defeated  in  the 
end.  Their  loudly-protested  loyalty  to  British  institutions  is  but  the 
pretence  of  religious  hypocrites,  who  are  using  the  freedom  secured  by 
those  institutions  to  fasten  on  their  country  the  chains  of  ecclesiastical 
tyranny. 

Thirty-eight  years  ago  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
DOMINION  DAY.  was  established  by  an  Act  of  the  British  Parlia- 

ment entitled  the  British  North  America  Act, 
upon  terms  that  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  leading  Canadian  politi- 
cians. Optimists  might  have  expected  that  a  young  country  thus  auspi- 
ciously launched,  with  an  almost  entirely  free  hand  in  the  management 
of  its  internal  affairs,  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  mother  coun- 
try's best  statesmen  and  with  its  history  and  experience  as  beacons,  and 
protected  from  foreign  complications  by  its  full  military  and  naval  power, 
would  have  avoided  the  mistakes  and  crimes  of  older  governments,  and 
would  have  had  an  unbroken  career  of  honorable  prosperity.  But  what 
has  been  the  result  ? 

Hardly  had  Confederation  been  consummated,  when  the  world  was 
startled  by  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  political  scandals  ever  heard  of. 
**  These  hands  are  clean  !  "  asserted  the  leading  Canadian  statesman  of 
his  own  share  in  it ;  but  **  Turn  the  rascals  out !  "  was  the  reply ;  and  a 
new  Government  tried  a  more  honest  policy,  only  to  be  defeated  in  a 
couple  of  years  or  so  by  the  corruptionists,  who  returned  to  power  to 
retain  it  for  eighteen  long  years. 

Once  more  a  turn-over  of  parties  occurred,  and  the  nominal  political 
descendants  of  the  *'  honest  "  party  were  again  returned  to  power,  after 
a  struggle  in  which  they  championed  the  cause  of  "  Provincial  Rights" 
against  the  coercion  policy  of  a  party  of  men  who  found  it  impossible 


336  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


to  keep  office  without  truckling  to  the  Catholics,  and  lost  it  by  doing  so. 
They  were  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  and  were  hopelessly  defeated. 

Barely  eight  years  have  elapsed,  and  the  "  honest  "  party,  which  had 
denounced  the  corruption  and  extravagance  of  its  predecessors,  and  pro- 
fessed to  have  settled  for  ever  the  school  question  on  the  basis  of  a  non- 
sectarian  school  system,  finds  itself  again  in  circumstances  very  similar 
to  those  amid  which  it  gained  office. 

What  is  now  its  position  ?  Its  economical  government  has  more  than 
doubled  the  national  revenue  and  expenditure,  it  has  created  a  new  crop 
of  millionaires  by  giving  away  the  public  domain  to  Crow's  Nest  Pass 
and  Grand  Trunk  schemers,  and  has  saddled  the  country  with  probably 
an  addition  to  its  debt  of  not  far  short  of  $200,000,000  ;  and  now  sup- 
ports the  Catholics  in  their  demand  for  the  establishment  of  sectarian 
schools  maintained  out  of  the  public  exchequer,  and  withholds  from 
Manitoba  the  settlement  of  her  admittedly  just  claim  until  she  agrees  to 
a  similar  arrangement  for  Manitoba. 

Each  recurring  Dominion  Day  should  be  a  source  of  pride  to  Cana- 
dians, but  it  rather  brings  a  blush  of  shame  to  our  cheeks  when  we  see 
the  liberties  of  our  country  bartered  by  our  politicians  to  the  agents  of 
the  Papacy  for  a  new  lease  of  power. 

We  think  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Pro- 
PROTESTANTS  testants  are  almost  entirely  to  blame  for  this 

THE  CAUSE  OF  outcome.     No  one  can    be   surprised    that   the 

THE  TROUBLE.  Catholic  priests  should  take  every  advantage  of 

events  to  forward  the  interests  of  their  church. 
No  one  can  blame  them.  We  might  as  well  blame  a  tiger  for  having 
stripes  on  his  skin  or  a  shark  for  having  sharp  teeth. 

But  the  Protestants  have  not  the  excuse  of  the  Catholics.  If  there  is 
any  rational  meaning  in  Protestantism,  it  is  that  the  State  should  keep 
its  hands  off  religion,  and  that  private  judgment  should  not  be  interfered 
with  by  any  authority,  ecclesiastical  or  secular.  We  know  how  little 
principles  are  adhered  to  by  either  priests  or  politicians  ;  but  centuries  of 
discussion,  dispute  and  oppression  should  have  opened  the  eyes  of  even 
the  most  bigoted  of  Protestants  to  the  dangers  of  any  policy  involving 
interference  in  religious  matters  by  secular  authorities.  In  its  best  as- 
pect, such  a  polic}^  must  lead  to  the  unjust  expenditure  of  public  funds  ; 
in  its  worst  aspect,  it  fosters  at  the  public  expense  the  most  dangerous 
features  of  a  connection  between  Church  and  State. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  337 

At  the  present  time,  the  policy  just  endorsed  by  the  Ottawa  Parlia- 
ment is  a  distinct  encouragement  to  the  Jesuits'  claims  to  the  complete 
control  of  all  education  ;  and  means  that,  in  the  new  Provinces,  educa- 
tion will  larprely  partake  of  the  character  of  that  of  Quebec,  where  the 
hulk  of  the  children  are  practically  uneducated. 

This  result  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  bigotry  of  the  Protestants, 
who  have  openly  admitted  that  they  would  sooner  have  Catholic  sepa- 
rate schools  than  permit  a  system  of  purely  secular  national  schools  to 
be  established.  While  such  a  spirit  prevails,  while  Protestants  demand 
that  some  sort  of  religious  teaching  shall  be  carried  on  in  the  public 
schools,  so  long  will  the  Catholics  be  justified  in  demanding  that  their 
separate  schools  shall  be  maintained. 

On  Sunday,  July  2,  the  14th  (Princess  of  Wales' 
ATTEMPTED  Own)  Regiment,   of  Kingston,  having   received 

TYRANNY  OF  THE  permission  from  the  Governor-General,  left  by 
LORD'S  DAY  the  steamer  America   for  a  visit  to  the  city  of 

ALLIANCE.  ■  Utica,  N.Y\,  by  which  city  they  had  been  invited 

to  pay  a  friendly  visit  until  the  evening  of  the 
4th.  One  would  have  thought  that  but  one  opinion  could  be  held  of  the 
mutual  advantage  of  such  an  exchange  of  international  courtesies.  But 
we  overlook  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance  when  we  form  such  an  opinion. 
This  body  of  selfish  and  bigoted  parasites  protested  against  the  soldiers 
being  allowed  to  leave  Kingston  on  Sunday,  though  it  is  certain  that 
their  Sunday  travelling  did  not  cause  one  extra  man  to  work.  In  their 
protest  these  mean-spirited  tyrants  say  : 

"It  is  disappointing  to  find  that  those  to  whom  we  most  naturally 
turn  as  the  upholders  of  the  institutions  should  be  so  publicly  concerned 
in  violation  of  the  day  of  rest." 

Imagine  these  parasites  regarding  the  military  forces  as  "  upholders 
of  the  institutions" — their  pet  institution  especially.  Is  it  the  case  that 
every  little  sectarian  Bethel  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  institutions 
the  soldiers  are  enlisted  to  uphold  ?  Is  it  "  following  Jesus  "  to  regard 
soldiers  as  the  proper  supporters  of  the  dogmas  of  the  church  '? 

It  is  about  time  that  both  soldiers  and  civilians  told  these  hypocritical 
pietists  that  they  are  as  well  qualified  to  settle  what  is  the  best  way  to 
utilize  the  day  of  rest  as  any  preacher  that  ever  lived.  Let  churchmen 
preach  and  pray  and  sing  psalms  all  day  long  if  they  choose  to  do  so ; 


338  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 

but  others  should  have  the  manliness  to  resent  the  impertinent  interfer- 
ence of  the  preachers'  trade  union  in  their  holiday  arrangements. 

Imagine  half  a  dozen  priests  and  lawyers  trying  to  stop  five  hundred 
men  from  paying  a  visit  of  courtesy  and  friendship  to  a  neighboring  city 
because  to  do  so  they  must  start  on  Sunday  morning  ! 

What  little  chance  there  is  of  anything  like  an 
*'  NO  U.  S.  MAILS  approach  to  a  serious  international  attempt  to 
THKOUGH  sfcop  the  present  extravagant  naval  and  military 

CANADA  !  "  preparations,  and   to  inaugurate  a  mutually  ad- 

vantageous system  of  commercial  intercourse  or 
of  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  disputes,  is  indicated  by  the  discus- 
sions that  have  arisen  out  of  the  quick  passages  made  by  the  new  boats 
of  the  Candian  ocean  mail  service,  which  have  rendered  it  possible  to 
deliver  mails  from  Europe  in  New  York  at  least  twenty-four  hours  sooner 
than  if  sent  by  the  older  lines. 

As  an  instance  of  w^hat  has  been  accomplished,  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  the  mails  delivered  at  Montreal  on  the  13th  of  June  were  brought 
from  England  by  the  Virginian  half-a-day  ahead  of  those  brought  by 
the  Baltic  via  New  York,  which  left  England  twenty-six  hours  before  the 
Virginian. 

Naturally,  one  would  think  such  a  service  would  be  welcomed  as  a  boon 
to  the  business  men  of  New  York — at  all  events,  until  their  own  ocean 
lines  were  equipped  with  vessels  of  a  better  type.     But  wait  a  bit. 

It  is  admitted  that  various  circumstances  might  discount  the  apparent 
gain,  and  that  a  winter  service  would  not  be  without  its  difficulties ;  but, 
we  are  told  from  New  York,  there  is  no  chance  of  any  such  scheme  being 
agreed  to  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  : 

"  Both  business  and  sentiment  would  militate  strongly  against  the 
United  States  Government  consenting  to  send  its  foreign  mails  through 
Canada,  even  if  a  few  hours  were  to  be  thereby  gained,  all  the  steamship 
men  who  were  questioned  agreed.  W.  R.  Willcox,  postmaster  in  New 
York,  concurred  entirely  with  them  on  this  point.  '  It  is  not  possible  to 
conceive  of  our  Government  taking  such  a  proposition  seriously,  if  it 
were  formally  put  forward,'  he  said.  '  Great  Britain  might  see  fit  to 
send  her  mail  through  Canada,  but  as  for  our  doing  the  same,  it  seems 
to  me  one  of  the  most  unlikely  things  I  have  ever  heard  of.'  " 

That  is  to  say,  the  mean,  grab-all,  **  patriotic,"  provincial  policy  of  the 
American  Government  finds  such  an  echo  in  the  sentiments  of  the  mass 
of  the  people  of  the  States,  that  even  a  rather  powerful  appeal  to  their 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  839 


business  interests  will  not  induce  them  to  make  an  arrangement  which 
might  benefit  their  neighbors.     It  is  a  cut-throat  policy. 

While  President  Roosevelt  is  posing  as  an  international  peacemaker, 
he  and  his  officials,  in  a  matter  where  their  own  interests  are  concerned, 
refuse  even  to  consider  a  proposition  that  would  help  to  cement  friendly 
sentiments  with  their  northern  neighbors. 

Nothing  seems  clearer  than  the  fact  that,  while  the  masses  require 
"governing,"  either  by  hereditary  rulers  as  in  Europe,  or  by  machine- 
elected  bureaucrats  as  in  America,  the  age  of  peace  is  nothing  but  a 
will-o'-the-wisp. 

A  few  weeks  ago  we  published  one  of  Goldwin 
GOLDWIN  SMITH'S  Smith's  letters  to  the  New  York  Sun,  in  which 
PHILOSOPHY.  he  stated  his  position  in  his  usual  cultured,  but 

undecided  style.  He  has  followed  this  by  several 
others,  all  marked  by  the  same  general  features,  and  the  last  of  which 
we  reprint  in  another  page.  In  the  former  letter,  Goldwin  Smith  attri- 
butes supreme  importance  to  the  questiofi  of  immortality,  but  the  most 
elementary  view  of  the  question  will  show  that  this  importance  can  be 
justified  upon  only  two  grounds — (1)  a  belief  in  immortality,  in  which 
case  the  concerns  of  the  future  eternal  life  must  necessarily  be  of  over- 
whelming importance  ;  and  (2)  the  fact  that  the  mass  of  ignorant  people 
have  such  a  belief,  which  must  be  conciliated  for  various  reasons,  in 
which  case  a  revolutionary  attack  upon  it  might  excusably  be  imagined 
to  be  highly  dangerous.  But  to  those  who  honestly  acknowledge  that 
a  future  life  is  inconceivable,  is  totally  unsupported  by  evidence,  and  is 
contrary  to  all  our  scientific  and  philosophical  notions,  its  importance 
sinks  into  nothingness  compared  with  that  of  our  present  existence. 

Mr.  Smith  saves  his  logic'by  qualifying  his  estimate  of  the  importance 
of  the  question  with  the  phrase,  "  if  we  have  any  means  of  solving  it." 
Just  so.  The  means  are  just  the  very  matters  in  dispute,  and  we  might 
expect,  after  such  a  sympathetic  pronouncement,  that  a  man  of  Goldwin 
Smith's  ability  would  give  us  some  tangible  hint  as  to  the  method  of  a 
possible  solution.     But  what  do  we  get  ? 

Mr.  Smith  at  once  admits  that  immortality  is  just  as  inconceivable  as 
eternity  or  infinity.  This,  of  course,  is  known  to  us  all.  And  then 
comes  the  question,  Of  what  use  can  a  future  life  be  to  us  if  it  is  not 
eternal?  Are  we  to  be  resurrected  so  as  to  be  the  recipients  of  ''eternal 
justice,"  and  to  have  all  our  wrongs  righted  in  some  inscrutable  way, 
only  to  be  sent  finally  to  the  limbo  of  non-existence  after  a  brief  respite  ? 


340  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

If  immortality  is  inconceivable,  a  future  finite  existence  seems  incon- 
ceivably absurd. 

Having  based  the  legitimacy  of  his  "  most  press- 
THE  VOICE  OF  ing  "  assumption  upon  the  questionable  existence 

CONSCIENCE.  of  the  means  of  solving  it,  Mr.  Smith   proceeds 

to  show  us  what  means  he  thinks  do  exist.  And 
first,  he  says — "  Conscience  tells  us,"  etc.  In  this  phrase,  very  possibly 
without  intending  it,  he  settles  in  the  affirmative  the  whole  question  of 
a  hereafter.  But  his  statement  is  open  to  a  fatal  objection.  '*  Con- 
science "  may  tell  some  men  w^hat  Goldwin  Smith  asserts,  but  it  may — 
and  does — tell  quite  a  different  story  to  others.  To  a  man  who  disbe- 
lieves in  a  continued  existence  after  death,  conscience  unquestionably 
asserts  that — if  there  be  a  future  life  where  justice  reigns — it  w'ill  be  as 
well  therein  as  it  possibly  can  be  with  the  man  who  has  done  his  best  in 
this  life.  Such  an  opinion,  l^owever,  is  manifestly  entirely  a  matter  of 
education,  and  varies  considerably ;  for  to  a  man  who  has  been  trained 
in  the  theological  subtleties  of  *'  sin,"  the  credentials  of  a  good  life  will 
have  little  value.  His  conscience  will  tell  him  that  one  short  minute  of 
scepticism  will  endanger  his  eternal  welfare. 

It  is  a  common  fallacy  with  many  men  besides  Goldwin  Smith  to 
regard  the  '*  universal  conscience  "  as  if  it  were  a  unit,  and  coincided 
with  their  own  conscience.  In  our  view,  the  man  is  a  lunatic  who  can 
,  imagine  that  the  same  moral  standard  is  appreciated  equally  by  a  Don 
Cossack  and  a  College  Professor,  a  Hottentot,  a  Mandarin  and  a  Cow4)oy, 
a  Bank  President  and  a  Steamboat  Roustabout,  a  European  Aristocrat 
and  an  East-side  Socialist.  These  people  Jive  in  different  worlds,  and 
probably  do  not  agree  upon  a  single  clause  of  the  Decalogue.  With  the 
majority  of  them,  any  sense  of  obligation  to  do  what  they  imagine  to  be 
right  only  exists,  most  probably,  if  it  coincides  with  the  orders  of  a 
police  magistrate.  To  speak  of  "  conscience  "  in  reference  to  most  of 
them  is  to  suggest  a  partnership  of  Buccaneer  Morgan  and  Philanthro- 
pist Howard. 

Goldwin  Smith  asks  on  what  rests  the  prerogative  of  our  bodily  senses  . 
to  be  our  only  trustworthy  witnesses.  Their  prerogative  rests,  without 
any  doubt,  upoii  the  simple  and  manifest  fact  that  they  are  the  ouly 
known  means  through  which  we  are  able  to  get  any  evidence  at  all.  If 
Mr.  Smith  objects  that  other  evidence  comes  to  us  through  conscience, 
we  reply  that  conscience  finally  rests  upon  our  bodily  senses.     And  if  it 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  341 

is  claimed  that  we  possess  some  moral  intuitions  that  have  heen  handed 
down  to  us  from  our  ancestors,  we  are  still  hound  to  claim  that  those 
intuitions  are  the  result  of  experiences  in  former  generations. 

An  effective  reply  to  these  assertions  can  only  he  made  hy  showing 
some  other  source  for  the  origin  and  development  of  conscience,  and  this 
is  at  present  beyond  the  power  of  any  man.  And  even  if  we  are  in  **  a 
universe  unseen  by  Newton  or  Darwin  " — and  probably  we  are — will  it 
be  asserted  that  we  to-day  see  more  of  it  than  did  Newton  and  Darwin  ? 
If  so,  will  Goldwin  Smith  honestly  tell  us  what  he  knows  about  it  ?  If 
not,  what  is  the  value  of  his  **  may  he's  "  about  such  an  inscrutable 
nightmare? 

It  must  be  observed  that  all  flie  evidence  so  far  offered  to  us  of  the 
existence  of  a  spiritual  world — which  Goldwin  Smith  curtly  dismisses  as 
beneath  contempt — depends  upon  our  bodily  senses.  The  "  sixth  sense," 
like  four-dimensional  space,  only  serves  the  purpose  of  the  faker. 

In  one  remarkable  paragraph  Mr.  Smith  gives 
GOLDWIN  SMITH  us  his  positive  repudiation  of  individual  immor- 
KEPUDIATES  tality.     The  soul  is  not,  as  good  Bishop  Butler 

IMMORTALITY.  told  us,  a  being  distinct  from  the  body,  but  is 

simply  "  the  consummate  outcome  of  the  general 
frame."  Nor  can  we,  like  Socrates,  use  "  innate  ideas  "  as  evidence  of 
pre-existence.  And,  so  far  from  the  comparison  of  body  and  soul  to  lyre 
and  melody  being  valid,  we  may  reply  that  "  when  the  lyre  is  broken 
the  melody  dies."  **  Of  ghosts  as  spiritual  apparitions  there  is  no  need 
to  speak." 

And  then  we  get  a  conundrum  of  another  sort.  **  Universal  resurrec- 
tion" is  absurd,  but  not  "  the  survival  of  responsibility  where  responsi- 
bility has  been  !  "  So  that,  though  a  man's  soul  is  doomed  to  die  with 
his  body,  if  he  has  been  an  Ontario  ballot-box  stuffer,  his  responsibility 
will  remain  after  his  death.  How  can  a  man's  responsibility  be  carried 
over  to  another  world  or  a  future  life  without  his  body  and  soul  ?  And 
what  in  thunder  does  such  talk  as  this  mean  ?  It  only  repeats  the  inane 
nonsense  of  the  preachers  who  tell  us  that  the  heathen  who  have  heard 
their  gospel  will  be  damned  unless  they  at  once  accept  it. 

How,  too,  can  "  conscience  imply  the  existence  of  a  deity  ?  "  This 
proposition  is  ihe  outcome  of  Mr.  Smith's  metaphysical  schooling.  If 
the  soul  is  "  the  consummate  outcome  of  the  general  frame,"  how  can 


342  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


conscience  have  any  other  source  ?  Can  conscience  be  an  attribute  of 
any  other  part  of  a  man  than  the  soul  ? 

And,  supposing  conscience  could  be  shown  to  imply  the  existence  of  a 
deity,  or  some  **  power,"  that  is,  not  the  deity  of  Genesis — an  utterly 
illogical  proposition — how  can  its  relation  be  shown  to  any  "  power 
w^hich  upholds  righteousness  and  directs  all  in  the  end  to  good?  "  How- 
can  the  existence  of  such  a  power  be  defended,  when  we  see  the  world 
so  full  of  unrighteousness  and  misery?  And  how  can  Mr.  Smith  predi- 
cate anything  of  what  will  happen  '*  in  the  end  ?  "  When  will  "  the 
€nd  "  be?     Such  talk  is  next  door  to  lunacy. 

Certainly,  "  the  existence  of  volition,  as  well  as  of  the  antecedents,  is 
assumed  in  all  our  judgments."  What  other  conclusion  can  we  assume? 
Had  we  no  volition,  no  will,  then  we  might  sit  down  and  do  nothing  and 
he  happy  for  ever  and  ever,  as  some  of  the  more  logical  of  the  ancients 
thought  the  gods  were  doing  in  their  day. 

But,  though  our  will  may  be  determined  by  our  previous  experiences, 
we  have  the  capacity  of  being  influenced  by  the  experiences  of  others, 
and  thus,  while  acting  according  to  our  judgment,  varying  conditions  so 
as  to  modify  those  of  succeeding  generations. 

The  effect  of  imagination — itself  founded  upon  experience — in  modi- 
fying conduct  may  w^ell  be  the  subject  of  speculation. 

Goldwin  Smith  thinks  that  "  our  moral  nature 
DOES  DEATH  recoils  "  from  the  idea   that  death   levels   the 

WIPE  OUT  ALL  philanthropist   with   the   assassin  ;    but,  apart 

SCORES  ?  from   the   fact  that   the  idea  does  represent  a 

truism  as  far  as  it  is  capable  of  being  demon- 
strated, how  can  we  prove  that  any  man's  moral  nature  does  so  recoil  ? 
Strong  men  naturally  recoil  from  death ;  but  it  seems  to  us  that  any 
repugnance  they  may  feel  at  the  idea  of  injustice  involved  is  purely  the 
result  of  training,  and  is  perhaps  only  felt  by  supersensitive  natures 
cultivated  in  false  sentiment ;  or,  possibly,  it  is  only  a  hypothetical,  and 
by  no  means  an  actual  feeling.  Men  commonly  seem  to  regard  death  as 
a  satisfactory  receipt  in  full  for  all  moral  offences,  and  we  do  not  believe 
that  many  of  them  regard  a  future  life  as  providing  any  recompense  for 
special  injuries.  There  is  no  quality  in  damnation  or  salvation.  If  the 
faithful  gain  heaven,  their  bliss  is  infinite  ;  the  damned  suffer  infinite 
^torture  ;  and  there  is  no  rectification  of  wrongs  involved. 

What  seems  quite  clear,  and  Mr.  Smith's  letter  is  evidence  of  it,  is 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  34a 


that  cultured  men  find  themselves  compelled  to  confess  an  utter  lack  of 
faith  in  the  theory  of  a  future  life.  It  is  inconceivable.  Nor  is  it  less 
inconceivable  as  a  means  of  righting  injustice.  The  Theosophist  or  the 
Buddhist  is  compelled  to  imagine  some  sort  of  ending  to  his  process  of 
rectification  of  error,  and  Nirvana  comes  at  last  when  perfection  has 
l)een  attained.  In  other  words,  immortality  and  progress  are  entirely 
antagonistic. 

It  is  depressing  to  find  so  many  men  asking,  "What  would  be  the  con- 
t.quence  to  society  if  the  belief  became  general  that  death  is  the  end  of. 
ail?"  We  have  here  the  same  old  stereotyped  formula,  which  utterly 
disregards  the  obvious  fact  that  men  do,  in  nearly  all  of  their  ordinary- 
affairs,  treat  the  present  life  as  if  it  were  the  only  one  of  which  they 
knew  anything  or  had  any  share. 

There  never  has  been  any  evidence  forthcoming  to  prove  that  a  failure^ 
of  religious  belief  has  any  tendency  to  weaken  the  moral  nature.  All 
our  evidence  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  opposite  assumption. 

The  Turk,  the  Mormon,  the  Briton,  the  Chinaman,  and  the  Hindoo 
have  very  different  notions  of  "  religion,"  but  it  seems  presumptuous 
to  say  that  they  are  moral  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  their  religious 
beliefs.  May  we  not  rather  say  that,  the  stronger  the  religious  belief,  the 
more  the  moral  sense  is  dulled  ?  This  certainly  has  been  so  in  some 
periods  of  the  world's  history. 

Finally,  Mr.  Smith  thinks  that  "  certain  phenomena  of  human  nature^ 
which  it  seems  to  me  Evolution  has  not  yet  explained,"  point  to  "some- 
thing beyond  our  present  state."  Here,  again,  Mr.  Smith  presents  us- 
with  the  strange  idea  that  the  gradually  fading  survivals  of  a  barbaric 
mythology  are  presumptive  evidence  of  an  objective  existence  which  iri 
the  same  letter  he  unhesitatingly  describes  as  inconceivable  I 

You  might  read  the  reix)rt  of  the  PVesbyterianr 

l^RESBYTERIANS        General  Assembly,  recently  held   at  Kingston^ 

ND  "  CHRISTIAN       without   noticing   the  marvellous  exhibition  of 

<  HARITY."  Christian  charity  given  to  us  by  the  assembled 

preachers. 

'*  Mrs.  M'Coll's  i>etition  for  the  interest  on  the  capital  sum  paid  into 

the  Widows  and  Orphans'  Fund  by  her  deceased   husband  came  before 

the  Assembly  again.     It  was  originally  referred  to  a  committee.     The 

'ov.  J.  W.  M'Millan,  Winnipeg,  moved  that  the  petition  be  not  allowed^ 

-lid  this  motion  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly."' 

This  means,  that  the  late  Mr.  M'Coll,  a  faithful  Presbyterian,,  had 


344  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


given  $10,000  to  the  Widows  and  Orphans'  Fund  of  the  church,  and 
that  now,  her  son  being  seriously  ill  and  needing  assistance,  Mrs.  M'Coll 
applied  to  the  Assembly  to  allow  her,  not  any  portion  of  her  husband's 
money,  but  only  its  interest  for  a  few  years,  in  order  to  give  necessary 
attention  to  her  sick  son. 

Did  the  Assembly  grant  this  reasonable  request?  Not  much.  They 
had  the  money  and  the  law  on  their  side,  and  they  naturally  needed  the 
money  worse  than  any  sick  youth,  whatever  moral  claim  he  may  have 
had.  Possession  is  nine  points  of  the  law,  it  is  said,  and  our  modern 
prophets  can  denounce  as  loudly  as  those  of  old  the  man  who  considers 
not  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,  but  they  can  grab  the  money-bags  as 
tightly  as  old  Grimes.  And  possession  in  this  case  meant,  not  only  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  all  the  mercy  and  charity  that  reside  in- 
side the  skins  of  the  whole  Presbyterian  Assembly. 

Why  should  preachers  be  styled  *'  reverend  "  ?  Is  robbing  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless  an  act  that  should  excite  our  reverence  ? 

We  are  glad  to  quote  the  following  editorial  notice  of  the  matter  from 
the  Toronto  Telegram  : 

"  BUSINESS    IS    BUSINESS. 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  can  probably 
appeal  to  business  principles  in  defence  of  its  refusal  to  depart  from  the 
exact  terms  of  the  bequest  even  for  the  relief  of  the  testator's  consump- 
tive son. 

"  The  request  seems  to  have  been  supported  by  circumstances 
of  need  and  pathos.  The  Presbyterian  Church  had  inherited  a  legacy 
of  $10,000  out  of  a  total  estate  of  $43,000.  It  must  have  been  difficult 
for  the  Assembly  to  refnse  the  prayer  of  the  mother,  who  urged  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  let  the  interest  on  its  legacy  from  the  father  go 
to  the  relief  of  his  stricken  son. 

"  The  General  Assembly  acted  just  as  a  secular  corporation  would 
have  acted.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  through  its  representatives,  stood 
on  its  strict  legal  rights — something  that  is  a  good  deal  easier  to  stand 
on  than  the  Mount  from  which  The  Sermon  was  preached.  A  church 
cannot  take  maudlin  sentiment  for  its  guide,  and  apply  to  family  pur- 
poses the  money  that  was  bequeathed  for  denominational  purposes. 

'*  A  bequest  is  a  bequest.     Business  is  business. 

"  A  church  has  not  all  the  liberties  of  a  secular  corporation,  and  can- 
not escape  criticism  when  its  decisions  are  based  on  nothing  higher  than 
business  principles  that  are  not  far  removed  from  the 

"  Good  old  rule,  the  simple  plan, 
Let  those  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  let  those  keep  who  can." 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  345 


following  mature- 

:o: 

I3y     K.    F.   UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

Nature  is  a  word  of  large  hut  somewhat  indefinite  meaning.  With  some  persons 
it  includes  everything  that  exists.  With  others,  it  includes  the  physical  world,  all 
the  animals  below  man,  and  his  physical  frame,  leaving  the  psychical  and 
spiritual  man  as  belonging  to  another  order  of  being. 

The  ancient  Greeks,  beyond  any  other  people  that  ever  lived,  cultivated  the 
love  of  Nature.  They  celebrated  the  beauties  of  the  natural  world  in  song  and 
story,  and  embodied  them  in  art  and  sculpture.  Nature  furnished  their  models, 
and  they  could  use  no  language  too  strong  to  express  their  delight  in  whatever 
appealed  to  the  eye  and  ear  of  man. 

In  later  centuries,  a  new  mood  came  over  the  mind  of  man.  He  conceived 
the  idea  that  Nature  was  corrupt  and  depraved,  and  that  the  highest  duty  consists 
in  crushing  and  subjugating  it.  To  forsake  the  pleasures  of  life  and  repair  to  the 
desert;  to  extinguish  natural  desires  and  to  overcome  natural  appetites  ;  to  learn 
to  despise  the  body  and  whatever  sustains  it — this  was  considered  the  highest 
object  of  life  and  necessary  to  prepare  man  for  the  solemn  realities  which  awaited 
him  beyond  the  grave.  Gibbon  and  Lecky,  in  eloquent  passages,  have  described 
the  results  of  this  distorted  conception  of  life  and  duty.  It  converted  men  into 
hermits  and  anchorites,  and  unfitted  them  for  the  secular  pursuits  of  life,  without 
any  valuable  intellectual  or  moral  results. 

Rousseau's  teaching  that  Nature  is  perfect  and  to  be  followed  implicitly,  was 
a  natural  reaction  from  the  asceticism  of  previous  centuries.  He  went  so  far  as 
to  teach  that  men  should  return  to  a  state  of  Nature,  giving  up  all  artificialities, 
all  luxuries,  and  simply  follow  the  methods  of  Nature  in  all  her  simplicity. 

In  these  days,  we  avoid  both  these  extremes,  and  take  the  ground  that  Nature, 
in  her  entirety,  is  wholesome  and  sound  ;  that  her  methods  are  not  to  be 
despised,  nor  her  mandates  disregarded.  At  the  same  time,  experience  has 
taught  us  that  Nature,  far  from  being  absolutely  perfect,  may  be  improved  even 
by  our  own  efforts ;  that  we  may  change  our  environment  to  correspond  with 
our  own  higher  ideal  conditions.  By  art  and  science  we  have  improved  our 
grain  and  fruits,  our  poultry,  horses,  cattle  and  swine,  adapting  them  to  our 
needs  by  making  use  of  nature's  own  methods,  without  the  violation  of  any  of 
Nature's  laws.  We  stock  our  waters  with  species  and  varieties  of  fish  brought 
from  afar.  In  short,  we  change  our  surroundings  at  will,  so  far  as  our  knowledge 
will  permit.  Our  luscious  fruits,  such  as  the  apple  and  the  peach,  have  been 
developed  from  natural  products  that  were  scarcely  fit  to  eat,  and  hundreds  of 
our  vegetable  and  animal  products  have  been  so  transformed  by  the  art  of  man 
that  they  bear  c  nly  the  slightest  resemblance  to  their  progenitors. 

It  is,  indeed,  the  work  of  man  to-day  to  change  the  face  of  the  earth,  and 


346  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

everything  with   which   he   has  to  do,  in  order  to  increase  their  usefulness  and 
suitability  to  his  wants. 

Whether  Nature  is  so  defined  as  to  comprehend  the  mental  and  spiritual  part 
of  man  or  not,  is  unimportant.  We  at  least  can  improve  it  by  education,  by 
discipline,  by  self-restraint,  as  well  and  as  certainly  as  we  can  improve  our 
physical  constitution  by  observance  of  the  laws  of  physical  health. 


1l0  tbc  iTrcctbouQbt  propagan&a  practical? 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

What  evidently  strikes  the  Christian  world  as  its  chief  weapon  in  combating 
scepticism  is  the  question  as  to  what  solid,  practical  good  can  be  effected  by  an 
iconoclastic  crusade  which  aims  merely  to  take  away  the  enjoyment  of  the 
Christian  without  substantial  recompenses.  It  is  said,  in  short,  that  we  destroy 
human  happiness  just  for  the  sake  of  an  academic  conceit  ;  and  that  when  people 
are  satisfied  in  a  belief  they  ought  not  to  be  disturbed  even  by  the  truth  This 
is  Obscurantism. 

THOSE    IN    GLASS    HOUSES,    ETC. 

The  beliefs  of  the  world,  surveying  history  in  the  rough,  are  ?etn  to  have 
always  been  in  process  of  modification  as  intelligence  gradually  advanced. 
There  have  been  millions  of  gods,  millions  of  phantoms,  millions  of  superstitions, 
that  at  different  times  filled  the  human  mind.  It  is  the  Aryans,  among  whom 
Christianity  happened  to  take  root,  that  have  dissipated  so  largely  this  immense 
melange.  What  have  they  given  in  place  ?  Absolutely  nothing.  What  practical 
good  have  they  accomplished  ?  Let  them  answer.  From  being  the  chief  activity 
of  life,  occupying  in  many  instances  among  the  barbarous  people  of  antiquity 
almost  the  entire  time,  religion  has  been  reduced  by  a  growing  minority  in 
Christendom  into  nothing  more  than  a  frail  faith  in  some  vague  "  power  that 
makes  for  righteousness,"  and  a  hope  that  the  just  may  continue  their  earthly 
evolution  after  death.  Ogres,  genii,  fairies,  gnomes,  and*  similar  nonentities, 
have  gone.  Men  once  thought  that  happiness  resulted  trom  conceiving  these 
powers  of  the  air  to  have  an  oversight  over  human  life  — from  conceiving  of  them 
as  invisible  but  constant  companions.  What  "  practical  ''  benefit  accrued  from 
the  shattering  of  all  this  faith  by  a  crusade  merely  for  the  truth  ?  Calvinism  has 
been  stabbed  to  death.  Puritanism  is  out  of  date.  Foreordination  is  in  diffi- 
culties. The  higher  criticism  of  our  day  is  still  continually  undermining  the 
hoary  faiths  of  thousands.  And  yet  people  of  estimable  character  have  imagined 
that  they  derived  pleasure  from  the  now  dead  monstrosities  and  dogmas.  What 
"  practical "  good,  they  might  have  demanded,  is  to  flow  from  the  disruption  of 
these  things  that  comfort  us  ?  is  not  our  happiness  of  greater  importance  than 
this  alleged  "  truth  "  which  you  thrust  into  our  faces  ? 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  347 


Jesus  Christ  himself  attacked  the  faiths  of  a  world  that  was  loaded  down  with 
them,  and  that  obtained  sweet  peace,  as  it  thought,  from  keeping  them  inviolate. 
Why  did  he  not  let  them  alone  ? 

Superstitions  abound  to-day  even  in  civilized  countries  ;  such  as  those  con- 
nected with  the  new  moon,  with  Friday,  and  with  white  horses.  Why  dethrone 
them,  and  thus  help  to  make  life  "  colder  and  barer  ?  "  The  truth  ? — away  with  it  ! 

In  some  religions  the  people  worship  cows  and  divers  other  animals  as  par- 
taking of  divinity.  The  most  that  can  be  said  for  such  faiths  is  that  they  incul- 
cate respect  for  dumb  creatures  ;  which  is  more  than  the  cannibal  Christianity 
embraced  by  our  own  brute-slaughtering  country  does.  Why  assail  them, 
especially  as  the  peoi)le  think  that  happiness  results  ? 

Astrologers  maintain  that  they  are  contented  and  happy  in  tracing  assumed 
connections  between  mundane  events  and  the  courses  of  the  stars.  Does  Chris- 
tendom leave  them  alone?  No;  laughter,  ridicule  and  insult  are  instead  met 
with  by  the  astrologer. 

Spiritualism  pretends  to  afford  greater  happiness  than  Cl>ristian>ity — and  it 
does  so  too.  There  is  not  any  doubt  about  it.  No  hell  and  damnation  about 
Spiritualism.  It  is  a  healthier  and  nobler  faith  than  Christianity.  Are  Spiritualists 
suffered  to  go  unscathed  ?  No  ;  leading  editorials  in  religious  periodicals,  long 
articles  in  the  great  magazines,  scorn,,  bate  and  contumely  are  meted  out  by  that 
Christendom  which  is  wont  to  say  that  the  truth  is  of  no  account. 

It  is  the  same  with  Christian  Science.  The  devotees  of  that  belief  are  much 
happier,  much  more  enthusiastic,  than  are  the  followers  of  the  cross  ;  but  to-day, 
"  practical "  Church  of  Christ  is  doing  her  dirty  best  to  ejUerminate  the  cult. 

Theosophy  fares  no  better.  Torrents  of  cheap  abuse  emanate  from  theologica? 
(quarters,  directed  against  this  fad — a  fad  which  in  some  towns  threatens  minis- 
terial salaries  with  "  practical  "  extinction. 

Every  Freethrnker  dechres  himself  convirTced  that  he  is  happier  either  than 
he  was,  if  of  Christian  parents,  in  the  foolish  faiths  of  childhood,  or  if  of  P^ation- 
alist  parents,  than  he  could  be  in  the  fold  of  superstition.  Christendom  gives 
him  no  peace,  however,  but  attenvpts  to  wean  hfm  from  his  satisfying  philosophical 
'-eliefs,  and  into  accepting  the  unbelievable,  though  now  emasculated  wonders  of 
t  xtinct  medinevalism — as  if  it  were  more  practical  to  believe  in  Holy  Ghosts  and 
such  things  than  in  Socialism,  Single  Tax,  or  any  of  the  other  reforn^s  whose 
ranks  are  largely  recruited  from  the  Freethinkers. 

It  is  natural  for  every  race  to  suppose  its  institutions  ami  beliefsto  be  such  as 
will  afford  it  the  greatest  measure  of  happiness  ;  consequently,  the  missionaries 
with  whom  Christendom  is  covering  the  earth  find  invariably  the  great  masses  of 
ethnic  peoples  content  in  the  beliefs  of  ancestors.  Why  sei>d  missionaries 
among  those  who  are  already  satisfied  ?  What  "  practical  "  good  can  result 
from  simply  exchanging  one  belief  for  another — assuming  that  missions  could 
ever  be  successful  ? 


B48  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

If  we  are  to  proceed  upon  the  theory  that  the  greater  the  number  of  ideal 
beliefs  a  mind  is  stuffed  with,  the  greater  will  be  the  happiness,  and  that  the 
facts  must  not  stand  in  the  way,  why  not  invent  as  many  pleasing  chimeras  as 
possible?  Look  at  botany,  for  instance.  It  is  not  now  a  very  *•  practical  " 
study.  Why  not  teach  the  rising  generation  that  milk-weeds  contain  the  essence 
of  God,  that  sunflowers  are  incarnated  spirits,  that  maple  trees  are  inhabited  by 
the  dead  of  other  planets,  and  that  rubbing  a  mullein  stalk  briskly  will  ensure 
>.he  favor  of  ghosts  ?  Then  a  hundred  years  from  this  time  saintly  women 
•could  hold  up  their  thin  hands,  protesting  against  the  proposition  to  teach  the 
truth,  and  complaining  :  "  Dear,  dear !  what  are  we  coming  to  ?  I  should  be  so 
miserable  if  my  faith  in  mullein  stalks  were  taken  away.  Oh,  I  feel  my  faith  so 
vividly — in  my   bones  !  " 

THE    TRUTH. 

Should  the  talk  common  nowadays  continue,  the  phrase  "  Gospel  Truth  "  will 
have  to  be  advanced  to  "  Freethought  Truth,"  when  one  wants  especially  to  be 
believed.  Freethought  needs  no  other  justification  for  its  existence  than  the 
truth.  Truth  is  better  than  falsehood.  Fact  is  better  than  fiction.  Morality  is 
Ijetter  than  immorality.  If  Christianity  is  untrue,  it  must  be  destroyed  ;  and 
that  any  people  can  be  found  to  advocate  the  forcible  suppression  of  B'reethought 
shows  that  their  religion  is  probably  untrue.  Happiness  cannot  come  from  a  lie 
persisted  in.  Nobody  asks  to  have  falsehoods  taught  in  any  branch  of  study  but 
those  branches  involving  the  church.  Happiness  or  unhappiness,  people  ordin- 
arily say,  we  want  the  truth.  Is  a  religious  lie  any  more  elevating  than  a  secular 
lie  ?  If  truth  is  practical  in  all  the  vast  range  of  thougct  outside  religion,  why  is 
it  not  practical  everywhere  ?  He  who  so  much  as  hints  at  the  advisability  of  ex- 
cluding truth,  whether  his  excuse  be  the  selfish  one  of  a  putative  human  happiness 
or  not,  is  an  immoral  man,  a  menace  to  respectable  society,  and  unfit  to  associate 
with  decent  people.  He  cannot  be  relied  on.  If  a  God  could  slay  Ananias  for 
telling  an  untruth  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  cannot  men  and  women  of  the 
present  at  least  look  with  disfavor  upon  all  who  dare  continually  and  after  sober 
reflection  to  place  unworthy  objects  above  the  eternal  light  of  truth  ?  Let 
Christian  gentlemen  on  any  school  committee  find  a  text-book  still  standing  by 
the  doctrines  that  the  earth  is  fiat  and  that  the  thinking  process  takes  place  in 
the  heart,  and  they  would  be  the  first  to  outlaw  the  work  on  the  score  of  the 
intelligence  of  mankind,  regardless  of  whether  any  "  practical "  results  seemed  to 
be  involved  or  not. 

What  many  people  conceive  of  as  "  practical  " — or  something  which  perhaps 
has  to  do  with  muddy  and,  it  may  be,  lying  schemes  for  calling  into  being  a  few 
more  of  the  things  called  dollars — is  not  everything.  The  most  enduring 
pleasures,  at  this  the  threshold  of  a  new  century,  are  enjoyed,  not  by  him  who 
has  the  dollar-mark  tattooed  by  unseen  hands  on  his  calloused  brain,  but  by  the 
investigator  who  revels  in.  the  really  marvellous  problems  of  existence,  and  who 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  349 


tries  to  get  ever  nearer  the  mystery  of  the  great  unknown.  No  pleasure  can  com- 
pete with  the  love  of  knowledge,  of  truth.  Chemistry,  Mineralogy,  Botany, 
Zoology,  Biology,  Psychology,  Geology,  Meteorology,  Egyptology,  and  Philo- 
sophy, are  not  in  all  respects  "practical;"  but  the  glories  of  the  mind  which 
feasts  on  them,  as  the  wisest  men  delight  to  do,  provide  a  happiness  that  stamps 
these  studies  as  in  reality  the  most  practical  things  in  the  world. 

Wendell  Phillips  says  :  "  If  there  is  anything  that  cannot  bear  free  truth,  let  it 
crack." 

Sam  Walter  Foss  says  : 

"  Who  is  the  Infidel  ?     It  is  he 

Who  deems  man's  thought  should  not  be  free, 

Who'd  veil  truth's  faintest  ray  of  light 

From  breaking  on  the  human  sight  ; 

'Tis  he  who  purposes  to  bind 

The  slightest  fetter  on  the  mind, 

Who  fears  lest  wreck  and  wrong  be  wrought 

To  leave  man  loose  with  his  own  thought  ; 

Who,  in  the  clash  of  brain  with  brain. 

Is  fearful  lest  the  truth  be  slain, 

That  wrong  may  win  and  right  may  flee — 

This  is  the  Infidel.     'Tis  he  1 " 


^be  Sun&ai?  ScbooL 

:o: 

BY    AN    IDLER. 

:o: 


The  International  Sunday  School  Convention  has  come  and  gone,  ancf  the  Jap 
and  the  Russian  and  the  Autonomy  Bills  now  occupy  their  accustomed  place  on. 
the  front  page.  It  is  therefore  a  fitting  time  to  consider  the  ethical^  moral,  and 
educational  value  of  these  institutions,  or  if  they  have  any. 

•'  We  are  winning  a  generation  for  Jesus  I"  shouted  one  enthusiastic  delegate,, 
and  this  may  be  taken  as  the  aim  of  the  Convention,  how  far  short  it  falls  o^ 
accomplishing  that  end  being  altogether  another  qnuestion. 

The  design  of  an  International  Convention  comprising  various  denorafnations 
m  both  countries,  was,  no  doubt,  to  make  the  Sunday-school  the  most  efficient 
machine  for  that  purpose  possible.  For  this  the  PVesbyterian  put,  for  the  time> 
on  the  shelf  his  effectual  calling,  the  Methodist  his  free  will  and  the  Baptist  his 
cold  water  cure  for  spiritual  ailnvents.  But  the  Anglican  was  too  nwch  wedded 
to  his  Descent  from  the  Apostles  and  the  Roman  Catholic  to  his  Infallible  Pope 
to  come  into  the  pool. 

Some  of  the  methods  proposed  by  some  of  the  delegates  were  thorough 
enough  to  satisfy  Strafford.  One  lady  president  of  something  or  other  proposed 
that  children,  as  soon  as  possible  after  their  advent  into  this  world,  should  be 
enrolled  in  cradle-classes,  and  promoted  to  various  other  classes  during  the 
various  evolutionary  changes  between  babyhoodand  childhood.  The  first  lessoB 
after  it  is  *'  I  "  should  be  to  love  Jesus. 


350  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 

Now,  Christ  lived  some  nineteen  centuries  ago  in  a  land  far  distant  from  the 
child,  amongst  people  with  different  habits,  thoughts  and  customs,  and  spoke  a 
language  which  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  out  of  every  thousand  Sunday- 
school  superintendents  cannot  even  name.  Perhaps  there  may  be  persons  with 
a  historical  imagination  sufficiently  developed  by  study  and  travel  to  clothe  this 
phantom  with  flesh  and  blood  and  conceive  of  him  as  he  lived  in  Galilee  so 
many  centuries  ago,  but  to  the  majority  of  us  Christ  is  but  a  name  to  which  the 
mind  gives  back  no  answering  concept,  or,  if  it  does,  only  a  blurred  ideal  created 
very  much  after  the  image  of  its  creator.  Easy  it  is  to  teach  the  child  to  repeat 
parrot-like,  "  I  love  Jesus,"  but  do  these  educators  ever  really  try  to  grasp  how 
much  real  education  they  have  given  the  child  by  storing  his  memory  with  this 
precious  phrase?  A  child,  say,  of  ten  years  of  age,  has  acquired  all  his  know- 
ledge through  his  senses  from  the  objects  which  form  his  environment.  He  has 
heard  of  persons  and  places  and  events  as  taking  place  or  having  taken  place 
outside  of  that  environment.  If  he  attempts  to  form  a  conception  of  these,  he 
weaves  an  imaginary  one  from  what  he  has  already  learned.  What  then  must 
his  conception  of  Christ  be  ?  and  how  can  he  love  such  a  conception  ?  In  most 
cases  the  child  simply  repeats  the  words,  but  outside  of  the  sound  they  have  no 
meaning.  Educationally  the  child  is  injured  because  he  is  taught  that  the  mere 
repetition  of  words  is  knowledge.  This  is  a  fallacy  which  permeates  our  whole 
educational  system.  AnotFTer  mental  injury  done  to  our  children  by  the  Sunday- 
school  is  that  they  are  taught  to  believe  only  what  they  are  told.  For  instance, 
they  are  taught  that  the  Bible  is  God's  word  ;  that  Christ  is  God's  son.  They 
are  not  taught  that  the  Bible  is  said  to  be  God's  word,  that  Christ  is  said  to  be 
God's  son,  and  that  it  is  for  them  to  decide  on  the  evidence  whether  these 
statements  are  to  be  believed  by  them.  The  Sunday-school  is  fatal  to  the 
enquiring  critical  spirit  which  will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  the  truth  and 
which  is  and  has  been  the  punctum  vegetationes  of  all  intellectual  life,  and 
without  which  we  would  never  have  risen  to  a  higher  intellectual  level  than  the 
Cave  man. 

The  newspapers  have  been  discussing  lately  why  men  do  not  go  to  church.  It 
is  conceded  that  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  from  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent, 
of  the  adult  male  population  prefer  to  worship  in  the  blue-domed  temple  not 
made  with  hands.  The  Sunday-school  has  fallen,  then,  far  short  of  its  aim  as 
recruiting-sergeant  for  the  church.  Some  of  the  newspaper  writers  suggest  that 
it  should  be  assisted  by  sporting  clubs  in  connection  with  each  church.  A 
church  with  a  baseball  team,  a  football  team,  a  lacrosse  team,  a  yacht,  and  a 
racing  stud  might  be  popular.  But  the  cause  is  deeper  still.  The  common 
sense  of  the  community  revolts  at  the  stories  of  supernatural  events,  which 
happened  long  ago,  but  which  no  longer  take  place.  There  is  also  a  lurking 
grudge  at  the  Sunday-school  as  a  place  of  irksome  tasks  and  irksome  confinement 
when  Nature  beckoned  to  the  heart  of  childhood  to  enjoy  her  sunshine  and  her 
beauty. 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  351 


JLbc  IRemet)^  tor  IReliGtous  S)oubt, 

BY    GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.    SUN. 

:o: 

To  the  Editor, 

Sir, — You  say  that  you  receive  communications  speaking  bitterly  of  these 
letters.  Their  writer  does  not  fail  to  receive  outpourings  of  feeling,  now  from 
the  side  of  orthodoxy,  which  denounces  him  as  an  atheist,  now  from  the  side  of 
ultra  materialism,  which  taxes  him  with  cowardly  adherence  to  theistic  supersti- 
tion. He  is  but  one  of  many  who  in  these  days  of  perplexity  and  doubt  are 
trying  to  find  some  secure  foundation  for  belief  in  the  moral  government  of  the 
universe,  in  the  authority  of  conscience  and  in  the  more  hopeful  view  of  the 
change  which  is  to  take  place  at  death.  For  the  aged,  perhaps  the  last  question 
has  more  pressing  interest  than  for  the  young. 

You  have  told  us  that  there  is  an  increase  of  formal  membership  in  the 
orthodox,  a  decrease  in  the  more  rationalistic  Churches.  Granting  this  to  be 
the  case,  does  it  denote  a  decrease  of  rationalism  and  an  increase  of  orthodox 
belief?  Would  a  seceder  from  an  orthodox  church  be  likely  at  once  to  register 
himself  elsewhere  ?  Is  formal  membership  proof  of  unshaken  conviction  ? 
Judging  from  my  observation  in  England,  I  should  say  that  it  was  not.  Does 
not  this  increased  resort  to  esthetic  attractions  betray  a  feeling  of  mistrust  ?  Do 
we  not  hear  from  one  church  after  another,  now  from  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
now  from  the  Anglican,  an  appeal  of  conscientious  and  enlightened  clergymen 
for  a  removal  or  relaxation  of  tests  ?  Has  not  unrest  been  disclosed  by  a  series 
of  trials  for  heresy  ?  Have  not  leading  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England 
petitioned  for  liberty  to  deal  freely  and  critically  with  the  New  Testament  ?  Has 
not  Presbyterianism  produced  the  writings  of  Robertson  Smith  ?  Is  not  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  in  which  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  treated  as  a 
vision,  edited  by  a  Canon  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  professor  of  theology 
at  Oxford  ?  We  surely  have  come  to  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  religion  and  all 
that  rests  upon  it. 

There  might  be  less  disposition  to  cling  to  traditional  formularies  of  belief  and 
greater  willingness  to  set  the  clergy,  our  natural  guides,  free  from  their  present 
shackles  if  we  had  present  to  our  minds  the  extent  to  which  denominationa 
creeds  had  been  fixed,  not  by  spiritual  authority  of  any  kind,  but  by  secular 
power  and  largely  for  political  ends.  In  the  case  of  the  Anglican  Church  it 
may,  I  think,  be  clearly  shown  that,  from  the  commencement  of  the  religious 
revolution  under  Henry  VIII.  to  its  close  under  Elizabeth,  the  representation  of 
the  clergy  never  had  an  effective  voice.  Convocation,  had  it  been  allowed, 
would  have  perpetuated  the  Catholic  settlement  of  Mary  ;  and  of  the  episcopate, 
in  the  eyes  of  Anglicans  a  special  channel  of  true  belief,  all  the  members  but 
one— or,  if  Sodor  and  Man  is  to  be  counted,  two— resigned.  In  the  Scotch 
Reformation  also  influence  distinctly  political  was  very  strong. 


352  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

One  is  surprised  to  find  that  a  champion  of  Catholicism  in  your  columns  can 
point  to  the  300,000,000  nominal  Catholics  as  testifying  by  their  unshaken 
belief  to  the  stability  of  his  church.  In  the  Papal  city  itself,  while  Ignatius 
Loyola  still  rests  in  his  shrine  of  lapis  lazuli  and  gold,  not  far  off  rises  the  statue 
of  Giordano  Bruno,  erected  by  "  the  age  which  he  foresaw  on  the  spot  where  he 
was  burned."  But  where  would  even  nominal  Catholicism  now  be  if  political 
power  had  not  in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Austria,  Bavaria,  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands, forcibly  crushed  freedom  of  inquiry?  The  principle  on  which,  after  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  the  States  of  Germany  were  practically  settled  was  that  the 
^political  sovereignty  should  determine  the  State  religion.  With  political  liberty 
iias  come  freedom  of  thought,  and  with  freedom  of  thought  questionings  about 
traditional  belief  and  about  the  mysteries  of  our  being  to  which  only  reasonable 
satisfaction  can  put  an  end. 

Let  those  who  shrink  with  horror  from  the  spread  of  free  inquiry  draw  en- 
couragement and  charity  at  the  same  time  from  a  grand  example.  Gladstone,  as 
Morley's  life  of  him  shows,  was  to  the  end  of  his  days  a  High  Churchman, 
intensely  religious,  a  believer  in  special  providence,  in  the  inspiration  of  Scrip- 
ture, in  efificacy  of  prayer.  Yet  he  could  not  only  associate  and  act  heartily 
with  free  thinkers,  but  look  with  satisfaction  on  the  activity  of  the  general  con- 
science, and  say  that  while  there  had  never  been  an  age  so  much  perplexed  with 
doubt,  there  had  never  been  one  so  full  of  the  earnest  pursuit  of  truth. 


In  XiQbter  IDetn. 

:o: 

BY    ERNEST    PACK,    IN    "  AGNOSTIC    JOURNAL." 

:o: 

This  Is  Too  Much. 

The  French  have  been  taken  by  a  new  "  craze  "  :  that  of  placing  visiting  cards 
on  the  tombs  of  the  departed.  This  custom  will  surely  cause  the  gravest  of  grave- 
stones to  smile — yea,  and  more  also  ;  it  may  even  cause  the  dead  in  Christ  to 
come  vaulting  out  of  the  vaults.  They  are  reported  to  have  performed  this  feat 
years  ago,  but  I  was  under  the  impression  the  practice  had  died  out.  I  will 
make  enquiries.  In  the  meantime,  I  shall  put  down  the  pen,  and  take  up  the 
harp,  though  I  have  been  told  that  I  am  better  with  the  banjo. 

I  fancy  it  is  etiquette, 

When  other  people's  cards  you  get. 

To  very  promptly  step  around 

To  where  those  people  can  be  found  : 

Is  that  not  so,  or  is  it  ? 
Then,  so  much  granted,  let  me  know, 
As  you  take  leave  and  homeward  go, 
Do  you  suppose  the  blessed  dead 
Are  so  exceedingly  well  bred 

That  they'll  return  the  visit  ? 


■■*, 

i 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  35^ 


There  !  I  am  all  right  now.  My  harp,  to  me,  is  what  the  violin  of  Sherlock 
Holmes  was  to  him  And  I  find  myself  suddenly  seized,  as  he  was,  with  an 
irresistible  desire  to  treat  myself  to  a  selection.  I  play,  I  hang  up  the  instrument, 
It  is  only  a  small  one  (Jew's  harp),  and  Richard  is  himself  again.  By  the  way, 
I  don't  know  why  they  call  these  beautiful  little  teeth  and  tongue  things  Jew's 
harps.     I  never  saw  a  Jew  playing  one.      Did  you  ?     Perhaps  Moses,  or  Aaron, 

or .     Ha  !    1  have   it.     It  was  David.     Of  course,  of   course.     He  used    to 

play  the  Dead  March  in  Saul,  and  Saul  nearly  played  a  dead  march  in  David— 
with  a  javelin. 

It  was  no  joke  playing  before  Saul.  He  was  too  enthusiastic.  In  a  burst  of 
joy,  just  when  the  musician  was  manufacturing  a  fine  Mendelssohnian  melody, 
Saul  would  spring  up  with  a  bound,  swirl  the  javelin  round  his  head,  and.  with  a 
hoarse  ''  Bravo,"  before  the  wretched  musician  knew  what  the  game  was,  King 
Saul  had  jagged  the  javelin  into  his  vitals  and  jamnied  him  against  the  drawing- 
room  door,  where  he  stuck  with  his  tongue  lolling  out  like  a  cab-horse's,  and  his 
blessed  Jew's  harp  half  way  down  his  gullet. 

If  King  Edward  had  a  reputation  like  King  Saul,  and  it  so  pleased  H.  M.  to 
command  me  to  play  before  him,  I  am  afraid  I  should  have  a  prior  engagement. 
I  am  not  so  nimble  as  I  was.  But  our  King  is  not  like  Saul.  When  Dan  Leno 
went  down  to  amuse  (not  Saul — Edward)  he  (the  King  Comedian)  was  presented 
with  a  diamond  pin  ;  and  it  was  not  dug  into  his  inwards,  but  into  his  necktie, 
which  makes  all  the  difference.  You  might  play  before  King  Edward  many 
times,  but  only  once  before  King  Saul.      That's  all. 


r 


Mother  Shipion  Baxter. 

That  present-day  Mother  Shipton,  named  Bax  er,  who  runs  the  Christian 
Herald,  and  also  a  first-class  motor,  has  been  clowning  it  again  in  Fleet  Street 
(is  wo  place  sacred?).  He  went  dashing  through  in  this  lovely  deaih  trap,  ir> 
fine  style,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  pretty  Revivalist  ministering  angels> 
minus  wings,  it  is  true,  but  with  quite  a  flutter  of  feathers  and  hi\h.  Outside  the 
ofiices  of  the  C.  H.  the  gorgeous  equipage  came  to  a  standstill,  and  the  Revivalist 
crowd  entered  the  sacred  building  and  made  its  way  into  a  large  upper  room,, 
overlooking  the  main  thoroughfare.  In  this  room  a  wild  scene  was  enacted,  so- 
wild  that  the  wondrr  is  that  the  motor  did  not  explode  with  laughter.  Quite  a 
crowd  of  other  folks  had  gathered  there  already,  and,,  at  the  psychological 
moment,  up  flew  the  window,  and  out  there  flew  the  '^  Glory  Song,"  rendered 
with  fanatical  fervor. 

Then  the  Rev.  Mr.  Oliver,  a  Welshman— a  Vesuvius  of  emotson — plunged 
into  the  fight  straight  away  by  announcing  that  the  Devil  and  his  crew  are  giving 
way  all  over  the  world  (including  France),  thanks  mainly  to  that  gyeatest  oi 
modern  prophets,  Evan  Roberts. 

Mr.  Baxter  bowed  his  head,  what  head  he  had  to  bow. 

Then  Mr.  Oliver  announced,  with  a  windmill  flourish  of  his  arms,  that  sjome 
months    ago   he   got   drunk,  and  had  never  been  sober  since  !      Through  the 

I  murmurs  of  surprise  that  greeted  this  confession  Mr.  Oliver  explained  in  a  greal 
voice  that  hii  perpetual  intoxication  was  due  to  no  earthly  spirit — but  sheer 
Jioliness  !  But  even  this  holy  simile  did  not  appear  to  strike  a  blatant  note  in 
Ihis  curious  throng.  A  great  shout,  "Alleluia  !  "  tore  through  the  building,  and 
pne  of  the  three  Roberts  maidens  prostrated  herself,  and  cried  in  a  loud  voice^ 


^54  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


Next  came  Maggie  Davies,  one  of  the  Welsh  trio — a  slim  girl,  nicely  dressed, 
and  with  eyes  which  burned  feverishly. 

"  I  will  sing  you  my  testimony,"  she  said.  And  straightway  she  closed  the 
windows  of  her  haunting  eyes  and  sang  quite  sweetly  a  long  hymn  of  simple 
words,  illustrating  how  vile  she  was  once,  but  how  miraculously  she  had  been 
saved.  Towards  the  end  everybody  took  up  the  refrain.  The  fervor  had  begun 
to  burn. 

Miss  Jones  was  the  next  on  the  programme,  aud  here  is  a  line  or  two  of  her 
testimony  : 

'•  I  was  a  sinner  so  black  that  I  thought  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  become 
white  again.  Once  1  thought  I  was  fine — great — clever — good  !  I  wasn't  !  I 
was  the  blackest,  vilest,  most  good-for-nothing  girl  on  all  God's  earth  !  " 

Then  she  told  how  the  Black  Devil  had  seared  her  heart  with  horrible 
nervousness  as  she  traversed  Fleet  Street  on  her  way  to  her  first  meeting  with 
wicked  compositors  and  wickeder  journalists. 

"  But  now  I  don't  care  if  all  the  business  men  and  all  the  newswaper  men  in 
London  are  here  !  "  she  shouted,  with  the  glee  of  a  schoolgirl  at  play.  "  I've 
^ot  over  my  nervousness,  and  here  I  am— shouting  at  you  all  !  " 

Now  the  big  room  rented  by  Prophet  Baxter  was  swaying  with  emotion. 
Smoking  lava  of  intercession  poured  from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Oliver ;  in  the  middle 
of  his  cries  somebody  else  hopped  upon  a  chair  and  cried,  "  Set  us  on  fire,  O 
Lord  !  Set  us  on  fire — like  a  prairie  !  .  .  ."  No  sooner  had  he  begun  than  a 
shrill  voice  in  a  far  corner  struck  up  : 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood 
Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins." 

Everybody  sang  that ;  and  a  clergyman  postscripted  the  music  with  a  mighty 
appeal  to  "  Save  these  young  people.  Save  these  young  people  going  to  their 
offices  and  their  workshops  !  "  A  bigger  voice  than  his  cut  him  down  ;  and  the 
next  moment  Maggie  Davies  was  on  the  platform,  storming  passionately  in 
Welsh,  whilst  a  lady  fought  her  way  across  the  hot,  stifling  room  and  dragged 
Miss  Jones  to  minister  to  a  repentant  sinner  in  a  far  corner.  Then  two  o'clock 
struck,  and  all  this  fury  of  religious  testimony  was  stopped  as  suddenly  as  the 
gas  goes  out  when  the  tap  at  the  meter  is  turned  off.  In  five  minutes  the  place 
was  empty,  and  the  amazed  crowd  was  gasping  outside  in  the  dusty  sunshine. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


THE  ANCESTRAL  TAIL. 

A  German  traveler  claims  to  have  discovered  in  the  forests  of  Borneo  a  people 
who  still  wear  the  tail  of  our  primitive  ancestors.  He  does  not  write  from  hearsay; 
he  has  seen  the  tail.  It  belonged  to  a  child  about  six  years  old,  sprung  from  the 
tribe  of  Poenans.  As  nobody  could  speak  the  Poenan  tongue,  the  youngster 
^ould  not  be  questioned,  but  there  was  his  tail  sure  enough,  not  very  long  but 
-flexible,  hairless,  and  about  the  thickness  of  one's  little  finger-  The  Poenans 
are  reported  to  be  very  simple,  honest  folk  with  a  childlike  system  of  barter. 
They  deposit  in  public  places  the  goods  they  wish  to  exchange,  and  a  few  days 
later  they  find  there  the  equivalents  they  desire.  Nobody  dreams  of  stealing. 
This  is  almost  as  remarkable  as  the  vestige  of  the  ancestral  tail. — London 
iChronicU, 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  355 


PSYCHIC    EVOLUTION. 

O  that  we  had  only  the  candor  to  know  that  we  do  not  know,  that  we  are 
agnostic  !  VVe  have  gone  on  the  wrong  track  to  find  god  and  his  etliics.  We 
shall  never  find  them  in  any  Bible,  or  literary  revelation.  We  shall  yet,  in  the 
infinitely  remote  future  history  of  our  higher  selves,  find  them  in  what  are  now 
the  unfalhomed  esoterics  of  our  own  soul  or  essential  being.  Our  racial  hope 
lies  in  psychopathy,  and  in  a  telepathy  in  direct  communication  with  the  aggrc 
gate  universe  We  shall,  in  the  process  of  evolution,  establish  wireless  telegraphy 
with  heaven,  that  is  with  ideals  and  realities  to  which,  at  present,  we  but  dimly, 
vaguely,  and  insanely  aspire.  The  discovery  of  the  properties  of  radium  has 
destroyed  the  hypothesis  of  atomic  chemistry.  Much  more  that  seems  fixed  is 
fated  to  be  removed  All  round,  the  axe  requires  to  be  laid  to  the  root  of  the 
tree.     Not  till  we  lose  the  Bible  shall  we  find  God. — Saladin. 


THE  HYPOCRITE. 

A  hypocrite  is  the  worst  kind  of  player  ;  which  hath  already  two  faces,  ofttimes 
two  hearts— that  hath  a  clean  face  and  garments,  with  a  foul  soul.  At  church 
he  will  ever  sit  where  he  may  be  seen  best.  With  the  superfluity  of  his  usury 
he  builds  an  hospital,  and  harbours  them  whom  his  extortion  hath  spoiled  ;  so, 
while  he  makes  many  beggars,  he  keeps  some.  He  greets  his  friend  in  the  street 
with  a  clear  countenance,  and  shakes  hands  with  an  indefinite  invitation  of 
"  When  will  you  come  ?  "  and  when  his  back  is  turned  joys  that  he  is  so  well  rid 
of  a  guest.  In  brief,  he  is  an  angel  abroad,  a  devil  at  home  ;and  worse  when  an 
angel  then  when  a  devil. — Bishop  Hall. 


NOT  THE  OSLER  VIEW. 
Ah  !  nothing  is  too  late 
Till  the  tired  heart  sh^ll  cease  to  palpitate. 
Cato  learned  Greek  at  eighty  ;  Sophocles 
Wrote  his  grand  CEklipus,  and  Simonides 
Bore  off  the  prize  of  verse  from  his  compeers 
When  each  had  numbered  more  than  four-score  years; 
And  Theophrates,  at  four-score  and  tens 
Had  but  begun  his  characters  of  men  ; 
Chaucer,  at  Woodstock  with  the  rvightingales>. 
At  sixty  wrote  the  Canterbury  Tales  ; 
Goethe  at  Weimar,  toiling  to  the  last. 
Completed  Faust  when  eighty  years  were  past. 
These  are  indeed  exceptions  ;  but  they  show 
How  far  the  gulf  str  am  of  our  youth  may  flow 
Into  the  Arctic  regions  of  our  kves, 
Where  little  else  than  life  itself  survives  \ 

— LongftUow . 


I 


THE  YOUTHFUL  CRITIC— Watching  her  papa  while  he  was<:onstructing 
his  sermon,  she  innocently  inquired  : 
"  Does  God  tell  you  what  to  write  ?  " 
•'Yes,  my  child  ;  God  tells  me." 

"  Then  what  do  you  scratch  out  for  ?  "  7^ 

The  gospel-expounder  was  silent. 


356  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


SYRIAN  PRIEST  WANTS  $3,000  FOR  BEING  CRITCiZED. 

"  Oh,  why  are  farmers  made  so  coarse, 
Or  clergy  made  so  fine  ? 
A  kick  that  scarce  would  move  a  horse 
May  kill  a  sound  divine." 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir,  —  Please  let  your  attention  rest  for  a  moment  on  the  enclosed  cutting 
Why  does  not   this  follower  of  the  meek  and  lowly  (?)   Jesus  turn  the  other 

cheek  ?     What  use  can  he  have  for  $1,000  or  $3,000,  since  of  course  he  leaches 

a  gospel  which  is  not  of  this  world  ? 

And  why  should  he  be  more  respected   by  society  because  he  is  an  ordained 

>Roman  Catholic  priest  than  if  he  were  any  other  kind  of  a  priest,  or  not  even  a 

priest  at  all?  Fraternally  yours,  J.  S.  Odegaard. 

Montreal,  May  23. — Rev.  Phillippe  Guiraud,  a  Syrian  priest,  who  claims  to 
"be  endowed  with  healing  power,  seeks  to  recover  $3,000  damages  from  La  Presse 
for  alleged  libelous  epiihets  published  in  an  issue  of  October  22nd,  1903.  The 
case  was  argued  yesterday  before  Mr.  Justice  Robidoux.  In  his  declaration  the 
plaintiff  sets  forth  that  he  is  a  regularly  ordained  priest  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  consequently  entitled  to  the  respect  of  society.  He  takes  exception 
to  a  court  report  published  in  La  Presse,  in  which  his  personal  appearance  is 
described  as  being  "  Hebraic,"  and  a  satchel  which  he  is  in  the  habit  of  carrying 
as  "legendary."  The  epithets,  he  claims,  were  calculaled  to  cover  him  with 
ridicule.  Although  considerably  injured  in  his  dignity  and  reputation,  he  would 
place  the  damages  at  $1,000,  if  La  Presse  will  recant.  Otherwise  he  demands 
an  additional  sum  of  $2,000,  In  his  testimony  yesterday,  the  Syrian  priest 
claimed  that  ever  since  he  came  to  Montreal  he  has  been  an  object  of  persecu- 
tion. "  No  one  has  attempted  to  stab  me  yet,"  he  went  on,  "  but  I  have  been 
p-lted  with  stones  in  the  streets.  People  have  branded  me  as  a  renegade,  a  Jew 
and  a  Chiniquy,  etc.  I  have  been  expelled  from  stores  and  private  houses,  and 
since  the  press  has  joined  in  the  campaign  of  persecution  things  are  going  from 
bad  to  worse." — Winnipeg  Telegram^  May  23,  '05. 


JOHN  RUSKIN  vs.  DR.  A.  C.  DIXON. 

Those   among   us  who  may  in  some  sense  be  Unbelief     is    one    of    the 

said  to  believe   are  divided,  almost   without  ex-  greatest    sins.       I    think    the 

ception,  into  two  broad  classes — Romanists  and  qualities   of   lying,    theft    and 

Puritans,  who   but   for  the   interference  of  the  murder  are  contained  in  unbe- 

imbelieving   portion  of  society,  would  either  of  lief   Murder  is  generally  done 

them  reduce  the  other  sect  as  speedily  as  pos-  in  hot   blood    and   anger,  but 

sible  to  ashes.     The  Romanist  always  has  done  unbelief  has  no  such  extenu- 

so  whenever  he  could,   from  the   beginning  of  ating    circumstances.  —  Dr.  A. 

•their  separation,  the  Puritan  at  the  same  time  C.  Dixon,  before  Bible  Con- 

holding  himself   in   complacent  expectation  of  ference,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  March 

the  destruction   of   Rome   by  volcanic  fire 22,  '05,  reported  in  News. 

Hence,  nearly  all  our  powerful  men  in  this  age 
are  unbelievers. — Ruskin,  quoted  in  Secular 
Thought. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  357 

PERSECUTION  OF  "LUCIFER." 

We  have  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Moses  Harman,  editor  of  Lucifer,  asking, 
for  help  in  his  struggle  against  the  oppression  of  the  U.  S.  Postal  officials,  and 
we  hope  that  many  of  our  friends  will  see  their  way  to  sending  him  the  needed 
assistance.  Mr.  Harman  has  already  served  three  terms  of  imprisonment.  He 
is  now  over  eighty  years  of  age  ;  and,  though  we  are  not  entirely  in  accord  with 
his  object  or  method,  we  sincerely  hope  he  will  be  saved  from  a  fourth  term. 

The  system  under  which  a  Post-office  underling  can  practically  ruin  a  man's 
business  by  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  can  refuse  to  allow  journals  to  be  delivered  to 
thousands  of  subscribers  who  have  paid  for  them,  and  can  usurp  the  post  of 
Moral  Dictator  for  the  whole  community,  is  one  that  should  be  changed  in  the 
most  peremptory  manner,  and  will  certainly  be  changed  when  the  United  States 
becomes  a  free  country. 

Mr.  Harman  needs  to  show  a  large  subscription  list.  Lucifer  is  published 
at  500  Fulton  Street,  Chicago,  $1  per  year. 


A  certain  author,  having  explained  the  nature  of  his  occupation  to  an  old 
Manx  woman,  was  hardly  prepared  for  the  comment,  '*VVell,  well,  what  does  it 
matter  so  long  as  a  bt)dy  makes  his  livin'  honestly  ?  "  the  words  being  evidently 
meant  to  put  him  on  belter  terms  with  himself.  But  worse  still  fared  an  English 
clergyman,  for  S'  me  time  vicar  of  a  Manx  parish,  and  from  ignorance  of  the 
people  and  their  ways  not  a  very  popular  one.  Having  received  preferment  else- 
where, he  started  on  a  round  of  farewell  visits,  but  without  hearing  a  single 
regret.  At  last  one  old  woman  told  him  she  was  **  mortal  sorry."  In  his  delight 
the  vicar  let  curiosity  outrun  discretion,  and  he  asked  for  her  reason.  "  Well," 
S-\id  she,  with  touching  candor,  "  we've  had  a  lot  o'  pass'ns  over  here  fronv 
England,  and  each  one  has  been  worse  than  the  last,  and  after  you're  gone  I'm 
afeared  they'll  be  sen'm'  us  the  devil  himself."  The  vicar  left  hurriedly.— Lo;/^/6»;i 
Saturday  Review. 


The  Kansas  City  Journal  alleges  Biblical  authority  for  the  declaration  that 
the  good  die  young.  "  Seth,"  it  says,  "lived  912  years,  Enos  lived  905  years, 
Cainan  lived  910  years,  Mahalalecl  lived  895  years,  Jared  lived  962  years,  Me- 
t'iusaleh  lived  96  j  years,  and  Lamech  lived  777  years.  Of  Enoch,  the  only 
Lood  one  in  the  lot,  the  chapter  says  :  *  And  Enoch  walked  with  God.  and  he 
was  not,  for  God  took  him,  and  all  the  days  cf  Enoch  were  365  years.'  Being 
^ood,  Enoch  lived  a  measly  little  period  of  only  365  years,  while  the  others, 
being  given  to  sin,  lived  to  grow  up  to  manhood.  It  always  seemed  strange  to 
us  that  preachers  pay  so  little  attention  to  the  facts  of  the  Bible." 


A  TEST  OF  FAITH. — Mrs.  De  Fashion — You  don't  mean  you're  beginning 
to  doubt  the  Bible  ? 

Miss  l)e  Fashion  (examining  her  Easter  gown) — Well,  ma,  it's  certainly  hard 
to  believe  that  Eve  was  compelled  to  wear  clothes  as  a  punishment. —  Washing- 
ton Star. 


The  bigot  for  the  most  part  clings  to  opinions  adopted  without  investigation 
and  defended  without  argument,  while  he  is  intolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others. 
—Buck, 


358 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


ON  THE    BRIDGE   OF  DEBTS. 


The  "credit  system,"  as  it  is  ordin- 
arily known  nowadays,  appears  to 
belong  to  an  advanced  state  of  society, 
and  to  be  impracticable  under  certain 
conditions  of  life,  but  it  is  in  use, 
nevertheless,  in  some  very  primitive 
communities.  ^  In  the  valley  of  Possey, 
in  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  where  the 
Alpine  inhabitants  lead  a  simple  life, 
practically  all  business  and  work  is 
conducted  on  credit,  subject  to  annual 
settlement.  On  a  certain  day  in  winter 
the  inhabitants  of  the  valley  meet  at 
the  bridge  of  St.  Leonard's,  a  place 
which  is  convenient  toall,  and  the  day 
is  spent  in  balancing  accounts. 

The  first  business  in  order  at  these 
meetings  is  the  payment  of  debts. 
Every  one  pays  what  he  owes ;  some 
depend  upon  what  they  collect  to  meet 
debts  owed  to  others,  but  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Possey  are  thrifty  and  honest, 
and  there  is  usually  money  enough  to 
go  round, 

The  bridge  of  St.  Leonard's,  in  other 
words,  is  the  clearing  house  of  the 
valley  of  Possey. 

After  the  debts  are  paid,  contracts 
are  entered  into  for  the  next  year. 
Labor  engages  itself,  and  the  farmers' 
crops  are  often  bargained  for  in  ad- 
vance. 

If  any  debtor  fails  to  appear  at  the 
bridge  and  meet  his  dues  on  the 
"  squaring-up "  day  he  is  practically 
cut  off  from  further  dealings  with  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  valley.  No 
more  credit  is  allowed  him,  and  he  is 
generally  fain  to  re-establish  himself  in 
the  good  will  of  his  fellows  by  paying 
his  debts  as  soon  as  he  possibly  can. 
To  be  able  to  hold  up  one's  head  on 
the  bridge  is  the  test  of  solvency  and 
honor. 

There  is  a  tradition  in  the  Tyrol  that 
once,  a  long  time  ago,  after  a  year  of 
scarcity  and  disaster,  the  inhabitants 
of    the   valley   of   Possey   met  at    St. 


Leonard's  bridge.  Each  one  owed  some 
one  else.  Consequently,  each  depended 
upon  being  paid  by  his  neighbor  who 
owed  him,  in  order  to  be  able  to  pay 
his  neighbor  whom  he  owed. 

But  as  no  one  appeared  to  have  any 
money  no  one's  debt  could  be  paid. 
The  people  stood  about  in  despair,  until 
presently  a  well-to-do  miller,  who  was 
known  to  have  money,  arrived. 

"  Good  !  "  said  Hans  Melchior,  the 
tailor,  "  Here  is  Wilhelm  Gutpfennig. 
He  will  start  the  ball  rolling.  Whom 
do  you  owe,  Wilhelm  1  " 

"  No  one  !  " 

"  So  1  Well,  will  you  lend  me  forty 
gold  thalers  until  noon  ? " 

The  miller  thought  the  matter  over 
a  moment. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  believe  you  are 
honest,  Hans  Melchior.  I  will  lend 
you  the  money." 

He  advanced  forty  thalers  to  Hans, 
who  used  it  to  pay  his  debt  to  Peter 
the  weaver,  aud  Peter  the  weaver 
passed  it  on  to  discharge  his  obligation 
to  another  citizen,  and  so  it  went  from 
hand  to  hand  discharging  the  very 
moderate  debts  of  the  Possey  inhabit- 
ants, until  it  came  to  the  last  man, 
who  happened  to  owe  Hans  Melchior 
just  forty  thalers.  He  paid  it,  of 
course,  and  with  it  Melchior  at  once 
settled  his  debt  to  Gutpfennig  the 
miller. 

Now  since  the  miller  had  paid  him- 
self out  of  the  grists  as  he  went  along, 
and  was  owed  by  nobody,  his  forty 
gold  thalers  had  paid  all  the  debts  in 
Possey,  and  every  one  else  had  come 
to  the  bridge  in  the  morning  money- 
less, every  one  went  home  in  the  after- 
noon solvent  and  happy  ! 


The  inner  side  of  every  cloud 

Is  bright  and  shining. 
I  therefore  turn  my  clouds  about, 
And  always  wear  them  inside  out. 
To  show  the  lining." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


3o9 


OPPORTUNITY. 

Master  of  human  destinies  am  I  ! 

Fame,  love  and  fortune  on  my  footsteps 
wait. 

Cities  and  fields  I  walk  ;  I  penetrate 
Deserts  and  seas  remote,  and  passing  by 

Hovel  and  mart  and  palace,  soon  or  late 

I  knock  unbidden  once  at  every  gate  ! 
If  sleeping,  wake  ;  if  feasting,  rise,  before 

1  turn  away.     It  is  the  hour  of  fate, 

And  they  who  follow^  me   reach   every 
state 
Mortals  desire,  and  conquer  every  foe 

Save  death  ;  but  those   who  doubt  or 
hesitate, 
Condemned  to  failure,  penury  and  woe. 

See  me  in  vain,  and  uselessly  implore  ! 

I  answer  not,  and  I  return  no  more  ! 

John  J.  hujalls^  in  JV.  Y.  Truth. 


HE  PASSED. 

He  had  studied  by  himself,  and 
caiiie  up  to  college  for  examination 
with  inadequate  preparation.  He  ap- 
jjroached  ancient  history  with  fear  and 
•  loubt,  for  he  had   had  little  time  to 

t  uff  himself  with  the  history  of  the 
Hsars.  The  paper  contained  a  ques- 
tion at  which  the  young  man  looked 
with  dismay  :  ''What  can  you  say 
fdx>ut  Caligula  1  "  He  did  not  know 
that  Caligula  was  the  worst  of  a  long 
line  of  mad  and  bad  Roman  Emperors. 
l>ut  an  inspiration  came  to  him — the 

>rt  that  often  saves  the  young  and 
i-riorant.  He  wrote  :  "The  less  said 
jilxjut  Caligula  the  better."  He  passed. 


A  MARRIAGE  MIX-UP. 

(Jn  Wednesday  of  this  week  Martin 
Peoples,  of  this  city,  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Anna  Hine,  of  Old  Town.  It  re- 
([uires  some  expert  figuring  to  keep 
tiack  of  **  Mart "  Peoples,  as  a  rule, 
and  in  this  instance  it  looks  like  he 
had  thrown  us.  On  the  2nd  of  last 
November  the  reservoir  was  blown  up 
r  exploded,  and  his  wife  was  killed. 
I'ooplos  himself  had  to  be  carried  to  the 


hospital  for  several  weeks  of  repaii-. 
Getting  on  foot  again,  he  purchased 
a  fine  team  of  baj^s,  had  their  tails 
wrapped  in  ribbon,  and  kept  the  ice 
and  snow  moving  between  Winston  and 
Old  Town.  And  now  we  find  things 
as  above  stated.  Now  *'  Mart"  Peoples 
is  not  a  bad  man,  but  he  is  the  worst 
mixed-up  man  we  ever  saw.  His  bride 
was  his  last  wife's  step-mother,  and 
hence  he  becomes  his  own  daddy.  He 
not  only  becomes  his  own  daddy,  but 
he  is  now  his  step-son's  grandfather 
and  his  mother-in-law's  husband  and 
the  father  of  his  late  wife.  His  wife  is 
in  nearly  as  bad  a  fix,  as  she  is  her  lius- 
band's  mother  and  her  grandchildren's 
mother  also.  But  "  Mart"  Peoples  cart 
work  it  all  out,  and  will  no  doubt  give- 
a  correct  answer  in  the  wind-up.  He 
is  evidently  a  man  of  destiny. —  Whi 
sto7i  (N.C.)  Guide, 


NO  SITTING  FOR  HIM. 

Mark  Twain  in  his  lecturing  days 
reached  a  small  Eastern  town  one  af- 
ternoon, and  went,  before  dinner,  to  a 
barber  to  be  shaved. 

"  You  are  a  .stranger  in  the  town,, 
sir  \  "  the  barber  asked. 

"Yes,  I'm  a  stranger  here,"  was  the- 
reply. 

"  We^i*e  having  a  good  lecture  here- 
to-night, sir,"  said  the  barber.  '^'■A 
Mark  Twain  lecture.   Are  you  going  ? " 

"Yes,  I  think  I  will,"  said  Mr. 
Clemens. 

"  Have  you  got  yowr  ticket  yet  1 '" 
the  barber  asked. 

"  No ;  not  yet/'  said  the  otlier, 

"  Then,  sir,  youll  hav^  to  stand."" 

"Dear  me  r"Mr.CleiiQens  exclaimeff^ 
"  It  seems  as  if  I  always  do  have  to 
stand  when  I  hear  that  man  Twain 
lecture." 


Some  men  are  contented  and  other» 
are  indolent,  but  it  is  frequently  hardL 
to  tell  which  is  which. 


360 


SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


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THE  FRENCH   REVOLUTION. 

Bv  Frederic  May  Holland,  Author  o: 
"  Liberty  in   the    Nineteenth    Century,"  etc 
Paper  wrapper,  loc. 
C.  M.  ELLIS,  Secular  Thought  Office. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUG-HT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
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J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

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\0L.  XXXI.  No.  13. 

TORONTO,  JULY  31, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

mh^  llnGereoU  became  an  HQUoetic* 

:o: 

Up  to  this  time  I  had  read  nothing  against  our  blessed  religion 
except  what  I  had  found  in  Burns,  Byron  and  Shelley.  By 
some  accident  I  read  Volney,who  shows  that  all  religions  are 
and  have  been  established  in  the  same  way — that  all  had  their 
Christs,  their  apostles,  their  miracles  and  sacred  books — and 
then  asks  how  it  is  possible  to  decide  which  is  the  true  one  :  a 
question  that  is  still  waiting  for  an  answer. 

I  read  Gibbon,  the  greatest  of  historians,  who  marshalled 
his  facts  as  skilfully  as  Caesar  did  his  legions,  and  I  learned 
that  Christianity  is  only  another  name  for  Paganism — for  the 
old  religion,  shorn  of  its  beauty  ;  that  some  absurdities  had 
been  exchanged  for  others,  that  some  gods  had  been  killed,  a 
vast  multitude  of  devils  created,  and  hell  enlarged. 

And  then  I  read  the  ^' Age  of  Reason,"  by  Thomas  Paine. 
The  **  Age  of  Reason"  filled  with  hatred  the  hearts  of  those 
who  loved  their  enemies  ;  and  the  occupant  of  every  orthodox 
pulpit  became  a  passionate  maligner  of  Thomas  Paine. 

No  one  has  answered— no  one  will  answer — his  argument 
against  the  dogma  of  inspiration — his  objections  to  the  Bible. 
I-Ie  did  not  rise  above  all  the  superstitions  of  his  day.  While 
he  hated  Jehovah,  he  praised  the  God  of  Nature,  the  creator 
and  preserver  of  all.  In  this  he  was  wrong,  because,  as  Wat- 
son said  in  his  reply  to  Paine,  the  God  of  Nature  is  as  heart- 
loss  and  as  cruel  as  the  God  of  the  Bible. 

I   read  Voltaire — Voltaire,  the  greatest  man  of  his  century, 

and  who  did  more  for  liberty  of  thought  and  speech  than  any 

other  being,  human  or  *'  divine."    Voltaire,  who  tore  the  mask 

from  hypocrisy,  and  found,  behind  the  painted  mask,  the  fangs 

f  hate.     Voltaire,  who  attacked  the  savagery  of  the  law,  the 


362  SECULAK  THOUGHT, 


cruel  decisions  of  venal  courts,  and  rescued  victims  from  the 
wheel  and  rack.  Voltaire,  who  waged  war  against  the  tyranny 
of  thrones,  the  greed  and  heartlessness  of  power.  Voltaire, 
who  filled  the  flesh  of  priests  with  the  barbed  and  poisoned 
arrows  of  his  wit,  and  made  the  pious  jugglers,  who  cursed 
him  in  public,  laugh  at  themselves  in  private.  Voltaire,  who 
sided  with  the  oppressed,  rescued  the  unfortunate,  championed 
the  obscure  and  weak,  civilized  judges,  repealed  unjust  laws, 
and  abolished  torture  in  his  native  land. 

I  read  Zeno,  the  man  who  said,  centuries  before  our  Christ 
was  born,  that  man  could  not  own  his  fellow  man.  I  compared 
Zeno,  Epicurus,  and  Socrates — three  heathen  wretches  who 
had  never  heard  of  the  Old  Testament  or  the  Ten  Command- 
ments— with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob — three  favorites  of 
Jehovah — and  I  was  depraved  enough  to  think  that  the  Pagans 
were  superior  to  the  Patriarchs,  and  to  Jehovah  himself. 

My  attention  was  turned  to  other  religions,  to  the  sacred 
books,  the  creeds  and  ceremonies  of  other  lands — of  India, 
Egypt,  Assyria,  Persia,  of  the  dead  and  dying  nations.  I  con- 
cluded that  all  religions  had  the  same  foundation — a  belief  in 
the  supernatural — a  power  above  nature  that  man  could  influ- 
ence by  worship,  by  sacrifice,  and  by  prayer. 

I  found  that  all  religions  rested  on  a  mistaken  conception 
of  nature  ;  that  the  religion  of  a  people  was  the  science  of 
that  people — that  is  to  say,  their  explanation  of  the  world,  of 
life  and  death,  of  origin  and  destiny. 

I  concluded  that  all  religions  had  substantially  the  same 
origin,  and  that,  in  fact,  there  has  never  been  but  one  religion 
in  the  world.  The  poor  African  who  pours  out  his  heart  to 
his  deity  of  stone  is  on  an  exact  religious  level  with  the  robed 
priest  who  supplicates  his  God.  The  same  mistake,  the  same 
superstition,  bends  the  knees  and  shuts  the  eyes  of  both. 
Both  ask  for  supernatural  aid,  and  neither  has  the  slightest 
thought  of  the  absolute  uniformity  of  nature. 

Long  before  our  Bible  was  known,  other  nations  had  their 
sacred  books.  The  dogmas  of  the  Fall  of  Man,  the  Atone- 
ment, and  Salvation  by  Faith  are  far  older  than  our  religion. 
In  our  blessed  Gospel,  our  **  divine  scheme,"  there  is  nothing 
new,  nothing  original.  All  old,  all  borrowed,  pieced,  and 
patched. 

Then  I  concluded  that  all  religions  had  been  naturally  pro- 


I 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  363 

duced,  and  that  all  were  variations,  modifications  of  one. 
Then  I  felt  that  I  knew  that  all  were  the  work  of  man. 

Then  I  asked  myself  the  question  :  Is  there  a  supernatural 
power,  an  arbitrary  mind,  an  enthroned  God,  a  supreme  will 
that  sways  the  tides  and  currents  of  the  world — to  which  all 
causes  bow  ?     I  do  not  deny.      I  do  not  know. 

Is  there  a  God  ?     I  do  not  know. 

Is  man  immortal  ?     I  do  not  know. 

One  thing"  I  do  know,  and  that  is,  that  neither  hope  nor 
fear,  belief  nor  denial,  can  change  the  fact.  It  is  as  it  is,  and 
it  will  be  as  it  must  be.  We  wait  and  hope. — R.  G.  Ingersoll. 

EDITORIAL    NOTES. 

No  one  can  deny  that  Canada  is  growing.  One 
CANADA'S  of  the  signs  of  a  growing  country  is  the  increase 

"  GROWING  TIME."  of  the  salaries,  perquisites,  and  privileges  of  its 
rulers  and  officials.  Those  who  advocate  such 
an  increase  are  never  at  a  loss  for  arguments  in  its  favor.  The  chief 
one  is  always  a  comparison  of  the  official  salaries  with  those  received  by 
many  leading  employees  in  banks,  insurance  companies,  and  other  large 
and  wealthy  corporations,  and  the  reputedly  large  emoluments  received 
by  prominent  lawyers,  doctors,  etc.  Another  is  the  vastly  increased 
amount  of  work  and  responsibility  entailed  by  the  country's  growth. 
Both  of  these  arguments  are  open  to  great  objections. 

It  may  be  said  that — sometimes — ideas  of  public  spirit  and  patriotism 
lead  men  to  adopt  the  profession  of  politics  and  to  seek  public  offices. 
Honor,  power,  and  patronage  are  supposed  to  be  so  largely  the  ambition 
of  many  men,  that  pay  for  services  as  members  of  Parliaments  and  of 
Legislatures  has  hitherto  been  generally  looked  upon  in  the  "  old  and 
effete  "  countries  as  degrading ;  and  any  comparison  with  salaries  paid 
for  commercial  and  industrial  services  has  been  tabooed. 

Again,  to  compare  politicians  with  men  who  have  gained  important 
positions  in  trade  and  the  professions  by  their  marked  merit  or  genius 
is  manifestly  unfair.  A  politician  gains  his  rank  almost  entirely  by  the 
aid  of  the  party  machine  and  wire-pulling,  his  chief  qualifications  being 
a  loud  voice,  a  knowledge  of  the  laches  and  weaknesses  of  the  opposing 
partisans,  and  an  unscrupulous  readiness  to  expose  them.  Professional 
ability  or  special  technical  knowledge  is  confessedly  very  rare,  all  work 
calling  for  such  qualifications  being  relegated  to  the  permanent  stafif. 


364  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

The  prestige  and  security  enjoyed  by  public  officials  are  also  two  large 
considerations  that  often  induce  men  to  give  up  private  business  to  enter 
the  public  service,  even  without  reckoning  some  very  palpable  perquisites 
that  often  accrue,  as  well  as  pensions  and  retiring  allowances. 

Apart  from  the  salaries  paid  to  Government  officials  and  legislators,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  great  expense  is  often  incurred  for  them  on 
occasions  of  public  festivities,  etc.,  and  that  they  have  free  railway  passes 
and  franking  privileges  that  are  valuable  items. 

On  the  w^hole,  we  think,  any  effort  to  make  the  salaries  of  public  offi- 
cials equal  to  the  large  incomes  derived  from  business  pursuits  by  the 
more  successful  men  would  be  grossly  unjust,  and  would  have  a  deci- 
dedly demoralizing  tendency  upon  the  public  service. 

As  to  the  increased  strain  of  an  extending  service,  such  a  plea  is  ridi- 
culous. Undoubtedly  there  is  more  work  to  be  done,  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  number  of  hands  employed  has  increased  beyond  all  proportion 
to  the  increase,  in  the  work.  From  all  we  have  seen  and  heard,  we  be- 
lieve that  nine-tenths  of  the  work  and  worry  of  politicians  arises  from 
illegitimate  and  dishonest  proceedings,  the  necessary  concomitants  of  a 
corrupt  party  system. 

The  man  who  imagines  that  a  Dominion  Premier  has  any  excessive 
amount  of  work  to  do,  except  in  the  w^ay  of  covering  up  blunders  and 
jobs,  and  the  wire-pulling  and  scheming  necessary  to  enable  him  and 
his  friends  to  *'  hold  down  their  jobs,"  must  be  green  indeed. 

'*  Talk  is  cheap,"  it  is  said,  but  at  $12,000  per  annum  and  perquisites 
it  seems  a  rather  expensive  commodity. 

On  these  grounds  alone,  we  cannot  help  regard- 
THE  GREAT  ing  the  great   salary  grab   just  perpetrated    at 

DOMINION  PARLIA-  Ottawa  as  one  of  the  most  scandalous  events  in 
MENT  SALARY  Canada's  short  history.     One  of  the  worst  fea- 

GRAB.  tures  of  the  whole  business  is  the  purchase  of 

the  "  leader  of  the  Opposition  "  with  a  salary  of 
$7,000  per  annum.  This  exactly  fits  in  with  the  disgraceful  transactions 
connected  with  the  office  of  Auditor-General.  The  late  Auditor-General 
could  not  be  bought  or  bullied  into  hiding  corrupt  transactions,  and  was 
compelled  to  resign  rather  than  attempt  to  carry  on  his  work  under  con- 
ditions that  would  take  away  his  power  of  exposing  official  frauds.  The 
leader  of  the  Opposition  has  compromised  his  work  in  the  same  direc- 
tion for  a  salary  of  $7,000. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  365 


The  Auditor-General  and  the  leader  of  the  Opposition  are  the  two  men 
upon  whom  the  public  should  be  able  to  rely  to  prevent  gross  frauds. 

To  place  the  former  under  the  orders  of  the  Executive  Government 
and  to  pa^'  the  latter  a  salary  is  to  nullify  their  usefulness,  and  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  perpetration  and  concealment  of  gigantic  robberies 
of  the  public  exchequer. 

For  many  of  the  other  increases  of  pay  and  pensions  we  can  see  no 
excuse.  To  give  pensions  and  sessional  allowances  amounting  to  about 
$6,500  per  annum  to  men  who  have  held  portfolios  for  five  years  is  a 
piece  of  useless  and  totally  unwarranted  extravagance,  which  has  only 
been  done  as  a  set-off  to  the  increases  of  salary  and  pensions  granted 
to  members  of  the  Government. 

As  these  new-  burders  upon  the  Canadian  tax-pa3^er  only  equal  an 
addition  to  the  debt  of  the  Dominion  of  about  $7,000,000,  or  about  $1.40 
per  head  of  the  population,  it  may  not  be  regarded  as  ruinous;  but 
"  mony  a  mickle  maks  a  muckle,"  and  of  late  years  Canada's  expendi- 
ture and  indebtedness  have  been  mounting  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and 
may  soon  reach  a  limit  where  her  credit  will  be  seriously  impaired. 

Canada's  "  growing  time  "  has  been  seen  in  taxation,  and  debt,  and 
millionaires,  and  paupers,  and  monopolies,  and  "grafts"  of  all  sorts. 
What  we  want  to  see  is  a  *'  growing  time  "  in  public  spirit,  in  common 
sense  and  honest  methods  of  dealing  with  public  affairs,  and  in  liberty 
among  the  masses  and  freedom  from  priestly  influence.  These  things 
can  only  come  through  a  better  system  of  education,  wh'ch  will  raise 
the  moral  status  of  the  people  to  a  point  that  will  cause  them  to  demand 
a  cessation  of  the  frauds  that  have  hitherto  disfigured  our  public  life. 

A  few  weeks  ago  the  Toronto  City  Council,  also 
THE  TORONTO  seized  with  the  ''  growing  time  "  fever,  voted  an 

CITY  COUNCIL  increase  of  salary  to  the  members  of  the  Board 

SALARY  GRAB.  of  Control  and  the  Mayor.    The  Controllers  had 

been  receiving  $1,000  a  year.  The  rate  of  pay 
had  been  fixed  at  $800  a  year  for  aldermen  and  $700  for  Controllers,  but 
the  latter  gentlemen,  construing  the  by-law  as  granting  them  pay  both 
as  aldermen  and  as  Controllers,  claimed — and  secured — the  double  pay. 
This  year,  having  secured  legislation  empowering  the  City  Council  to 
increase  the  Controllers'  pay  up  to  a  maximum  of  $2,500,  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  compelled  to  devote  a  large  part  of  their  time  to  the  work 
of  the  city,  the  Council  have  voted  the  Controllers  the  maximum  sum 


366  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

permitted  by  the  Act.  The  passage  of  the  Act  had  been  so  manifest  a 
**  graft,"  that  one  of  the  Controllers — a  colored  gentleman — felt  called 
upon  to  disclaim  any  intention  of  profiting  by  it,  stating  that  he  would 
not  be  a  member  of  the  Board  when  the  salary  was  increased.  Hardly, 
however,  had  the  Council  settled  down  to  business,  when  the  increase  of 
pay  to  the  maximum  was  carried,  and  made  effective  at  once. 

At  the  same  time  the  Mayor's  salary  was  raised  to  $5,000,  leaving  it 
open  to  question  whether  he  is  not  also  entitled  to  claim  an  additional 
$2,500  as  an  ex  officio  member  of  the  Board  of  Control.  We  have  no 
doubt  that  at  some  convenient  moment  he  will  make  the  claim,  and  no 
doubt  also  that  he  will  get  it. 

The  whole  transaction  is  as  disreputable  as  any  that  have  occurred  in 
the  history  of  Toronto.  The  turn  of  the  Aldermen — now  receiving  a 
dollar  a  day  for  300  working  days,  but  attending  perhaps  thirty  evening 
meetings  of  the  Council  in  the  year — will  now  be  in  order ;  and  then  we 
may  expect  to  see  the  Board  of  Education  and  the  Library  Board  take 
a  hand  in  the  scramble  for  the  public  loot. 

That  these  men  should  vote  these  increases  of  salary  to  themselves 
shows  a  moral  status  little  higher  than  that  of  a  pickpocket. 

Some  months  ago  the  big  Catholic  University  at 
STOCK-GAMBLING  Washington  was  nearly  wrecked  by  the  failure 
CATHOLIC  of  a  stock -jobbing  firm  through  which  its  man- 

BISHOPS.  agers  had  been  carrying  on  their  financial  ope- 

rations. Roughly  estimated,  the  University  lost 
about  a  million  dollars  in  these  operations,  though  how  much  it  might 
have  gained,  or  how  much  the  Bishops  would  have  pocketed  had  their 
speculations  proved  succesbful,  will  never  be  known.  No  doubt  it  was 
"  Htads  I  win,  tails  you  lose,"  so  far  as  they  were  concerned — and  the 
University  lost,  naturally  enough. 

The  other  day  (July  13)  there  was  a  big  gathering  of  the  "  Catholic 
Education  Association  "  at  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  at  which  this  sub- 
ject was  incidentally  mentioned.  "  My  Lord  "  O'Connell  asserted  that 
since  the  loss  of  the  million  dollars  the  University  was  in  a  far  better 
financial  position  than  ever,  and  that  "  the  Waggaman  failure  had  only 
proved  the  loyalty  of  Catholics''  This  needed  little  proof.  Catholics  are 
loyal  if  anything  at  all.  They  should  lose  another  million,  and  then 
they  might  be  better  off  than  ever. 


I 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  367 

Mr.  O'Connell  assured  his  hearers  that  the  University's  finances  were 
now  in  competent  and  responsible  hands — those  of  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Charles  J.  Bonaparte  ;  Adrian 
Iselin,  jr. ;  Matthew  Jenkins,  of  Baltimore;  E.  Francis  Eigg,  of  Wash- 
ington ;  and — Monsignor  O'Connell.  What  need  there  was  of  anyone 
else  than  the  bishop,  goodness  only  knows.  Is  he  not  divinely  guided  ? 
and  will  the  others  dare  oppose  him  ?  Well,  if  they  can  keep  him  from 
stock-gambling,  they  may  prevent  another  disgraceful  exposure. 

Some  talk  about  education  was  indulged  in,  of 
THE  CATHOLICS  course,  at  this  meeting  of  the  Catholic  Educa- 
AND  EDUCATION.  tional  Association.  As  our  Philadelphia  friend, 
Sam  Jones,  tells  us,  referring  to  the  "  Catholic 
Historical  Society  "  of  that  city.  Catholic  priests  are  adepts  at  pretend- 
ing to  favor  truth  and  progress,  while  simply  bamboozling  their  oppo- 
nents with  logical  paradoxes  and  misrepresentations  of  facts. 

Eugene  J.  Philbin  said  the  Americans  as  a  nation  were  ever  mindful 
of  their  "  affairs  with  the  Supreme  Being  !  "  Possibly  they  would  be, 
if  they  knew  what  affairs  of  this  sort  are,  or  how  they  are  to  be  distin- 
guished from  affairs  with  the  priest.  Like  most  men,  they  are  generally 
mindful  of  their  "  affairs  "  with  their  lady  friends  ;  but,  unfortunately, 
Mr.  Philbin  left  us  in  the  dark  as  to  the  nature  of  their  '*  affairs  "  with 
God  Alinighty.  President  Roosevelt,  he  said,  "almost  daily  shows  in 
some  way  his  great  reverence  for  religion" — a  reverence,  we  imagine, 
which  will  last  as  long  as  he  occupies  the  White  House,  with  its  new 
$90,000  stable,  and  while  he  finds  it  paj's.  But  Roosevelt's  truckling  to 
the  religionists  does  not  throw  much  light  on  his  "  affairs  with  the  Su- 
preme Being  " — unless  his  Supreme  Being  be  Mammon. 

"  In  every  public  official  gathering  God  is  recognized  by  prayer,  and 
only  in  our  public  schools  is  prayer  excluded,"  was  Mr.  Philbin's  com- 
plaint against  "godless  schools."  Of  course,  the  religious  vote  is  pur- 
chased by  appointing  chaplains  to  every  public  organization,  and  giving 
appointments  wherever  possible  to  religious  nominees.  Roosevelt  has 
probably  done  more  of  this  sort  of  thing  than  any  of  his  predecessors. 
We  hope  God  is  gratified  by  the  "  recognition."  He  will  begin  to  feel 
like  one  of  the  mmveaux  riches  on  being  recognized  by  the  "  smart  set." 

John  J.  Delaney  was  the  cause  of  one  burst  of  laughter.  He  was,  he 
said,  oppressed  by  the  hot  weather,  and  inanely  asked,  "  What  shall  I 
speak  about  ?  "  From  the  top  gallery  came  a  shrill  voice,  "  Speak  about 


368  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

two  minutes !  "  and  the  audience  roared.  Mr.  Delaney  took  the  hint. 
Briefly  he  told  how  he  had  been  educated  at  a  CathoUc  school  where  the 
modern  system  was  unknown,  and  where  each  child  was  allowed  to  make 
what  progress  it  could  regardless  of  others,  and  the  result  had  been  that, 
though  he  had  met  many  graduates  of  the  most  famous  universities,  he 
had  never  yet  had  to  take  a  back  seat  !  He  no  doubt  took  a  first-class 
in  egotism. 

What  all  this  has  to  do  with  education,  or  how  it  affects  the  educative 
work  of  the  Catholic  University,  is  one  of  those  mysteries  that  we  meet 
with  so  frequently  in  theological  and  ecclesiastical  matters. 

Moses  Harraan,  the  aged  editor  of  Lucifer,  has 
PERSECUTION  OF  again  been  sentenced  to  a  term  of  imprisonment, 
MOSES,  HARMAN.       though  allowed  liberty  on  bail  of  $1,500  pending 

an  appeal  to  a  higher  court.  A  Defence  Com- 
mittee of  the  Free  Speech  League  has  issued  an  appeal  for  aid  to  fight 
the  case,  which  will  be  most  probably  successful  if  the  committee  is  as 
well  supported  as  we  hope  it  will  be. 

The  committee  consists  of — E.  W.  Chamberlain,  President;  E.  C. 
Walker,  Chairman  Ex.-Com.,244  W.  143d  St.,  New  York  ;  C.L.  Swartz, 
Secretary  ;  and  Dr.  E.  B.  Foote,  Treasurer,  120  Lexington  Ave.,  New 
York  City. 

In  their  appeal  the  Committee  say  : 

''  To  Lovers  of  Freedom  Everywhere  : 

'*  In  Russia  to-day  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  the  administrative  process 
is  ripe  and  more,  and  the  Government  and  people  of  that  country  are 
gathering  the  rotting  harvest  in  tlame  and  terror  and  blood. 

"  In  the  United  States  the  Postal  Censorship  for  a  decade  or  longer 
has  been  planting  the  seeds  of  that  deadly  tree  in  the  soil  of  this  coun- 
try. Shall  that  mad  planting  continue  and  extend,  or  are  the  people  at 
last  ready  to  say  it  must  stop,  and  stop  NOW? 

"  Moses  Harman,  editor  of  Lucifer,  was  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced 
in  the  Federal  court  in  Chicago  on  the  threadbare  charge  of  'obscenity.' 
We  have  no  doubt  the  whole  series  of  proceedings  was  in  every  step  a 
mistake,  an  injustice,  a  wrong  to  an  innocent  man,  a  denial  of  salutary 
liberty,  a  menace  to  the  peaceful  evolution  of  better  social  conditions. 
But  at  least  the  forms  of  law  were  respected  ;  at  least  the  accused  was 
confronted  with  his  accusers ;  at  least  he  was  informed  in  advance  of  the 
charges  against  him  ;  at  least  he  had  opportunity  to  employ  counsel,  to 
summon  witnesses,  to  prepare  his  defence ;  at  least  he  had  a  trial  *  by 
the  country,'  that  is,  by  a  jury;  at  least  he  was  not  robbed  of  property 


I 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  869 


and  freedom  without  judicial  investigation,  partial  and  prejudiced  though 
it  was;  at  least  he  had  some  chance  to  defend  himself;  at  least  he  was 
not  there  a  victim  of  administrative  process. 

"  That  was  to  come  later  in  the  crowning  outrage  of  all  to  which  he 
has  been  subjected  during  a  full  twenty  years.  He  prepared  a  double 
number  of  Lucifer,  containing  a  resume  of  the  history  of  his  struggle' 
with  the  Censorship  and  a  number  of  letters  from  his  friends.  This  was 
printed,  drawing  heavily  on  his  very  slender  resources.  It  was  deposited 
in  the  post-office  at  Chicago  for  transmission.  Days  passed  and  no  sub- 
scriber received  his  paper.  Inquiries  came  to  Mr.  Harman.  He  went 
to  the  post-office.  He  found  that  the  entire  edition  had  been  '  held  up.' 
He  asked  why.  The  superintendent  of  second-class  mails  told  him  there 
was  obscene  matter  in  the  paper,  and  he  pointed  to  two  articles  which  he 
said  were  in  violation  of  the  postal  law.  These  are  all  conservative  from 
the  viewpoint  of  any  rational  person  of  orthodox  opinions,  and  they  are 
even  reactionary  in  a  measure  in  the  eyes  of  many  intelligent  men  and 
women.  The  superintendent  says  they  are  obscene ;  they  are  not  ob- 
scene, and  the  official  does  not  mean  they  are. 

"  He  means  that  they  are  dangerous  to  the  existing  order  of  disorder, 
as  he  thinks.  He  admitted  this  when  he  said  to  Mr.  Harman  :  '  If  your 
ideas  should  prevail,  society  would  be  in  a  state  of  chaos.'  It  is  not 
obscenity,  but  heresy,  that  is  scented  and  attacked." 

Thus  a  post-office  clerk  has  authority  to  seize  a  man's  property,  send 
it  to  the  dead-letter  office  to  be  destroyed,  and  deprive  subscribers  of  the 
right  to  receive  matter  they  have  paid  for.  We  may  well  be  asked,"  Why 
not  complete  the  installation  of  the  Russian  machine?  " 

We  can  but  echo  the  appeal  of  the  committee  for  support  for  Mr. 
Harman  in  his  struggle  for  free  speech.  We  need  not  agree  with  all  of 
his  ideas,  but  there  are  large  numbers  of  persons  who  do  agree  with 
them,  and  while  they  are  discussed  with  moderation  and  decency,  it  is 
an  intolerable  abuse  of  authority  to  attempt  to  stifle  their  discussion  in 
the  tyrannical  manner  now  adopted  both  in  Canada  and  the  States. 

Tastes  differ,  naturally  enough ;  and  whether  a 
"THANK  GOD  FOR  thing  is  good  or  bad  often  depends  upon  the 
THE    CATHOLIC  point  of  view.     But  when  we  hear  of  a  Baptist 

CHURCH  !  "  preacher  "  thanking  God  "  for  the  Holy  Roman 

Catholic  Church,  it  seems  as  strange,  if  not  so 
excusable,  as  to  see  the  old  woman  kissing  her  cow. 

It  was  at  the  annual  luncheon  of  the  New  York  Baptist  ministers  that 
the  sentiment  was  uttered.  After-dinner  speeches  are  as  little  likely  to 
be  sober  utterances  at  a  festive  meeting  of  preachers  as  at  one  of  soldiers 


370  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


or  sailors  or  candlestick  makers,  but  probably  Dr.  Khodes,  secretary  of 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  who  made  this  startling  speech, 
wa&  as  sober  as  any  of  the  other  preachers  present.     He  said  : 

**  You  talk  too  much  about  Daniel  and  about  Egypt,  instead  of  bring- 
ing yourselves  to  discuss  your  present-day  problems  and  what  is  being 
done  for  the  spread  of  God's  kingdom  to-day.  For  instance.  Dr.  A.  Lin- 
coln Moore  here  told  me  the  other  day  that  up  in  his  parish,  that  of  the 
Riverside  Baptist  Church,  at  92d  St.  and  Amsterdam  Ave.,  he  knows  of 
two  apartment  houses,  one  of  which  has  seventy-two  families  and  the 
other  forty  families  living  within  its  walls.  In  the  first-named  but  three 
families  of  the  seventy-two  are  connected  wiih  any  church,  and  in  the 
last-named  none.  Dr.  Moore  adds  that  he  cannot  get  into  that  apartment 
house  to  reach  those  people.     Why  aren't  you  discussing  it  ? 

**  I  have  been  severely  criticized  for  saying  I  thank  God  that  there 
has  been  a  Eoman  Catholic  Church  and  that  it  has  had  an  American 
branch.  But  I  reiterate  it  rather  than  take  it  back.  How  in  the  world, 
I  ask,  could  the  great  tide  of  immigration  that  has  turned  itself  toward 
this  country  in  the  last  half-century  and  more  have  been  retained  within 
the  fold  of  the  Christian  Church  without  the  great  moulding  influence 
that  the  American  branch  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  given  it  ? 
I  again  thank  God  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church." 

We  do  not  know  what  difficulties  stand  in  the  way  of  the  preachers, 
or  act  as  protectors  of  the  inmates  of  the  tenement-houses  from  the  visits 
of  the  clericals ;  but  it  seems  funny  that  such  men  should  imagine  that 
any  good  would  be  done  by  adding  religion  to -the  other  troubles  of  the 
tenement-house  occupants.  Probably  enough,  many  of  them  need  help 
and  advice  in  the  worst  way,  but  not  such  advice  or  assistance  as  the 
preachers  generally  give.  "  Spreading  God's  kingdom  "  means  increase 
of  the  preacher's  salary  rather  than  any  benefit  to  the  poor. 

Probably,  also,  the  figures  given  for  the  two  tenement-houses  are  not 
far  astray  for  the  bulk  of  New  York's  working  people,  and  indicate  that 
about  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  them  are  church  adherents. 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  understand  why  a  Protestant  should  "  thank  God 
for  the  Catholic  Church."  Without  it,  of  course,  there  would  have  been 
no  need  for  a  Protestant  Church.  And  then  the  authority  and  stability 
of  the  Catholic  Church  has  saved  Christendom  from  being  the  laughing- 
stock of  the  world.  It  would  have  been  a  pantomime  with  only  clowns 
for  actors,  or  vaudeville  with  only  contortionists'  acts.  Christendom 
needed — and  still  needs — the  ballast  of  Catholic  terror  to  save  it  fram 
being  laughed  out  of  court. 

The  Catholic  Church  is  still  the  great  bulwark  that  protects-  Christen- 
dom from  the  inroads  of  reason  and  enlightenment. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  371 

Dr.  Bailey,  of  the  People's  Church,  Brooklyn, 
''  NOTHING  LIKE  simply  gives  us  the  old  trade  cry,  "  Nothing  like 
LEATHER."  leather,"  when  he  tells  the  young  people  of  his 

congregation  not  to  indulge  in  any  amusements 
on  Sunday  but  going  to  church  : 

*'  Do  not  go  to  baseball  games  or  any  other  games  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  You  cannot  afford  it  for  your  own  sake,  and  you  cannot  afford  to 
lend  your  example  and  influence  to  breaking  down  the  sacredness  of  the 
day  which  God  has  given  us  for  the  higher  needs.  Our  city  is  passing 
through  a  peril  which  causes  or  should  cause  honest  and  earnest  men 
to  tremble.  A  great  wave  of  irreligion  is  sweeping  over  us,  and  in  its 
trail  may  be  seen  dishonor  in  business,  madness  and  folly  in  society,  im- 
morality in  pleasures,  and  distrust  in  every  walk  of  life." 

Like  most  other  preachers,  Dr.  Bailey  has  to  make  his  hearers  think 
the  heavens  will  fall  if  his  words  are  not  attended  to.  "  A  great  wave 
of  irreligion  is  sweeping  over  us  " — the  Brooklynites,  we  suppose,  not 
Christians  generally  ;  for  Evan  Roberts  in  Wales  and  Torrey  in  London 
have  assured  us  that  they  have  raised  great  waves  of  religion  there. 

Of  course,  all  such  statements  are  little  better  than  trade  lies,  told  for 
the  purpose  of  boosting  the  easily-told  and  ineffective  "  old,  old  story." 

Torrey  and  Alexander  assert  that,  in  their  five  months'  campaign  in 
London,  at  a  cost  of  $85,000  (more  than  covered  by  collections),  they 
converted  14,000  persons.  Supposing  these  14,000  converts  were  not 
already  Christians  and  did  not  duplicate  their  conversions — the  usual 
thing  with  most  converts — $6  a  head  seems  not  an  extravagant  sum  to 
pay  for  the  work. 

In  five  months,  however,  the  addition  to  the  population  of  London  by 
births  alone  will  amount  to  not  far  short  of  100,000,  and  as  three-fourths 
at  least  of  these  will  be  in  the  ranks  of  the  unchurched,  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  great  metropolis  seems  about  as  progressive  a  work  as  the 
Christianization  of  India,  China,  and  Japan. 

Secretary  Morley,  of  the  Toronto  Board  of  Trade,  has  sent  out  letters 
to  all  the  other  Canadian  Boards  of  Trade,  asking  their  co-operation  in 
a  movement  to  urge  the  Dominion  Government  to  redeem  the  old  and 
mutilated  coins,  of  which  a  large  number  are  in  circulation.  In  June 
the  Toronto  Street  Railway  look  $1,800  worth  of  defaced  and  mutilated 
silver.  More  than  $40  in  l)ad  silver  was  taken  up  in  one  Sunday  at  the 
Jarvis  Street  Baptist  Church  ;  and  all  the  other  churches  complain  of 
the  large  amount  of  bad  money  in  circulation,  and  which  Christians  are 
not  afraid  or  ashamed  to  put  into  the  plate  as  an  offering  to  their  God. 


372  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


^be  IRew  Ibarmon?  fixperiment, 

:o: 

BY     B.    F.   UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

Every  age  has  had  its  dreamers  and  enthusiasts  who  have  made  their  desires 
and  hopes  the  criterion  of  their  beliefs  as  to  the  possibilities  of  social  reform. 
Ideas  of  equality,  fraternity,  co  operation,  living  together  in  peace  and  love  and 
charity  have  been  presented  to  the  world  from  time  to  time  by  those  who  believe 
that  the  golden  age  of  the  world  is  in  the  future.  Plato's  "  Republic."  Bacon's 
"New  Atlantis,"  More's  "  Utopia," Sir  Philip  Sidney's  "New  Arcadia,"  Harring- 
ton's "  Oceana,"  Campanella's  **  City  of  the  Sun  "  and  Bellamy's  "  Looking 
Backward  "  are  a  few  of  the  well-known  works  in  which  are  presented  conceptions 
of  a  reconstructed  society. 

Among  the  most  worthy  of  those  who  made  an  effort  to  realize  the  principles  of 
industry,  co-operation  and  social  equality,  with  a  high  degree  of  moral  elevation, 
was  Robert  Owen,  and  his  most  notable  experinjent  was  that  which  was  inaugu- 
rated at  New  Harmony,  Indiana,  a  settlement  on  the  Indiana  side  of  the  Wabash 
river,  fifty-one  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  the  second  decade  of  the  present  century. 
This  valley  was  described  as  early  as  1765  as  "  one  of  the  finest  co  intries  in  the 
world."  Through  it  passed  successively  in  the  procession  of  civilization  the 
roving  Indian,  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  the  French  trader,  the  British  soldier,  the 
colonial  soldier  and  the  American  pioneer.  The  village  was  settled  originally 
under  the  name  of  "Harmonic"  in  1815  by  VVurtemburg  peasants  known  as 
Rappites,  followers  of  George  Rapp,  who  sought  the  religious  freedom  of  the 
United  States  near  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  first  settling  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  establishing  there  a  "  community  of  equality." 

As  a  co-operative  community,  the  expeiiment,  like  all  previous  experiments, 
and  all  that  have  followed  it,  was  a  failure.  It  was  not  possible  for  the  founder 
to  change  human  nature  and  to  construct  a  social  organization  upon  his  precon- 
ceived plans.  He  had  to  deal  with  men  as  ihey  were,  and  they  were  not  what  ho 
expected  to  find  them  as  members  of  a  new  community.  He  found  loo  much 
dishonesty  where  he  expected  honesty  ;  too  much  intemperance  where  he  looked 
for  temperance  ;  too  much  idleness  where  he  expected  industry  ;  too  much  waste 
in  the  place  of  carefulness,  and  too  much  apathy  where  he  expected  desire  for 
knowledge.  The  persons  in  the  community  did  not  possess  all  the  qualities 
which  he  wished  them  to  have,  and  he  could  not  form  the  community  on  the 
principles  of  brotherly  love,  charity  and  industry  as  he  had  hoped  to.  There 
were  a  great  many  conceited  and  crochety  people  attracted  to  the  comncninity. 
Indeed;  Holyoake,  in  his  "  History  of  Co-operation,"  says,  with  some  exaggera- 
tion, perhaps,  that  the  "cranks  killed  the  colony." 

A  great  many  explanations  have  been  given  why  this  and  other  communities 
failed.     There  is  one  fundamental  reason  why  they  all  failed,  and  why  similar 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  37B 

future  communities  will  also  fail.  Tfae  fact  that  society  is  an  organism,  so  to 
speak,  the  product  of  growth  or  evolution,  was  lost  sight  of  by  Owen,  and 
society  was  treated  by  him  and  his  co-workers  as  a  manufacture,  something  that 
could  be  formed  without  due  regard  to  the  antecedents,  character  and  habits  of 
its  members,  according  to  ideas  of  what  people  should  be,  rather  than  upon 
observation  and  knowledge  of  what  men  and  women  have  been  and  are. 

Society  is  a  product  of  evolutionary  processes,  long  continued  and  extremely 
complex,  and  not  an  artificial  fabrication.  Any  effort,  therefore,  to  establish 
a  community  artificially  upon  principles  radically  different  from  those  of  the 
surrounding  country,  must  necessarily  be  short-lived.  The  pressure  of  forces 
from  every  side  becomes  irresistible,  and  while  the  small  community  may  be 
n.odified  somewhat  by  the  larger  environment,  the  community  acted  upon  must, 
sooner  or  later,  unless  there  is  an  exodus,  lose  its  individuality  and  be  swallowed 
up  by  the  larger  population. 

Although  the  experiment  was  a  failure  as  an  organized  effort,  if  we  take  into 
account  the  many  great  movements  which  started  at  New  Harmony,  which  in 
later  years  reached  complete  or  partial  fruition,  we  may  count  the  experiment  a 
great  success. 

New  Harmony,  through  the  efforts  of  William  Maclure,  '•  The  Father  of 
American  Geology,"  and  other  scientists,  including  the  younger  Owen,  was  for 
years  the  greatest  scientific  centre  in  America.  It  was  the  first  scientific  outpost 
in  the  West.  It  was  visited  by  distinguished  scientists,  including  Sir  Charles 
Lyell.  It  became  the  headquarters  of  the  United  States  geological  survey  wMth 
David  Dale  Owen,  one  of  the  students,  in  charge.  It  had  a  remarkable  scientific 
collection  and  the  best  scientific  library  in  the  country.  One  member  of  the 
community,  William  Maclure,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Philadelphia 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  another,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  became  the 
father  of  the  Smithsonian  institution  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  regents. 

At  New  Haimony  women  were  first  given  a  voice  in  local  legislative  assem- 
blages. There  the  doctrine  of  equal  political  rights  for  all  without  regard  to  sex 
or  color,  was  first  proclaimed  by  Frances  Wright.  New  Harmony  was  one  of 
the  centres  of  the  abolition  movement.  In  New  Harmony  was  founded  the  first 
woman's  literary  club  in  the  United  States.  In  1826  it  afforded  the  first  known 
example  of  prohibition  of  the  liqi  or  traffic  by  legislation  of  the  community. 
Through  Maclure,  the  village  gave  to  the  West  a  system  of  mechanics'  libraries 
from  which  dates  the  beginning  of  general  education  in  more  than  a  hundred 
Western  towns.  It  is  also  claimed  that  through  Josiah  Warren,  who  founded  the 
New  Harmony  "  time  store  "  and  a  system  of  labor  notes,  Owen  derived  the  idea 
of  the  great  labor  co-operative  societies  of  Great  Britain.  This,  affirmed  by  John 
Humphrey  Noyes,  however,  is  denied  by  Owen's  biographer,  Lloyd  Jones. 

Robert  Dale  Owen's  influence  in  the  promotion  of  education,  scientific  and 
other,  both  in  the  Indiana  State  Legislature  and  in  Congress,  admittedly  very 
great  and  valuable,  was  derived  largely  from  the  New  Harmony  effort  which 
ended  about  1830  as  a  distinct  organized  movement.  Although  Owen  had  his 
Waterloo  defeat,  it  has  been  said  that  he  retired  from  the  field  as  if  he  had  been 
the  Wellington  rather  than  the  Napoleon  of  the  contest.  It  was  in  1828,  when 
Owen  returned  to  New  Harmony  from  England,  that  he  made,  though  grudgingly, 
a  confession  of  defeat. 


374  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


flDa&  nDurbocft'0  Hnimal  Storiee. 

:o: 

THE  FLEA. 

'Ours  is  one  of  the  very  oldest  families.  Before  Noah  floated  his  old  scow  we 
'danced  on  the  sands  of  the  plain  of  Shinar.  We  hobnobbed  with  kings,  cuddled 
close  to  queens,  and  caused  curates  to  curse  before  the  delta  of  the  Nile  was 
made  of  mud  from  the  Nubian  mountains.  We  swelled  the  hosts  of  Xerxes. 
Herod  hunted  us,  while  the  good  and  great  queen  of  Sheba  fed  us  in  thousands. 
While  we  were  part  of  his  court,  the  much  married  Solomon  held  us  in  light 
esteem,  as  witness  his  testimony  as  it  may  be  rendered  in  the  next  revision  of 
the  Book  of  Truth  : 

"  The   wicked   flea,  when  any   man  pursueth,  but  the  bedbugs  are  bold  as  a 
landlord's  bailiff"." 

It  is  commonly  held  that  to  be  one  of  the  intellectual  ones,  we  should  be 
able  to  trace  our  ancestry  back  beyond  the  pliocene  and  miocene  ages,  to  a  time 
so  remote  that  even  ward-heeling  was  unknown,  and  men  preached  what  was  in 
•them  with  no  thought  of  spare  ribs  or  blubber  to  entangle  the  view  point.  The 
^Humans  have  tried  it  and  have  partially  decided  that  they  are  of  Simian  origin, 
that  the  horse  was  at  one  time  a  kind  of  hare,  and  that  the  forbears  of  the  swan 
were  serpents.  If  you  would  be  of  the  scientific  ones  you  must  be  prepared  to 
prove  that  every  creature  sprung  from  some  other  kind,  and  so  go  leaping  back- 
ward till  the  haze  of  time  hides  from  us  where  the  most  remote  leap  started  from. 
The  flea,  as  one  of  the  forces  of  civilization,  is  not  to  be  outdone  by  crusty 
rusty  Scotch  professors  or  spectacled  German  scientists  exhaling  the  odors  of 
'beer  and  bologna  sausage  or  other  noxious  vapors. 

Let  others  speak  for  themselves  ;  for  us,  though  we  cannot  remember  the  day 
.of  our  nativity,  we  can  say  with  confidence  that  we  sprang  from  a  dog  and  landed 
on  a  duchess.  After  sampling  the  duchess  we  tried  the  coachman,  and  by  easy 
stages  the  barmaid.  From  the  barmaid  we  landed  on  the  butcher's  boy,  and  so, 
without  changing  cars,  reached  the  cook.  From  the  cook  to  milord  was  but  a 
«tep.  To  milady  was  two  jumps,  one  of  which  landed  on  milord's  horsey  friend. 
From  milady  'twas  scarce  a  step  to  the  parson.  After  sampling  the  parson  we 
got  sick  and  had  to  lay  up  for  repairs.  We  had  gotten  so  many  flavors  on  our 
trip  since  leaving  the  dog  that  it  only  required  a  taste  of  parson  to  supply  the 
last  straw  and  make  us  long  for  dog  again.  While  convalescent  under  the 
parson's  vest  we  heard  him  pray  : 

"  Oh,  Lord,  be  graciously  pleased  in  thy  abundant  mercy  to  forgive  the  sins 
we  are  about  to  commit  :  yet.  Lord,  thou  knowest  it  is  no  more  I  that  trans- 
gresseth  the  law,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me." 

I  gave  him  a  nip  then,  though  it  turned  me  sick,  and  asked  him : 
''Reverend  sir,  is  it  not  usual  to  sin  first  and  pray  for  forgiveness  afterwards?  " 
"Yes,  you  invention  of  the  devil,  it  is,  or  at  least  was,  but  with  a  Revision  and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  375 

the  Higher  Criticism,  we  must  be  up-to-date.  The  banks  have  a  Rest  Account  ;. 
our  very  rents  must  be  paid  in  advance  ;  the  demand  is,  with  all  business  con- 
cerns to  be  able  to  realize  on  securities  ;  what  better  security  can  we  have  than 
cancellation  of  bur  debts  in  advance?" 

"  But  could  you  not  trust  that  Almighty  G —  ?" 

"Trust?  You  imp  of  hell,  trust  nothing.  I  suppose  that  God's  word  is  all' 
right,  but  his  marked  cheque  is  better." 

'*  You  taste  of  too  many  viands  turned  sour,  and  you  smell  of  snuff  and 
smoke,  therefore  I  don't  enjoy  you.  Besides,  you  called  me  an  invention  of  the 
devil  and  an  imp  of  hell,  instead  of  which  I  am  one  of  God's  creatures  and  have 
a  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  parsons  if  I  want  them.  I  don't  belong 
to  the  Humane  Society,  you  do.  You  spied  on  the  carter  whipping  his  horse 
when  it  balked.  You  told  on  him,  and  your  friend  the  beak  gave  the  carter 
sixty  days  in  gaol  while  his  wife  and  little  ones  live  on  scraps  from  the  lanes.. 
And  you  would  put  your  thumb  on  me  now  and  crush  out  my  sweet  life  in  its. 
morning— if  you  could  " — I  was  turning  handsprings  from  one  shoulder  blade  to 
the  other — "  and  yet  you  are  an  accessory  before  the  fact  to  the  murder  of 
lambs  and  chickens  every  day  of  your  life.  And  you  know,"  I  said,  "  that  you 
confess  to  being  a  black-hearted,  cowardly,  selfish,  dishonest  crook." 

"  If  you  were  a  man  instead  of  a  contemptible  flea,  I  would  make  you  prove 
your  words,  or  swalow  them." 

"  I  am  taking  your  own  words  for  it.  You  have  confessed  to  all  that  I  have 
said  before  your  God  and  a  church  full  of  people." 

"  Oh,  yes,  of  course  I  know  what  you  mean  now.  We  are  all  that.  The  heart 
of  man  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked  ;  Bible  proves  that ; 
also,  that  we  are  all  born  in  inherited  sin,  that's  all  right ;  but  you  don't  think 
that  I  would  forge  a  note  or  get  drunk  and  violent  ?  You  know,  if  you  can  know 
anything,  that  I  give  money  to  the  poor  that  I  need  not  g  ve.  There  are  many 
men  in  my  congregation  who  are  better  able  to  give  than  I,  and  do  not.  I  lead 
a  moral  life  and—  ' 

"  Moral  rubbish  !  What  do  you  know  about  morals  ?  You  lead  a  decent, 
respectable  life,  just  as  you  wear  decent  clothes,  because  it's  agreeable.  You  give 
to  the  poor  to  get  them  out  of  your  sight  because  the  sight  of  their  misery  is  as 
painful  to  you  as  a  cut  finger.  You  are  a  lover  of  ease,  and  you  have  no  clearer 
view  of  life  than  that  well  ordered  cant  is  merchantable  cant.  You 
wouldn't  steal  chickens,  I  feel  sure  of  that.  The  nasty  fluttering  things  w  th 
their  dirty  legs  might  scratch  your  face  in  the  dark.  Oh,  no ;  no  lifting  of 
poultry  for  you  You  can  get  all  the  poultry  you  want  plucked  and  dressed 
without  cost,  by  shaking  a  bloody  cross  at  the  dolts  and  by  telling  them  that  if 
they  don't  lend  to  the  Lord  they'll  go  to  hell.  You  know  that  you  are  a  coward  ; 
do  you  remember  that  you  sold  off  your  real  estate  that  drew  rent  and  invested 
the   proceeds  in   shares   in   a  monopoly  ?     People   might  talk  of  you  as  a  rack 


376  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


renter  or  you  might  lose  some  rent,  but  your  dividends  from  an  unjust  monopoly 
would  come  out  of  the  public,  not  out  of  the  individual ;  you  could  thus  suck 
blood  without  its  being  noticed." 

"  Are  you  ever  going  to  let  up  ?  You  know  that  most  parsons  do  it  that  way 
when  they  can.     You  would  do  it  yourself  if  you  weren't  a  flea." 

"  Yes,  I  think  so." 

"  Well;  what  is  all  ihe  row  about  ?  You  would  do  it  yourself  if  you  were  a 
parson." 

•'  Very  likely." 

''  Well,  what  then  ?  " 

"  I  wouldn't  be  a  parson,  for  then  I'd  be  a  fraud  and  humbug  in  pretending 
to  preach,  as  truth,  what  I  didn't  believe." 

"You're  a  freethinker,  I  do  believe,  a  sort  of  infidel;  they  won't  believe  a 
thing  that  they  doubt  to  be  true — and  you'll  never  make  a  decent  living  that  way." 

"  Are  you  not  a  fraud  and  humbug?  " 

"  We  all  are." 

"  Never  mind  others :  answer ; "  and  I  danced  a  hornpipe  between  his 
fjhoulders. 

"Well,  I  suppose,  strictly  speaking,  I  am  ;  what  of  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  nothing  ;  only,  as  I  said  before,  I  don't  like  the  taste  of  you.  Milady 
and  the  barmaid  taste  much  sweeter,  so  I'm  going  back  to  them,  and  I'll  just 
mention  what  you  have  admitted  to  me." 

*'  Oh,  for  heaven's  sake  don't  !     I  would  lose  my  situation." 

"  I  don't  care." 

"  You  are  a  devil." 

"  I  am  going  to  expose  you  unless  you  give  good  reasons  why  I  should 
desist."     Then  the  parson  offered  up  a  prayer  on  this  wise  : 

"  Almighty  flea,  maker  of  flea-bites,  who  is  like  unto  thee  among  the  midgets  ? 
Thy  power  and  greatness  thou  hast  shown  forth  before  the  nations.  When  thou 
sharpenest  thy  proboscis  the  spear  and  the  sword  are  as  naught,  and  thou 
laughest  at  a  fine  tooth  comb.  Thy  dominion  is  over  all  the  earth  ;  the  dogs  in 
a  thousand  kennels  are  thine.  When  thou  liftest  up  thyself  thou  art  terrible  as 
an  army  without  soap  or  a  change  of  flannels.  We  desire  to  come  before  thee 
this  evening  with  contrite  hearts,  confessing  our  unworthiness  Hadst  thou 
dealt  with  us  as  we  have  deserved  we  would  long  ere  this  have  been  consigned 
to  the  place  where  the  flea  dieth  not,  and  the  scratchers  never  cease.  Almighty 
teaser,  if  thou  hast  danced  upon  us  and  sampled  us,  it  was  for  our  own  good 
and  to  show  thy  great  power  among  the  heathen  who  know  thee  not.  We  pray 
thee,  blind  the  eyes  of  the  understanding  of  the  women  and  children  who  look 
to  us  for  spiritual  guidance.  Incline  their  hearts  to  our  word  so  that  the 
business  may  continue  to  run  smoothly  and — don't  give  us  away,  and  all  the 
dogs  shall  be  thine  for  ever  and  ever,  amen." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  877 


I  gave  him  a  taste  of  a  cotillion  up  one  side  and  down  the  other,  and  jumped 
to  milady.  I  whispered  in  her  ear  what  the  parson  had  admitted  about  his 
humbug.     She  said  : 

•'  I  don't  care  if  he  is  a  humbug,  though  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,  but  any- 
way he  is  real  nice  and,  when  he  is  not  preaching,  he  is  such  good  co  mpany  and 
sensible  ;  and  then  he  has  such  nice  hair  and  pretty  hands— that  is  for  a  man.' 

"  But  he  doesn't  believe — " 

"  I  don't  care  what  he  believes  ;  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  I  should  do 
without  him." 

"  But  he  would  pray  to  a  flea  to  get  himself  out  of  a  scrape." 

••VV^hynol?  'Praise  the  bridge  that  carries  you.'  Then  he's  so  kind  and 
good  ;  he  wouldn't  hurt  a  fly.  Belongs  to  the  humane  society  and  says  we 
ought  not  to  hurt  any  animal." 

"  You've  got  a  blackbird's  wing  in  your  hat  now." 

•'That's  different.  The  blackbirds  pull  up  the  corn  and— the  bird  was  dead 
before  I  got  the  wing  or  I  wouldn't  have  worn  it." 

"  Parson  eats  spring  lamb." 

"  Well,  would  you  have  him  go  hungry  for  a  fad  ?  " 

"  He  tried  to  crush  me  against  the  door-jamb." 

"  Serve  you  right,  you  wretch,  if  he  did.  Quit  that,  will  you  ?  No,  fieas  have 
no  rights,  and  it  is  not  cruelty  to  kill  them.  What  kinds  have  rights  ?  Those 
that  are  pleasing  to  US." 

"  You  humans  are  unreasoning  creatures.  I  prefer  dog,"  and  I  bounded  from 
her  bodice. 


^be  probibtttontete. 


BY    AN    IDLER. 

:o: 

.\  SHORT  time  ago  two  pugilists,  Mr.  Hart  and  Mr.  Root,  had  a  prize  fight.  For 
a  time  Mr.  Root  seemed  to  be  doing  all  the  giving,  and  the  other  gentleman  the 
receiving  ;  but  at  last  he  some  way  ran  up  against  the  other's  brawny  fists  and 
went  down  and  out.  The  Prohibitionists  have  had  a  similar  experience.  For  a 
time  everything  seemed  to  be  going  their  way.  Conferences  and  Assemblies 
passed  fiercely  worded  resolutions  it)  their  favor.  Politicians  dared  not  ignore 
them  ;  everybody  voted  for  Prohibition  when  they  got  a  chance.  But  the  last 
published  statistics  prove  that  we  are  drinking  more  whisky  and  getting  drunk 
oftener  than  ever.  The  only  result  of  half  a  century's  struggle  is  to  have  created 
valuable  franchises  for  the  publicans  who  have  survived. 

I   do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  liquor  problem.     The  lesson  which  it  seems 


378  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


to  me  to  teach  is  that  the  influence  of  the  Church  is  more  apparent  than  real. 
The  image  which  seems  of  iron  is  really  of  clay. 

If  a  vote  were  to  he  taken  on  Prohibition  the  cushions  on  the  pulpit  of  every 
evangelical  church  in  Canada  would  be  shaken  by  fiery  denunciations  of  the  cup 
that  cheers  but  does  inebriate.  The  appeals  would  not  be  so  much  to  reason 
'but  to  the  spectres  of  heaven  and  hell.  When  heaven  could  be  gained  and  hell 
avoided  by  simply  making  a  cross  above  instead  of  below  a  certain  line  the 
majority  of  voters  would  vote  prohibition.  This  is  the  apparent  influence  of  the 
Church.  But  there  is  a  great  difference  between  what  people  do  and  how  they 
vote.  The  country  has  of  late  been  prosperous,  hence  the  increased  consumption 
of  liquor.     This  is  the  real  influence  of  the  Church. 

Whenever  you  come  to  this  question  it  seems  to  me  you  are  another  Alice  in 
Wonderland.  Shadowy  orators  and  clergymen  address  shadowy  orations  and 
sermons  to  shadowy  audiences  and  congregations.  Shadowy  voters  vote  for 
shadowy  plebiscites  with  shadowy  results,  and  shadowy  premiers  promise  shadowy 
statutes.  No  one  seems  to  be  at  all  in  earnest.  Every  one  seems  to  try  and  do 
as  little  as  possible  with  the  greatest  amount  of  noise.  The  total  want  of  sincerity 
is  one  great  cause  of  the  barrenness  of  results 

The  Evangelical  Churches  seem  to  me  to  have  been  particularly  hypocritical, 
insincere,  and  even  immoral  in  their  advocacy  of  this  subject.  If  a  man  is  a 
•clergyman  of  the  Methodist  Church  you  do  not  require  the  astute  analysis  of  a 
Sherlock  Holmes  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  he  is  a  crank  on  Prohibition. 
It  is  just  as  much  a  habit,  a  custom,  a  part  of  his  clerical  outfit  as  the  white 
necktie.  If  he  should  have  the  courage  to  advocate  any  other  remedy  he 
would  be  a  very  black  sheep  in  the  fold.  It  is  doubtful  if  he  could  remain  in 
the  fold.  It  has  the  one  merit  that  there  is  no  other  subject  on  which  it  is  so 
easy  to  preach.  He  might  be  mixed  up  in  his  science,  theology,  or  philosophy, 
but  a  temperance  sermon  requires  no  harder  work  of  the  brain  than  exercising 
the  muscles  of  the  jaw. 

Occasionally  Dr.  So-and-So  gives  forth  a  fearful  blast  through  the  press  on  the 
sin  and  iniquity  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquor.  As  I  write  I  hear  a  most  wierd, 
unearthly  sound,  but  no  one  pays  any  attention  to  it ;  it  is  only  the  siren.  So 
with  the  reverend  doctor.  It  is  only  the  Rev.  Dr.  So-and-so  doing  a  little  cheap 
advertising. 

The  hypocrisy  and  immorality  of  the  evangelical  churches  is  shown  in  nothing 
more  clearly  than  in  their  treatment  of  the  Bible.  Unfortunately  Christ  lived 
nineteen  centuries  before  F.  S.  Spence  and  G.  W.  Marter,  instead  of  after  them. 
From  the  Prohibition  point  of  view  the  chronological  order  of  these  three  great 
moral  reformers  was  unfortunate.  Doubtless  if  their  order  had  been  inverted 
Christ's  conduct  on  many  occasions  would  have  been  different.  When  he 
attended  the  marriage  feast  he  would  have  allowed  the  water  to  remain  water. 
But  our  Prohibitionist  friends  tell  us  that  it  was  not  wine,  only  the  unfermented 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  379 

juice  of  the  grape.  The  people  who  went  to  the  marriage  feast  were  drinking 
the  wine  for  the  purpose  of  making  merry  ;  if  it  was  only  to  quench  their  thirst 
the  water  would  have  done  just  as  well.  Those  who  were  actually  present  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  more  than  satisfied  with  the  wine,  which  they  would 
hardly  have  done  with  sweetened  water.  The  event  took  place  nearly  two 
thousand  years  ago.  These  people  were  not  present  and  therefore  can  know 
nothing  of  the  matter  except  what  the  evangelists  say  about  it.  The  explanation 
of  this  assumption  of  divine  authority  on  their  part  seems  to  me  to  be  this.  The 
Christ  who  lived  in  Galilee  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  is  necessarily  not  on  their 
visiting  list.  The  Christ  who  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  and  continually 
makes  intercession  for  us  is  of  course  only  a  freak  of  the  imagination.  The- 
Christ  whom  they  worship  is  neither  of  these,  he  is  a  product  of  their  own 
minds.  The  Christ  of  ihe  Rev.  Dr.  Chown  would  have  seen  the  tongues  of 
these  marriage  merrymakers  hang  down  a  long  way  before  he  would  have 
changed  bad  water  into  good  wine.  The  reverend  doctor  no  doubt  imagines 
that  his  own  particular  Christ  is  the  Galilean  one,  hence  it  is  a  natural  conclusior> 
that  the  real  Christ  did  what  his  own  Christ  would  do.  If  the  Rev.  Dr.  Carman, 
for  instance,  had  been  the  human  partner  of  the  human  and  divine  co-partnership^ 
the  institution  of  the  most  solemn  sacrament  of  the  Church  would  have  been 
free  from  even  the  suspicion  of  tasting  or  handling  the  unholy  thing.  The  best 
example  of  unscrupulous  exegesis  which  our  friends  have  given  us  is  their  use 
of  the  fifteenth  verse  of  the  second  chapter  of  Habakkuk  :  "  Woe  unto  him  that 
giveth  his  neighbor  drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle  to  him,  that  makest  him 
drunken  also,  that  thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness." 

They  cut  this  verse  in  two,  and  thus  make  it  a  most  beautiful  malediction  on 
the  hotel  keepers  or  on  the  man  who  treats.  The  prophet  was  cursing  the 
Chaldeans  and  the  antecedent  of  "him"  is  **  the  Childean  ; "  in  its  extended 
form  it  would  read,  "  Woe  unto  the  Chaldean,"  and,  taking  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  verse,  it  is  a  gibe  of  the  prophet's  against  some  of  the  bestial  practices  of  his 
enemies. 

It  seems  to  me  that  either  the  Biblical  morality  is  wrong  on  this  question  and 
the  Prohibitionists  should  cease  to  be  Christians,  or  their  morality  is  wrong  and 
they  should  cease  to  be  Prohibitionists. 


SUNDAY  A  CLOSE  DAY  FOR  ALL  BUT  PREACHERS. 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Congregational  Union,  the  Rev.  Moore,  secretary 
of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  was  allowed  to  advocate  Sabbatarianism.  He  deplored 
the  fact  that  Sunday  was  desecrated  by  thousands  of  men  being  compelled  to 
work  on  street  and  other  railroads,  and  factories,  and  asserted  that  the  Alliance 
proposes  to  see  ihit  the  Lord's  Day  Act  is  enforced.  In  other  words,  Mr.  Moore 
and  his  fellow-preachers  intend  to  force  all  people  except  preachers  and  their 
assistants,  no  matter  what  loss  may  result,  to  shut  up  shop  on  Sunday,  and  go  to 
hear  the  parsons  pray  and  preach  their  tommy-rot. 


-380  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

1I9  tbe  ffreetbougbt  propaganda  practical? 

BY    GEORGE     ALLEN    WHITE. 

n. 

KNOWLEDGE    AND    PROGRESS. 

We  assail  the  Christian  religion  because  it  has  barred  the  pathway  of  progress, 
has  set  back  the  hands  on  the  dial  hundreds  of  years,  and  stil',  though  less 
rnilitantly,  is  standing  in  the  way.  When  it  got  control  in  the  early  centuries  the 
seeds  of  the  Dark  Ages  were  sown  ;  and  that  ever  memorable  bUghted  era, 
during  which  the  world  went  backward  instead  of  forward,  and  during  which  the 
Church  enjoyed  a  sway  whose  potency  has  never  since  been  equalled,  has 
stamped  indelibly  on  the  historic  page  what  the  genuine  essence  of  Christianity 
is.  The  printing-press  and  other  grand  epoch-making  discoveries  in  the  material 
world  were  fought  for  decades  by  ecclesiasticism.  Philosophical  and  scientific 
speculation  was  too  fearful  to  show  its  face.  Had  the  spirit  placing  supposititious 
happiness  before  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  prevailed  without  a  break  throughout 
the  last  ten  thousand  years,  humanity  would  now  be  lying  stupid,  hairy,  cold  and 
naked  in  troglodyte  dens  of  darkness  ;  and  there  would  be  those  who,  upon  a 
suggestion  to  abandon,  for  example,  the  idea  that  the  wind  was  a  spirit,  would 
wail,  in  effect  :  "  Good  God  !  Would  you  snatch  away  my  joy? — put  nothing  in 
its  place  ? — turn  life  into  a  dark  shadow  ?  What  do  I  care  for  the  truth  ?  Give 
me  happiness.     Give  me  my  wind  or  give  me  death." 

Having  lost  much  of  its  ancient  power,  Christianity  is  not  the  mildew  which  it 
formerly  was  ;  but  the  tendency  is  the  same,  and  progress  is  still  retarded  by  its 
influence.  Placing  reliance  upon  a  future  life,  upon  prayer  and  providence,  and 
latterly  the  fatherhood  of  God,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  affairs  of  this  world  are 
slighted  by  devout  believers — are  left  to  take  care  of  themselves  much  more  than 
would  be  the  case  otherwise.  The  scientists  and  inventors  are  nearly  all  hostile 
to  the  Church.  Religion  clogs  the  mind.  It  opposes  full  investigation  in  lines 
touching  its  own  preserves.  "  Earth  is  but  a  resting-place  ;  heaven  is  my  home," 
affords  an  epitome  of  the  reasons  why  the  inertia  of  the  Church  cannot  be 
shaken  off.     In  the  words  of  Victor  Hugo : 

"Ah,  we  know  you  !  We  know  the  clerical  party  ;  it  is  an  old  party.  This 
it  is  which  has  found  for  the  truth  those  two  marvellous  supporters,  ignorance 
and  error.  This  it  is  which  forbids  to  science  and  genius  the  going  beyond  the 
missal,  and  which  wishes  to  cloister  thought  in  dogmas.  Every  step  which  the 
intelligence  of  Europe  has  taken  has  been  in  spite  of  it.  Its  history  is  written  in 
the  history  of  human  progress,  but  it  is  written  on  the  back  of  the  leaf.  It  is 
opposed  to  it  all.  This  it  is  which  caused  Prinelli  to  be  scourged  for  having  said 
that  the  stars  would  not  fall.  This  it  is  which  put  Campanelli  seven  times  to 
the  torture  for  saying  that  the  number  of  worlds  was  infinite  and  for  having 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  secret  of  creation.  This  it  is  which  persecuted  Harvey 
for  having  proved  the  circulation  of  the  blood.     In  the  name  of  Jesus  it  shut  up 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  381 

Galileo.  In  the  name  of  St.  Paul  it  imprisoned  Christopher  Columbus.  Ta 
discover  a  law  of  the  heavens  was  an  impiety,  to  find  a  world  a  heresy.  This  it 
is  which  anathematized  Pascal  in  the  name  of  religion,  Montaigne  in  the  name 
of  morality,  Moliere  in  the  name  of  both  morality  and  religion." 

MAKE    THIS    WORLD    A    HEAVEN. 

Closely  allied  to  the  last  head  is  the  question  whether  the  present  life  is  of 
importance  sufficient  to  warrant  attempts  to  right  great  inherited  social  wrongs. 
A  belief  in  Christianity  or  any  similar  religion  makes  men  excuse  the  bad  in  life. 
Such  a  belief  soothes  the  conscience  with  the  thought  that  earthly  existence 
constitutes  but  a  relatively  infinitesimal  preparatory  school,  to  be  followed  by 
endless  eons  of  bliss.  It  announces  that  an  all-comprehending  Plan  pervades  the 
universe,  through  the  benign  operation  of  which  the  hellish  injustices  of  the 
present  are  inscrutably  conspiring  toward  the  ultimate  good  of  every  sentient 
atom.  It  professes  to  be  certain  that  the  sufferings  of  great  ignorant  masses 
here  will  be  recompensed  by  the  absorbing  glories  of  a  be)ond,  and  that  the 
temporary  enjoyments  of  the  taskmaster  and  the  tyrant  are  to  give  place  to  ever- 
lasting punishments  in  the  black  and  sunless  by-and-bye. 

Thus  we  shall  not  be  surprised  that  all  the  mighty  reforms  aiming  to  uplift 
mankind  have  been  championed  by  heretics  ahd  Atheists,  and  bitterly  fought  by 
the  Christian  Church.  Feudalism  had  no  firmer  friend  than  the  Church. 
Serfdom,  dead  in  its  unhonored  grave,  can  never  pay  the  debt  which  it  owes  the 
Church.  Slavery  has  taken  wings  and  flown  away  from  civilized  lands,  and  the 
Church  has  one  less  defender  in  the  courts  of  power,  and  finds  herself  conse- 
quently one  sep  nearer  the  end.  Monarchy  has  sustained  its  death  blow,  and  is 
now  dying  by  inches  ;  but  if  the  Church  had  been  given  her  way  "  Long  live  the 
King  !"  would  echo  through  eternity  from  the  unctuous  lips  of  piety.  Calvinism 
is  backed  by  the  Christian  Church  to-day,  and  nine-tenlhs  of  the  religious  papers 
defended  the  cannoning  of  selfhood  and  liberty  out  of  the  Philippines  in  the 
interests  of  Rockefeller  and  Company  and  the  American  Bible  Society.  In 
short,  there  has  been  hardly  a  moment  for  nearly  two  thousand  years  when  the 
incestuous  alliance  between  the  Church  and  the  civil  powers  has  failed  to 
flourish  the  defunct  putridity  of  custom  in  the  faces  of  a  Rationalist  vanguard 
that  would  make  men  happier  and  better  on  this  globe  of  ours. 

The  Rev.  O.  H.  Shinn  admits  this  in  the  Gospel  Banner  : 

"  Men  regarded  as  infidels  by  many  good  Christian  people  have  been  and  are 
far  ahead  in  comprehending  the  great  principles  and  the  distinguishing  character- 
istics of  the  Christian  religion.  Hence  all  great  reforms  have  been  started  by 
heretics.  The  Church  lags  in  the  rear  for  a  time,  then  comes  up  to  the  position 
taken  by  the  suspected  vanguard.  It  at  first  opposes  every  reform  designed  to 
give  liberty  to  man  and  to  ameliorate  the  race,  but  it  advances  to  the  same 
position  in  time." 

In  every  past  epoch  the  Church  has  asserted  that  things  pertaining  to  a  greater 
fruitage  of  hunian   rights  ought  not  to  be  seriously  broached.     The  crusts  of 


382  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

"  charity  "  have  been  offered  instead.  It  is  the  same  now.  Only  with  difficulty 
can  the  Christian  be  found  who  concedes  that  important  societary  changes  will 
ever  again  be  needful.  Take  Socialism.  It  may  not  be  practical  in  its  entirety 
as  now  formulated,  but  its  ideal  is  noble.  Most  of  its  followers  are  unbelievers. 
The  Christian  can  live  with  the  merest  twinge  of  sympathetic  feeling  in  a  com- 
munity where  daily  he  sees  the  dwarfed,  unkempt  lives  of  the  majority,  and  the 
turgid,  bombastic  unrealities  at  the  other  extreme.  The  Socialist,  or  other 
innovator,  however — in  whom  at  least  the  spirit  animating  all  the  reforms  of  other 
times  dwells — says  to  himself  that  even  if  immortality  be  a  fact  it  will  do  no  harm 
to  increase  happiness  on  earth,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  good  grounds  exist 
for  fearing  that  the  present  life  is  all.  If  this  latter  be  so,  he  reasons,  what  a 
frightful  wrong  is  society  as  at  present  constituted  !  In  this  manner  the  heretical 
leaders  of  every  far-reaching  reform  have  reflected. 
Leslie  Stephen  says  : 

"  It  is  the  Atheists,  Infidels  and  Rationalists,  as  they  are  kindly  called,  who 
have  taught  us  to  take  fresh  interest  in  our  poor  fellow-denizens  of  the  world." 

The  following  from  Richard  T.  Ely  affords  a  hint  as  to  what  "practical  "good 
will  redound  from  the  elimination  of  Christianity  ;  showing  that  were  no  other 
benefits  whatever  to  ensue,  it  is  better  to  serve  our  fellow-men  than  to  "  worship 
God  and  glorify  him  forever  "  : 

"  The  study  of  Socialism  has  proved  the  turning  point  of  thousands  of  lives, 
and  converted  self-seeking  men  and  women  into  self-sacrificing  toilers  for  the 
masses.  The  impartial  observer  can  scarcely  claim  that  the  Bible  produces  so 
marked  an  effect  upon  the  daily  habitual  life  of  the  average  man  and  woman, 
who  profess  to  guide  their  conduct  by  it,  as  Socialism  does  upon  its  adherents. 
The  strength  of  Socialism  in  this  respect  is  more  like  that  of  early  Christianity  as 
described  in  the  New  Testament." 

(To  he  continued.) 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

The  Truth  Seeker  Company,  62  Vesey  Street,  New  York,  has  just  issued  a  fine 
translation  by  Frederic  Mitchell  of  Edgar  Monteil's  "  Freethinker's  Catechism." 
This  is  the  Catechism  which  created  such  a  sensation  in  France,  some  years  ago, 
the  clergy  being  particularly  infuriated  at  its  bold  opening  declaration  that  "God 
is  an  expression."  The  book  was  introduced  into  some  lay  schools  of  France, 
which  caused  intense  excitement  among  the  Catholics.  Monteil,  the  author, 
was  imprisoned  in  his  younger  days  for  his  book,  "  The  History  of  an  Ignorantin 
Brother,"  but  to-day  he  occupies  an  honored  position  under  the  French  Govern- 
ment, being  prefect  of  the  Haute-Vienne  at  Limoges.  The  price  of  the  "  Free- 
thinker's Catechism  "  is  35  cents. 


It  is  falsehood,  not  truth  ;  it  is  guilt,  not  innocence,  which  studiously  excludes 
the  .light  and  flies  examination.— 6r.  Geo.  Campbell. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  38^ 


DEATH  OF  O.  H.  ROUNDS,  OF  WELLAND. 

On  June  23rd,  at  Wtlland,  Ont.,  there  passed  away  a  well-known  and  staunch 
Freethinker,  Mr.  O.  H  Rounds,  who  for  many  years  had  been  a  respected  and 
prominent  farmer,  living  about  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  town.  Mr.  Rounds' 
death  occurred  on  the  83rd  anniversary  of  his  birth-day.  He  had  failed  some- 
what in  health  during  the  last  winter,  and  looked  forward  to  his  approaching 
decease  with  perfect  equanimity,  regarding  it  in  the  light  of  a  happy  release 
from  the  increasing  burdens  of  age.  He  desired  his  funeral  to  be  entirely  pri- 
vate, and  only  members  of  the  family  were  present,  Mr.  Ellis  attending  from 
Toronto.  In  every  liberal  movement  that  had  been  inaugurated  in  VVelland  Mr. 
Rounds  had  been  an  active  participant. 


CANADA  FOUNDRY  COMPANY  MUST  NOT  ROB  ITS  WORKMEN. 

On  June  12,  at  Toronto  Junction,  Magistrate  Ellis  gave  judgment  in  the  case 
of  a  workman's  action  against  the  Canada  Foundry  Company  for  a  sum  of  $22  00 
which  they  had  deducted  from  his  wages.  The  evidence  showed  that  all  work- 
mtn  in  the  Company's  employ  were  required  to  sign  an  agreement  under  which 
the  company  was  entitled  to  retain  a  sum  of  $40.00  out  of  their  workmen's 
earnings  as  a  guarantee  fund  for  the  performance  of  their  duties.  In  the  present 
case,  the  plaintiff,  McArthur,  had  gone  to  the  office  to  make  some  complaint 
about  the  work,  but  had  been  peremptorily  ordered  out  of  the  office  and  sum- 
marily discharged.  At  this  time,  the  sums  deducted  from  his  wages  amounted 
to  $22.00,  and  this  sum  he  sued  the  company  for.  The  company  contended 
that,  instead  of  owing  the  man  $22.00,  he  owed  the  company  $17.00,  the  balance 
of  the  $40  CO  he  had  agreed  to  leave  in  the  company's  hands  as  a  guarantee. 

The  magistrate  decided  that  the  agreement  could  not  stand,  and  that  the 
company  must  pay  the  man  his  wages,  and  we  think  his  decision  the  only  fair 
one  possible.  The  company  say  they  will  appeal  ;  but  we  should  hope  that  so- 
manifestly  unfair  an  agreement  will  not  be  sustained  by  any  law-court  in  Canada. 
As  far  as  the  evidence  shows,  it  leaves  the  decision  as  to  any  breach  of  contract 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  employers ;  and  how  they  are  likely  to  exercise  it  is 
clearly  shown  in  the  present  case,  in  which  the  only  ground  on  which  the  com- 
pany justify  their  claim  is  that  in  a  certain  week  the  man  lost  half  a  day's  timej 
so  that  he  did  not  work  the  full  55  hours  agreed  upon  as  a  week's  work. 

Any  man  who  has  employed  any  large  number  of  workmen  will  know  that  few 
of  them  are  anything  like  angels  ;  but  such  an  agreement  as  this,  and  such  an 
interpretation  of  it,  are  evidences  that  employers  can  be  as  much  like  devils — or 
pickpockets— as  their  workpeople  can  be. 


"  You  needn't  tell  me,"  observed  Uncle  Allen  Sparks,  "  that  almost  all  the 
misery  and  crime  is  caused  by  whisky.  It's  caused  by  the  dog-goned  fools  that 
drink  it." 


CHURCH  MEMBERS  NOT  PRIVILEGED  TO  BE  DISORDERLY. 

This  funny  story  comes  from  Philadelphia.  The  congregation  of  the  Centen- 
ary Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  complained  to  the  police  that  they  were 
annoyed  by  disorderly  young  roughs  who  lounged  about  the  church  doors  and 
indulged  in  profane  language,  and  Policeman  Savage  was  detailed  to  attend  to 
the  matter.     Very  soon  he  sent  two  young  men,  George   Hayes  and   George 


384  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


Blean,  to  the  station-house  ;  but  within  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  some  members 
•of  the  church  arrived  at  the  station  in  hot  haste,  and,  explaining  that  the 
prisoners  were  respectable  members  of  the  Sunday-school  and  also  sang  in  the 
choir,  demanded  their  release.  The  officer  in  charge,  however,  could  not  act  ; 
and  when  Magistrate  Boyle  arrived  in  the  morning,  and  the  circumstances  were 
laid  before  him,  he  also  declined  to  release  the  young  men.  "  It  makes  no 
difference,"  he  said,  "  whether  these  men  are  church  members  or  not.  They  have 
no  right  to  lounge  upon  street  corners  during  the  service  hours.  I  will  hold  them 
in  $300  bail  each  for  court."  The  young  men  will  have  had  a  good  lesson,  in 
any  case,  which  many  older  men  also  need,  that  church  members  have  no  privi- 
lege to  act  as  street  toughs  even  in  front  of  their  own  church  ;  though  we  doubt 
if  the  magistrate  is  right  in  denouncing  street  corner  loafing  "daring  the  service 
hours."  If  it  is  illegal  to  loaf  at  street  corners  at  such  a  time,  it  is  illegal  at  other 
times. 


THE  LINDENS. 

Bound  by  the  city's  walls,  we  toil  and  strain 
To  reach  the  goal  of  wealth  or  fame  or  power, 
Crowding  our  all  of  life  into  the  hour; 
Seeking  for  pleasure  with  a  heart  of  pain ; 
Slaying  our  loves,  lest  they  do  prove  our  bane ; 
The  garden  of  our  happiness  deflower, 
As  slaves  before  the  grinning  idols  cower, 
And  lay  upon  their  altars  all  our  gain. 

Without  the  walls,  a  space,  my  spirit  flies  ! 

A  garden  redolent  in  summer  breeze. 

With  fertile  fields,  green  in  the  basking  skies, 

And  lodge  with  roses  hung.     Ah  !  here,  at  ease. 

Let  me  forget  the  world  of  lust  and  lies 

And  hear  the  truth  from  whispering  linden  trees. 

— Samuel  Williams  Cooper. 


SWORD  AND  BATTLE    FLAGS   AS  CHRISTIAN  EMBLEMS. 

President  Roosevelt  was  recently  presented  with  an  ancient  Samurai  sword 
and  some  flags,  sent  to  him  from  Sendai,  a  town  in  Japan,  as.  a  token,  it  is  said, 
of  the  appreciation  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  of  the  Christianizing  influence 
exerted  by  the  American  missionaries  in  Japan.  Why  these  Japanese  Christians 
should  have  selected  a  sword  and  battle  flags  as  religious  tokens  we  can  hardly 
understand.  Certainly,  the  sword  has  always  done  good  service  as  the  ally  of 
Christianity  ;  but  is  an  alliance  of  militarism  and  religion  the  object  held  in  view 
by  those  who  send  missionaries  to  Japan  ?  We  imagine  the  people  of  Sendai 
rather  overrate  the  "  Christianizing  influence  "  of  the  American  or  any  other 
missionaries  in  Japan  ;  though  more  probably  the  religious  tinge  was  given  to  the 
presentation  by  the  preacher  who  headed  the  presenting  party.  The  real  senti- 
ment expressed  by  the  Sendai  people  seems  to  have  been  appreciation  of  the 
sympathy  shown  by  America  in  their  war  against  Russia. 


Of  natural  duties  we  affirm  :  In  authority,  they  are  higher  than  law  ;  in  time, 
older  than  creation  ;  in  worth,  more  valuable  than  the  universe. — Bishop  Horsley. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS.  Bus.  Mffr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  14. 

TORONTO,  AUG.  12, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

^be  (5o0pel  of  lllneelfiebnee^* 

:o: 

Most  of  us  have  been  brought  up  in  the  belief  that  without 
some  kind  of  religious  creed — some  hope  of  future  reward  or 
fear  of  future  punishment — no  civilization  could  exist.  We 
have  been  taught  to  think  that,  in  the  absence  of  laws  based 
upon  moral  ideas,  and  in  the  absence  of  an  effective  police  to 
enforce  such  law\s,  nearly  everybody  would  seek  only  his  or 
her  personal  advantage,  to  the  disadvantage  of  everybody  else. 
The  strong  would  then  destroy  the  weak  ;  pity  and  sympathy 
would  disappear  ;  and  the  whole  social  fabric  would  fall 
to  pieces.  .  .  .  The  teachings  confess  the  existing  imperfection 
of  human  nature;  and  they  contain  obvious  truth.  But  those 
who  first  proclaimed  the  truth,  thousands  and  thousands  of 
years  ago,  never  imagined  a  form  of  social  existence  in  which 
selfishness  would  be  naturally  impossible.  It  remained  for 
irreligious  nature  to  furnish  us  with  proof  positive  that  there 
can  exist  a  society  in  which  the  pleasure  of  active  beneficence 
makes  needless  the  idea  of  duty — a  society  in  which  instinctive 
morality  can  dispense  with  ethical  codes  of  every  sort — a  so- 
ciety of  which  every  member  is  born  so  absolutely  unselfish, 
and  so  energetically  good,  that  moral  training  could  signify, 
even  for  its  youngest,  neither  more  nor  less  than  waste  of 
precious  time.  To  the  evolutionist  such  facts  necessarily 
suggest  that  the  value  of  our  moral  idealism  is  but  temporary; 
and  that  something  better  than  virtue,  better  than  kindness, 
better  than  self-denial— in  the  present  human  meaning  of  those 
terms — might,  under  certain  conditions,  eventually  replace 
them.  He  finds  himself  obliged  to  face  the  question  whether 
a  world  without  moral  notions  might  not  be  morally  better 
than  a  world  in  which  conduct  is  regulated   by  such  notions. 


386  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


He  must  even  ask  himself  whether  the  existence  of  religious 
commandments,  moral  laws,  and  ethical  standards  among- 
ourselves  does  not  prove  us  still  in  a  very  primitive  stage  of 
social  evolution.  And  these  questions  naturally  lead  up  to 
another  :  Will  humanity  ever  be  able,  on  this  planet,  to  reach 
an  ethical  condition  beyond  all  its  ideals — a  condition  in  which 
everything  that  we  now  call  evil  will  have  been  atrophied  out 
of  existence,  and  everything  that  we  call  virtue  have  been 
transmuted  into  instinct ;  a  state  of  altruism  in  which  ethical 
concepts  and  codes  will  have  become  as  useless Appa- 
rently, the  highest  possible  strength  is  the  strength  of  un- 
selfishness ;  and  power  supreme  will  never  be  accorded  to 
cruelty  or  to  lust.  There  may  be  no  gods;  but  the  forces  that 
shape  and  dissolve  all  forms  of  being  would  seem  to  be  much 
more  exacting  than  gods.  To  prove  a  *^  dramatic  tendency'' 
in  the  ways  of  the  stars  is  not  possible  ;  but  the  cosmic  process 
seems  nevertheless  to  affirm  the  worth  of  every  human  system 
of  ethics  fundamentally  opposed  to  human  egotism. — Laf- 
CADio  Hearn,  ^^  Kwaidan  "  (quoted  in  The  Consei^ator), 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


McCaul  street  Methodist  Church,  Toronto,  is 
DECLINE  OF  sold  at  last,  and  is  being  turned   into  a  Jewish 

KELIGION  IN  synagogue.     The  history  of  the  church  is  sug- 

TORONTO.  gestive.    The  congregation  that  built  it  formerly 

held  a  building  on  Richmond  Street,  but,  wish- 
ing to  go  "  up-town,"  determined  to  sell  their  old  shrine  and  build  a 
new  one  on  McCaul  Street.  They  sold  the  old  building  for  $20,000,  sub- 
scribed tlie  big  sum  of  $2,000  additional,  contracted  to  pay  $64,000  for 
tlie  new  church,  and  started  **  worshipping  God,"  but  mortgaged  to 
Mammon  for  $42,000.  This  was  in  1888.  Seventeen  years  later,  the 
annual  expenses  amounting  to  $3,356  and  the  income  to  $1,557,  the 
trustees  announced  that  they  could  not  see  their  way  to  carrying  on  the 
business  any  longer,  and  have  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Hebrews,  who 
for  $30,000  will  thus  get  a  building  which  could  not  be  built  to-day  for 
less  than  $85,000. 

The  old  "  colored  '*  Baptist  Church  on  Richmond  Street  West  has  just 
been  purchased  and  turned  into  a  church  for  Chinaman,  who  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  contribute  to  its  maintenance,     ^out  a  hundred  celes- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  887 

tials  were  present  at  the  opening  services.  The  chief  attraction  is  the 
Sunday-bchool,  where  teaching  English  is  the  main  feature,  and  which 
i.^  conducted  by  individual  instruction.  Over  250  applications  for  places 
in  the  school  are  already  in  hand.  To  learn  the  English  language  would 
thus  appear  to  be  the  great  aim  of  these  '*  rice  Christians." ' 

The  old  Baptist  Church  on  the  corner  of  Queen  and  Victoria  Streets 
lias  been  finally  cleared  away  to  make  room  for  business  premises.  It 
had  been  used  as  a  "colored"  church  for  many  years,  and  finally  as  a 
"  mission." 

The  Methodist  Conference  has  granted  permission  to  the  trustees  of 
the  Agnes  Street  Church  to  sell  the  property ;  to  the  trustees  of  the  Kew 
Beach  Church  to  sell  a  part  of  their  church  lot  to  pay  an  instalment  of 
their  debt ;  and  to  the  trustees  of  the  long-vacant  church  at  Horning's 
and  Messiahville  Church  to  sell  those  properties. 

It  may  be  said  that  all  of  tliese  churches  are  replaced  by  others  in  the 
new  parts  of  the  city,  but  it  is  certain  thai,  however  true  this  may  be, 
the  removal  of  the  down-town  churches  leaves  behind  a  large  mass  of 
])eople  who  have  been  unwilling  or  unable  to  support  their  churches,  and 
whose  religious  sentiments  will  surely  not  be  strong  enough  to  induce 
them  to  follow  their  richer  fellows  to  the  new  churches.  Gradually,  we 
imagine,  Toronto  will  follow  in  the  tracks  of  the  older  and  larger  cities, 
and,  like  London,  New  York,  etc.,  become  practically  a  Pagan  city,  with 
the  Church  as  a  means  of  amusement  for  the  well-to-do-classes,  and  an 
aid  to  the  schemes  of  the  politicians  in  controlling  and  plundering  the 
masses. 

When  the  late  Rev.  Spurgeon  shuffled  off  his 
"  AKKIV El)  IN  fat  carcase,  the  bulletins  on    his   door  afforded 

HEAVEN  AT  much  amusement  to  blasphemous  scoffers.  They 

11.45  P.M."  read  somewhat  in  this  fashion  :  "  11  p.m. — Mr. 

Spurgeon  very  low.  11.30  p.m. — Mr.  Spurgeon 
^liili;:.^  .a.,0.  11.45  p.m. — Mr.  Spurgeon  in  heaven."  That  the  news 
fame  from  the  point  of  departure,  not  from  that  of  arrival,  was  of  no 
consequence  to  the  faithful.     They  knew  it  must  be  correct. 

A  few  weeks  ago  Canon  Body  died  in  Toronto,  and  the  Anglican  com- 
n^unity  was  much  disturbed  by  the  event.  Memorial  services  were  held 
m  many  of  the  churches,  and  the  dead  man  was  eulogized  by  every 
speaker.  At  St.  Peter's  Church,  Canon  Sweeny  preached,  and  made  a 
point  of  '*  the  comfort  wc  feel  in  the  assurance  of  the  immediate  blessed- 


388  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

ness  of  the  faithful."  Of  course,  as  the  old  woman  said,  "for  them  as 
likes  that  sort  of  thing,  wh}^,  that  sort  of  thing  is  just  what  them  people 
likes  ;"  and  for  those  who  can  believe — or  think  they  can  believe — in  the 
'*  immediate  blessedness  of  the  faithful,"  why,  no  doubt,  such  a  belief 
will  give  some  sort  of  comfort. 

But  we  can't  help  wondering  if  Canon  Sweeny  really  believes  such  an 
unbelievable  story.  He  is  rather  a  jolly  preacher-man,  if  not  a  very 
entertaining  preacher ;  but  he  looks  as  if  he  enjoyed  good  living,  and 
we  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  really  does  enjoy  life.  We  wonder  if 
he  ever  tried  to  imagine  what  **  life" — even  eternal  life — would  be  with- 
out three  good  meals  a  day :  without  stomach,  without  palate,  without 
brain,  without  even  a  body  of  any  sort.  We  guess  not.  Then,  where 
must  the  residence  of  the  defunct  faithful  be  if  they  arrive  at  it  **  imme- 
diately "  upon  decease?  Why,  it  must  be  at  the  very  place  of  death. 
As  our  scientific  humorist  showed  in  a  recent  issue,  it  would  take  a  man, 
travelling  by  express  train  at  sixty  miles  an  hour,  78,000,000  years  to 
reach  the  nearest  fixed  star  ;  and  if  the  "  abode  of  the  blest "  were  any- 
where this  side  of  that  point,  it  would  be  discovered  by  either  the  big 
telescopes  or  the  spectroscope  or  the  photographic  camera. 

It  may  be  objected  that  a  physical  heaven  is  not  needed  for  spiritual 
"  bodies,"  but  our  ideas  on  this  subject  are  rather  foggy,  and  we  fancy 
Canon  Sweeny's  are  fully  as  foggy.  And,  indeed,  we  challenge  Canon 
Sweeny  to  put  his  ideas  on  this  subject  into  any  shape  that  he  himself 
will  not,  on  reflection,  condemn  as  semi-lunacy. 

To  be  "  All  things  to  all  men"  was  Saint  Paul's 
THE  POPE  ON  maxim,  and  the  Roman  Church  has  adopted  the 

CATHOLIC  same  maxim — that  is,  when  it  cannot  have  its 

ADAPTABILITY.  own  way  entirely.     And  this  plan  "goes  "  with 

most  men.  As  the  Pope  says  in  his  late  encycli- 
cal to  the  Italian  clergy  : 

"  But  in  the  long  course  of  her  history  the  Church  has  always  and  in 
every  case  luminously  shown  that  she  possessed  a  marvellous  capacity 
for  adapting  herself  to  the  variable  conditions  of  civil  society,  so  that, 
while  preserving  the  integrity  and  immutability  of  the  Faith  and  of 
morality,  and  also  her  own  sacred  rights,  she  easily  lends  and  adapts 
herself,  in  all  that  is  contingent  and  accidental,  to  the  changes  of  the 
times  and  to  the  new  requirements  of  society.  Godliness,  says  Saint 
Paul,  is  profitable  to  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is, 
and  of  that  which  is  to  come :  Pietas  autem  ad  omnia  utilis  est,  promis- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  389 


sionem  habens  vitae  quae  nunc  est,  et  futurae  (1  Tim.  4  :  8).  And  yet 
even  Catholic  action,  if  it  changes  seasonably  in  its  external  forms  and 
in  the  means  it  adopts,  always  remains  the  same  in  the  principles  by 
which  it  is  directed  and  in  the  admirable  object  at  which  it  aims." 

The  Pope  aptly  describes  the  basic  principle  "of  Catholic  action,  which 
we  have  seen  well  illustrated  in  Canadian  politics  during  the  last  ten 
years.  When  the  temper  of  the  Canadian  people  was  aroused  over  the 
Manitoba  school  question,  the  Papacy  accepted  the  settlement  made  by 
the  new  Liberal  Premier,  nominally  a  defeat  of  the  policy  she  had  been 
struggling  for.  But  the  principles  by  which  it  was  guided  were  still  the 
same,  and  gradually  the  Manitoba  school  system  has  been  undermined, 
until  it  has  almost  reached  the  condition  which  the  Catholic  Church  had 
struggled  for. 

Then  came  the  Autonomy  Bills  ;  the  mask  was  thrown  off,  and  the 
Church  has  openly  demanded  and  secured  in  the  new  Provinces  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  Catholic  public  school  system  ;  and  now  uses  her  power 
to  coerce  Manitoba  into  legally  reversing  her  school  policy.  The  rest  of 
the  disgraceful  story,  is  it  not  written  in  the  records  of  the  Dominion 
Parliament  ? 

'*  Semper  eadem"  may  not  be  strictly  true  even  of  the  Roman  Church, 
but  it  is  true  as  far  as  the  keenest  efforts  of  the  priesthood  can  make  it 
80.  And,  indeed,  in  its  basic  principle — a  never-ceasing  struggle  to 
secure  complete  control  of  human  society  in  the  interest  of  the  church 
— it  is,  and  must  be,  ever  the  same  while  the  church  lasts. 

A  writer  in  the  New  York  Sun,  signing  himself 
WHO  WOULDN'T  "  Arthur  W.  Lewis,  captain  late  South  African 
BE  A  MISSIONARY  ?  Field  Force,"   makes  some  scathing  comments 

on  the  methods  pursued  by  the  missionaries  in 
South  Africa,  in  reply  to  a  letter  headed,  "  A  Plea  to  Millionaires,"  ask- 
ing for  aid  to  the  missionary  cause.     Among  other  things  he  says : 

"  In  that  portion  of  South  Africa  lying  between  Cape  Town  and  tlu- 
Zambesi  River,  and  Portuguese  East  Africa  and  Walfish  Bay,  there  are 
distributed  thousands  of  mission  stations,  representing  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary societies  of  every  country  in  the  world.  During  my  stay  in 
South  Africa  I  came  in  contact  with  a  large  number  of  these  mission- 
aries, and  from  my  observations  I  believe  that  the  foreign  mission  does 

more  harm  than  good Some  might  call  me  an  atheist,  but  I  am 

nothing  of  the  sort,  and  I  beg  to  point  out  my  reasons  for  my  attitude 
towards  foreign  missionary  societies. 


390  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


''  I  have  never  found,  in  one  single  instance,  a  missionary  in  South 
Africa  who  did  not  conduct  a  trading  business  in  the  field  of  his  mis- 
sionary operations.  I  was  much  amused  at  Palapye,inKhama's  country, 
where  my  regiment  was  stationed  for  a  few  weeks,  by  a  missionary  who, 
in  explaining  the  enormous  store  which  he  had  of  native  supplies,  valu- 
able ivory,  horns,  hides,  etc.,  said  :  '  These  are  a  few  presents  which  the 
dear  people  have  brought  to  the  one  who  has  led  them  into  the  bright 
path  of  the  Christian  religion  ! ' 

"The  salaries  of  these  missionaries  are  very  small,  averaging,  I  be- 
lieve, about  i>*80  ($400),  but  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  the  business  of 
the  missionaries  referred  to,  in  native  products,  amounts  annually  to 
thousands  of  pounds." 

Mr.  Lewis  tells  of  a  German  missionary  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Transvaal  who  made  a  lucky  hit  with  some  rain-making  apparatus  in  a 
time  of  drought,  and  who  amassed  immense  property  afterwards  through 
the  popularity  he  thus  acquired  among  the  natives.  He  repeats  what 
has  been  asserted  by  many  foreign  travellers,  that  "  the  heathen  "could 
give  Christians  many  lessons  in  morality,  and  that  the  most  immoral 
and  criminal  among  the  natives  are  the  "  converted"  ones.    He  says  : 

**  The  development  of  heathen  and  unchristianized  nations  is  a  de- 
velopment that  is  made,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  natives,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  civilized  nations,  to  provide  new  fields  for  the  ever-increasing 
surplus  population.  The  heathen  native — ^who  would  live  on  for  ever  if 
left  in  his  natural  state — is  crushed  under  the  wheels  of  our  ever-in- 
ci^asing  civilization.  He  is  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  the  white  man's 
advancement.  We  have  no  better  example  of  this  than  the  North  Ame- 
rican Indian. 

"The  white  race  and  its  methods  must  rule  the  universe,  but  let  us 
not  deceive  ourselves  by  attempting  to  believe  that  our  religion  improves 
those  who  haye  not  been  born  to  it.  It  will  seem  strange  that  a  believer 
in  religion  could  feel  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  could  destroy  a 
race,  but  that  is  what  I  believe  to  be  true.  Not  that  the  religion  itself 
eould  destroy  a  heathen  people,  but  we  have  more  of  bad  to  impart  to 
them  than  of  good.  We  are  anxious  to  impart  the  rules  of  righteous- 
ness, but,  unfortunately  for  those  whom  we  would  teach,  our  lives  are 
the  reverse  of  our  doctrine,  and  our  heathen  brethren  follow,  not  our 
doctrine,  but  the  example  of  our  daily  lives." 

As  has  often  been  remarked,  the  native  will  take  the  Bible  if  he  gets 
with  it  beer,  'bacca,  and  blankets  ;  but  his  Christianity  is  sure  to  be 
what  we  might  reasonably  expect  from  such  a  mixture.  It  is  jnst  what 
we  get  from  the  same  mixture  in  Christian  lands. 

It  is  some  consolation  to  know  that  in  Japan,  and  in  a  lesser  degree 
in  India  and  China,  the  educated  classes  have  sufficient  influence  to  stop 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  demoralizing  missionary  influence. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  391 

It  is  related  by  persons  who  have  recently  come 
THE   CSES  OF  from  Wales  that,    as   ore   result  of   the  Evan 

**  BLASPHEMY."  Roberts  revival,  there  has  been  great  diflficulty 

in  working  the  coal  mines,  owing  to  the  miners 
ceasing  to  use  their  accustomed  emphatic  language  in  directing  the 
energies  of  their  mules.  Formerly,  a  liberal  allowance  of  profanity  and 
blood-curdling  oaths  accompanied  the  more  specific  orders  of  the  mule- 
drivers  ;  but  since  the  revival  in  Wales  the  miners  have  **  sworn  off" 
swearing,  and  the  mules  don't  know  what  to  make  of  the  change.  A 
lash  of  the  whip  without  its  accompanying  oath  is  beyond  their  under- 
standing, and  they  only  hump  their  backs. 

The  N.  Y.  Sun  is  reminded  by  this  story  of  another  story  of  a  church 
organist  who  resented  his  bellows-blower's  remark  :  "  iVe  played  very 
well  this  morning."  The  following  Sunday  the  organ  wheezed  and 
gasped  and  rumbled,  but  made  no  music.  The  organist  protested,  and 
the  blower  demanded  :  ''  Is  it  *  we  '  ?  "  "  It  is,"  groaned  the  humbled 
organist,  and  the  blower  at  once  filled  the  church  with  music — with  the 
organist's  assistance. 

It  is  safe,  we  think,  to  say  that  the  miners,  even  if  they  don't  return 
to -their  own  old  vocabulary,  will  find  plenty  of  "  cuss  words"  of  a  more 
orthodox  type  to  accompany  their  directions  to  the  mules.  Lots  of  pious 
Christians  think  it  no  sin  to  cry  "  Gol  durn  ye,"  instead  of  '*  God  damn 
you  ;"  and  find  other  similar  changes  ready  to  hand  to  cheat  the  devil 
in  the  matter  of  swearing. 

About  a  thousand  Eastern  "  mystics,"  with  Mrs. 
MRS.  BESANT  Besant  at  their  head,  have  been  holding  a  con- 

AND  THE  ference  in  London.     Mrs.  Besant  has  been  in 

THEOSOPHISTS  India  about  eleven  years,  but  her  complexion  is 

IN  LONDON.  said  to  be  as  clear  as  ever.     In  India  she  wears 

the  dress  of  the  native  women,  but  in  London 
she  is  gowned  in  a  loosely-cut  robe  of  cream-white  silk,  wears  her  hair 
cut  short,  stands  erect,  with  a  mysterious  look  in  her  deeply-set  eyes, 
and  speaks  in  decided  and  commanding  tones. 

Mrs.  Besant  is  optimistic  as  to  the  progress  of  Theosophy.  This  is 
natural.  She  can  afford  to  wear  rose-colored  spectacles.  Not  only  have 
the  Theosophists  built  a  large  college  at  Benares,  the  sacred  city  of  the 
Hindoos,  on  the  sacred  Ganges,  but  they  have  established  many  schools 
in  connection  therewith.     Then,  she  thinks,  the  followers  of  Islam  and 


392  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


the  Hindoos  are  drawing  closer  together — how  rapidly  we  are  not  told  ; 
possibly  as  rapidly  as  the  union  of  Christendom  ;  but  an  occasional 
murderous  tight  between  followers  of  the  two  religions  may  be  very 
deceptive.     We  .can  only  guess  :  our  spectacles  are  not  rose-colored. 

But,  beyond  these  things,  Theosophical  thought,  we  are  assured,  is 
permeating  more  or  less  all  religions;  and  "Theosophical  beliefs,  laughed 
down  a  dozen  years  ago,  are  commonly  accepted  by  thinking  people  to- 
day." Again  we  say,  it  may  be  so,  but  we  certainly  do  not  know  it.  We 
only  know  a  few  thinking  people — and  our  spectacles  are  clear. 

Mrs.  Besant  says  that,  to  one  who  has  gone  through  the  necessary 
preliminary  training,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  project  the  astral  body  into 
the  world  beyond  and  talk  with  the  dead  as  it  is  for  ordinary  people  to 
make  an  afternoon  call.  We  have  heard  this  assertion  before,  and  once 
more  we  can  only  reply — with  the  given  condition,  it  may  be  so,  but  it 
needs  proof.  We  might  be  one  of  the  '*  thinking  people  "  who  accept 
Theosophical  ideas,  but  we  imagine  we  have  not  thought  quite  enough. 

No,  these  Theosophical  marvels  are  not  supernatural.  They  are  all 
done  by  natural  laws,  hitherto  neglected  and  unstudied.  To  a  properly 
trained  person,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  project  an  astral  communication  to 
the  other  side  of  the  world  as  to  send  a  telegram  or  to  talk  by  telephone. 
We  have  heard  this  before — only  the  same  difficulty,  the  proof.  That 
proof  should  be  needed  seems  strange,  if  all  thinking  people  believe  it. 

Finally,  we  are  told.  Spiritualism  is  just  the  opposite  of  Theosophy. 
In  Spiritualism,  the  spirits  of  the  dead  visit  or  send  communications  to 
the  living ;  in  Theosophy,  the  astral  bodies  of  the  living  project  them- 
selves or  send  astral  communications  into  the  region  where  dead  people 
"  live  and  move  and  have  their  being,"  just  like  real  live  folks.  Jolly 
talk  with  dead  men  ! 

You  see,  you  have  a  free  choice  of  several  modes  of  communication 
with  your  friends  at  the  other  side  of  the  earth  or  on  the  other  side  of 
•Jordan,  and  all  by  natural  means  !     All  just  as  pat  as  pie  ! 

We  suppose,  also,  it  would  be  just  as  easy  to  project  an  astral  cup  of 
tea  or  an  astral  plum  pudding,  as  an  astral  letter  or  communication  ? 
What  a  vista  of  possibilities  is  opened  to  a  crowd  of  starving  believers ! 
Why  should  India  be  the  selected  home  of  Theosophy  and  famine  ? 

Who  can  doubt  all  these  clear  and  rational,  scientific  and  natural 
things,  especially  when  vouched  for  by  the  great  high  priestess  ?  And 
is  it  not  strange  that  the  ocean  cable  and  steamship  companies'  shares 
are  still  bought  and  sold  on  the  market?  Yes,  that's  the  difficulty — the 
necessary  training. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  393 


Good  illustrations  of  the  value  of  the  church  as 
HOW  THE  CHUPiCH  a  protector  of  art  have  just  come  from  France 
FOSTERS  ART  and  Italy.      The    Italian  Government  recently 

AND  SCIENCE.  received  from  its  emhassy  in  London  a  catalogue 

of  the  Cheney  collection  of  works  of  art  on  sale 
at  Badger  Hall.  Among  the  articles  being  sold  were  many  valuable 
works  of  art  taken  from  churches  and  sold  to  collectors  by  the  priests, 
as  well  as  many  taken  from  palaces,  etc.  The  Italian  Government  are 
about  to  strictly  enforce  the  law  against  this  spoliation. 

A  similar  state  of  things  has  been  disclosed  in  France,  where  the 
Government,  after  the  enforcement  of  the  law^  against  the  congregations 
which  led  to  the  emigration  of  so  many  of  them,  has  at  length  discovered 
that  the  priests  left  in  charge  of  the  fabrics  and  other  property  of  the 
churches  have  seized  the  opportunity  to  sell  many  of  the  priceless  works 
of  art  in  their  care,  in  many  cases  for  ridiculously  small  sums.  An 
ofiScial  investigation,  to  extend  all  over  the  country,  has  been  begun,  and 
it  is  hoped  this  will  lead  to  the  recovery  of  some  of  the  stolen  works  as 
well  as  to  the  punishment  of  the  priestly  thieves. 

In  one  case,  at  Nice,  the  priests  sold,  for  a  mere  trifle,  a  magnificent 
bishop's  throne,  a  work  of  the  16th  century,  in  order  to  replace  it  with 
a  gaudy  modern  one,  at  a  cost  of  over  $1,000.  These  priests  would  sell 
their  god  and  their  saints  if  they  could  find  a  purchaser,  and  if  they 
had  cunning  enough  to  devise  substitutes  with  which  to  trick  their  fol- 
lowers. Many  valuable  articles  are  believed  to  have  been  buried,  and 
the  Government  proposes  to  catalogue  all  the  known  works,  and  to  hold 
the  priests  in  charge  responsible  for  their  safety. 

Here  is  a  passage  from  a  recent  sermon  of  Rev. 
TRADUCING  Young,  of  the  2nd  Presbyterian  Church,  Pitts- 

THE    DEAD.  burg.  Pa.,  which  shows  how  easy  it  is  for  the 

clerical  mind  to  manufacture  evidence  in  favor 
of  its  pet  theories.  Mr.  Young  was  engaged  in  the  Christian  Evidence 
game  of  using  the  modern  belief  in  spirit  communication  to  prove  the 
reality  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  after  which,  of  course,  he  will  use 
the  resurrection  as  proof  of  the  divinity,  and  then  the  divinity  as  proof 
of  the  miracles.  As  a  rule,  the  regular  preachers  oppose  Spiritualism 
because,  though  strictly  in  line  with  their  own  fakerism,as  an  organiza- 
tion it  is  a  new  and  opposing  cult.  Orthodox  Christianity  is  a  pretty 
('  ic  trade  union,  whereas  Spiritualism  is  open  to  any  clever,  if  unedu- 


394  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


cated,  spouter  or  faker  who  can  cover   up  his  legerdemain  with  voluble 
utterance : 

"  Concerning  possible  new  proofs  of  the  resurrection,  1  know  I  venture 
upon  dangerous  ground ;  but  I  am  held  bv  the  conviction  that  investi- 
gators are  on  the  verge  of  demonstrating  the  existence  of  the  soul  after 
death  by  the  scientific  study  of  psychic  phenomena.  The  word  Spirit- 
ualism needs  fumigation  after  such  long  association  with  kravery,  super- 
stition, and  semi-lunacy;  but  the  central  proposition  of  Spiritualism — 
that  the  spirits  of  the  departed  can  and  sometimes  do  communicate  with 
the  living — is  beginning  to  command  the  respect  of  sober  men.  .  .  The 
scientific  investigations  now  published  are  my  chief  reason  for  expecting 
that  some  Easter  morning  the  pulpits  will  thunder  with  fresh  proofs 
corroborating  the  New  Testament  declarations  concerning  life  after  death. 
Communication  between  the  spirits  of  the  departed  and  the  living  has 
been  accepted  as  a  fact  by  at  least  one  hundred  of  the  foremost  intellects 
of  the  past  two  or  three  generations,  including  Bulwer  Lytton,  Alfred 
Tennyson,  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  Queen  Victoria,  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, Abraham  Lincoln,  Victor  Hugo,  Thackeray,  Bayard  Taylor,  Ca- 
mille  Flammarion,  Whittier,  and  scores  more  in  every  field  of  thought." 

It  may  be  noted  that  all  of  the  persons  mentioned  by  Mr.  Young  are 
dead,  and  are  therefore  unable  to  answer  for  themselves.  Were  Spirit- 
ualism true,  we  imagine  that  some  of  them  would  be  making  Mr.  Young 
rather  uneasy  with  requests  to  substantiate  his  assertions. 

One  point  seems  to  be  overlooked  by  men  like  Mr.  Young.  If  spirit 
return  becomes  a  proved  fact,  it  may  corroborate  some  Biblical  stories, 
but  it  will  destroy  the  evidence  for  "  divinity."  What  is  true  of  all  men 
cannot  prove  special  powers  in  one.  All  men  must  be  all  gods,  or  gods 
must  disappear. 

Xite. 


A  little  dreaming  by  the  way,  A  little  sickening  of  the  years, 

A  1  ttle  toiling  day  by  day  ;  The  tribute  of  a  few  hot  tears, 

A  little  pain,  a  little  strife,  Two  folded  hands,  the  falhng  breath; 

A  little  joy — and  that  is  life.  And  peace  at  last— and  that  is  death. 

A  little  short-lived  summer's  morn,  Just  dreaming,  loving,  dying  so. 

When  joy  seems  all  so  newly  lx)rn,  The  actors  in  the  drama  go — 

When  one  day's  sky  is  blue  above,  A  flitting  picture  on  a  wall . 

And  one  bird  sings— and  that  is  love.  Love,  Death,  the  themes  ;  but  is  that 

all  ? 

— Pnnl  Lnwreitce  Dunbar. 


The  glory  of  science  is,  that  it  is  freeing  the  soul,  breaking  the  mental 
manacles,  getting  the  brain  out  of  bondage,  giving  courage  to  thought — 
filling  the  world  with  mercy,  justice,  and  joy,— ^IngersolL 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  395 


Zbc  pope'0  2)ai?  HUiancc 


-:o: 


BY    AN    IDLER. 


The  other  day  a  gentleman  was  sitting  in  the  office.  He  belonged  to 
that  hard-headed,  nervy  class  of  men  who  serve  society  by  promoting 
enterprises.  He  was  a  very  successful  man  in  his  calling,  so  the  con- 
versation naturally  turned  to  the  enterprises  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged.  Among  his  latest  schemes  for  benefiting  humanity  overbur- 
dened with  rusting  dollars  was  an  attempt  to  float  an  electric  railway  in 
Ontario.  The  locality  was  an  ideal  one.  It  was  proposed  to  run  the 
railway  through  a  country  of  great  scenic  beauty,  through  a  large  city, 
and  through  numerous  smaller  towns  and  villages  all  smiling  and  pros- 
perous. There  were  great  possibilities  of  business.  But,  alas  !  there 
was  a  fly  which  spoiled  the  ointment.  There  is  no  proper  general  Act 
under  which  electric  railways  can  be  incorporated.  They  must  always 
be  incorporated  under  special  Acts.  And  here  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance 
gets  in  its  fine  work.  A  clause  is  inserted  forbidding  Sunday  traffic. 
and  according  to  the  promoter's  figures  this  means  cutting  off  one-fifth 
of  the  earning  power  of  the  project.  Under  the  circumstances,  capital 
could  not  be  induced  to  flow  to  the  mutilated  enterprise.  Despite  the 
great  local  advantages,  the  project  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  an  invest- 
ment of  some  four  or  five  millions  was  lost  to  the  province. 

This,  -my  friend  said,  was  s  typical  illustration  of  the  electric  railway 
situation  throughout  Ontario,  which  to-day  presents  the  finest  field  in 
the  world  for  electric  railway  investment.  Under  favorable  conditions, 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars  could  easily  be  raised  for 
investment  in  this  branch  of  industry  in  this  province  if  our  Legislature 
could  be  induced  to  adopt  a  rational  policy.  In  the  first  place,  a  general 
Act  should  be  passed  under  which  a  company  could  be  readily  incorpo- 
rated. If  the  company  could  not  become  a  going  concern  in  a  reason- 
able time,  its  charter  should  lapse,  and  some  one  who  could  make  it  go 
should  be  given  a  chance.  The  system  of  granting  to  followers  with  a 
pull  special  charters  extending  over  a  long  period  should  be  abolished. 
To-day  the  whole  country  is  covered  with  these  blanket  charters,  which 
their  holders  have  neither  the  desire  nor  the  means  to  make  going  con- 
cerns, and  which  they  simply  hold  for  the  purpose  of  exploiting  at  some 
future  time. 

The  Act  should  also  abolish  the  foolish  Sunday  regulations.  Why 
should  Canadian  money  go  freely  to  electric  railways  in  Mexico  or  Cuba 
and  leave  a  more  profitable  field  at  home,  simply  because  some  noisy 


396  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


individuals  insist  on  forcing  their  beliefs  on  the  community  at  the  point 
of  the  criminal  law. 

There  is  perhaps  nothing  so  inconsistent  as  our  present  regulations  as 
to  Sunday  traffic.  Why  should  Toronto  the  Good  be  allowed  to  travel 
on  Sunday  cars,  while  Guelph  is  forbidden  to  do  the  same?  I  can  re- 
member the  pious  horror  of  many  people  when  it  was  first  proposed  to 
have  Sunday  cars  in  Toronto.  I  can  remember  the  very  small  number 
who  voted  for  them  the  first  time  a  vote  was  taken.  If  taken  to-morrow, 
the  vote  against  them  would  be  just  as  small.  Perhaps  the  acme  of  folly 
was  reached  in  an  Act  passed  by  the  Ontario  Legislature  last  session,  by 
wdiich  Sunday  cars  were  allowed  on  one  part  of  a  road  and  refused  on 
the  remainder.  Our  wise  Legislature  passed  an  Act  making  it  lawful 
on  Sunday  to  ride  on  a  trolley-car  to  an  imaginary  point,  but  once  pass 
that  point  and  you  are  on  the  high  road  to  jail  in  thi^  world  and  to  hell 
in  the  next. 

The  whole  question  of  Sunday  traffic  is  in  the  same  chaotic  and  illogi- 
cal condition.  Why  should  I  be  able  to  leave  Toronto  for  Montreal  and 
not  for  Owen  Sound  ?  Canadian  traffic  interests  have  become  of  great 
magnitude.  Why  should  traffic  of  all  kinds  be  tied  up  for  one  day  in 
seven  in  order  that  Revs.  Moore  and  Shearer  may  eat  spring  cliicken  for 
dinner  instead  of  roast  beef? 

As  long  as  these  gentlemen  confine  themselves  to  prosecuting  some 
poor  fellow  for  selling  ice  cream  on  a  sweltering  hot  day  to  some  perspir- 
ing sinner  or  a  newspaper  to  some  weary  traveller,  they  are  only  annoy- 
ances to  the  community  ;  but  when  they  interfere  with  the  commercial 
interests  and  the  material  progress  of  the  whole  community  they  become 
more  than  mere  nuisances.  In  a  fit  of  sane  introspection  they  may  well 
ask  themselves,  "  How  long  will  the  community  continue  to  put  up  with 
our  interference  ? "  ,        ^ 

Another  grave  aspect  of  this  question  is  this.  In  this  country  we 
proudly  boast  of  our  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Are  not  the  actions  of 
these  gentlemen  a  menace  to  that  liberty?  Has  Mr.  Shearer  the  right 
to  have  me  put  in  prison  because  I  differ  from  him  in  my  views  as  to  the 
observance  of  a  religious  institution?  As  a  Canadian  citizen,  i  very 
decidedly  refuse  to  subscribe  to  any  such  assumption  on  his  part.  As 
the  great  majority  of  the  men  in  the  city  of  Toronto  do  not  go  to  church, 
I  am  in  the  majority. 

A  phase  of  this  question  which  seems  to  me  to  be  entirely  overlooked 
is  the  historical  one.  The  foundation-stone  of  the  Sunday  question  from 
an  orthodox  standpoint  is  the  Fourth  Commandment.  The  day  there 
commanded  to  be  observed  is  the  seventh.  To  add  emphasis  to  this,  the 
Deity  adds  his  reasons.  Surely  it  is  a  position  with  which  the  most 
orthodox  must  agree  that  any  change  in  the  day  to  be  observed  must  be 
made  only  by  the  same  divine  authority  which  instituted  the  original 
observance.  Now,  it  is  the  admitted  fact  that  from  the  time  of  the 
original  observance  up  to  the  time  of  Christ  the  seventh  day  was  the 
day  observed.     It  is  equally  as  undoubted  that  no  change  was  made  by 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  39^ 


Christ  himself  or  his  Apostles  ;  and  it  is  just  as  certain  that  the  day  was 
changed  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  between  the  time 
of  Christ's  apostles  and  the  Reformation. 

Now,  during  this  period  there  was  an  authority  who  claimed  the  right 
to  act  as  God's  vicegerent  on  this  earth,  and  in  virtue  of  this  assumed 
power  that  his  acts  had  the  authority  of  God's  own  acts.  If  we  are  will- 
ing to  admit  this  claim,  then  the  change  was  properly  made.  The  ques- 
tion is  settled.  I  do  not  admit  the  claim,  however,  nor  does  my  friend 
the  Sunday  bigot.  But  here  is  the  rub  :  How  can  he  accept  the  act  and 
yet  deny  its  author's  authority?  Every  Sunday  of  his  life  he  solemnly 
bows  his  knee  and  bends  his  head  to  the  authority  of  the  Pope  as  God's 
vicegerent,  and  is  as  zealously  inclined  as  he  knows  how  to  be  to  send 
me  and  those  who  think  like  me  to  jail  for  not  doing  so  ;  whilethe  other 
six  days  of  the  week  he  as  solemnly  denies  what  he  so  solemnly  affirma 
on  Sunday. 

"  The  Lord's  Day  Alliance  "  is  a  misnomer.  Why  not  give  it  its  proper- 
title,  and  call  it  *'  The  Pope's  Day  Alliance  "  ? 


Zbc  Soul  of  a  1Ration< 


:o:- 


{From  the  London  Times.) 

:o: 

L 

A  NATION  can  neither  anticipate  nor  attain  to  pre-enninence  in  the  arts  of  war 
unless  it  possesses  moral  as  well  as  material  superiority  over  its  enemy.  N'umbers, 
resources,,  territory,  wealth,  arm.s,  even  mere  animal  courage,  are  not  enough  to 
establish  and  maintain  such  pre  eminence  unless  there  is  also  some  deep  and 
abiding  moral  principle  of  action  which  supports  and  sustains  the  frailty  of  human 
nature,  inculcates  high  ideals,  encourages  emulation  in  noble  deeds,  and  inspires 
both  moderation  in  victory  and  constancy  in  defeat. 

Patriotism,  religion,  and  fanaticism  have  been  in  past  ages  the  dominating 
forces  which  have  determined  the  noMcst  deeds  of  arms  and  the  highest  triumphs 
of  the  peaceful  arts.  In  the  domain  of  war,  the  first  inspired  Rome  and  Lace- 
daemon,  the  second  had  its  highest  realization  in  the  Crusades,  while,  for  the 
last,  we  have  all  of  us  seen  barbarians  in  distant  lands  confronting  our  bayonets 
with  as  much  valor,  though  not  with  as  much  skill,  as  ever  was  displayed  by  the 
Tenth  Legion  or  the  knights  who  obeyed  the  clarion  voice  of  l^eter  the  Hermit. 
Who  can  recall  without  a  thrill  of  admiration  the  morning  of  Omdurman,  the 
great  plain  filled  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  with  the  countless  hosts  of  the 
Khalifa,  the  regular  movements  of  the  ordered  masses,  the  great  standards  of  the 
fighting  Emirs,  the  white  clad  horsemen  streaming  over  Jcbel  Surgham  with  their 
snowy  banners,  the  morning  sun  glinting  upon  their  arms  ?  Who  can  forget  the 
shouts  of  the  faithful  that  rent  the  air  as  the  masses  turned  to  rush  down  upon 
that  little  semi-circle  of  watching  and  wondering  men  who  stood  still  as  stone 
with  ordered  arms,  inspired  with  no  feeling  but  one  of  intense  and  delighted 
admiration  ?  Who  can  wonder  that  they  even  forgot  to  open  fire,  fearful  of 
marring  such  a  stupendous  spectacle,  until   a  direct  order  from  the  stem-faced 


398  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


chief  recalled  them  to  a  forgotten  sense  of  what  the  Dervish  warriors  were  pur- 
posing to  attempt  ? 

If  our  present  soldiers  have  never  themselves  felt  the  furious  inspiration  of 
religious  war,  they  know,  at  least,  to  what  prodigies  of  valor  fanaticism  can  impel 
the  lowest  of  mankind,  and  in  three  long  years  of  war  they  have  learnt  something 
too  of  the  effort  and  the  sacrifices  that  a  stern  and  stiff-necked  people  can  offer 
up  on  the  altar  of  patriotism.  They  have,  in  all  good  conscience,  the  grounding 
necessary  for  an  inquiry  into  the  inspirations  of  bushido  in  Japan  There  have 
been  other,  many  other,  motives  which  have  inspired  noble  deeds,  among  which 
the  unwritten  code  of  knightly  honor,  of  chivalry,  occupies  a  very  distinguished 
place.  But  chivalry  never  went  deep  down  into  the  masses,  and  no  movement 
that  is  restricted  to  a  small,  if  select,  circle  can  ever  hope  to  count  for  much  in 
the  play  and  counterplay  of  national  rivalries  and  the  history  of  the  world. 

Oi  all  the  many  remarkable  circumstances  of  this  Far  Eastern  war,  the  fact 
that  dominates  everything  else  is  the  courage  and  conduct  of  the  Mikado's 
Armies.  We  recognize,  almost  grudgingly  and  in  spite  of  ourselves,  the  existence 
of  a  moral  force  that  appears  able  to  govern  and  sway  the  whole  conduct  of  a 
wiiole  people,  inspiring  not  a  caste,  but  a  nation,  from  the  highest  ro  the  lowest, 
to  deeds  that  are  worthy  to  rank  with  the  most  famous  of  history  or  of  legend. 
We  want  to  know  what  this  force  is,  whence  it  comes,  and  what  it  means  ;  the 
^ense  of  its  existence  makes  us  jealous,  uncomfortable,  almost  annoyed.  VVie  are 
told  that  the  Japanese  are  intelligent  fanatics  ;  in  effect,  that  is  apparently  the 
result,  but  effects  are  nothing  and  causes  everythmg.  What  we  desire  to  know 
is  the  cause,  the  underlying  motive  that  inspires  the  deeds  of  valor,  too  numerous 
to  name,  that  are  told  us  from  all  sides,  without  a  single  dissentient  voice,  bv^h 
from  one  side  of  the  battlefield  and  from  the  other,  even  finding  a  generous 
acknowledgment  in  a  rescript  of  the  Tsar's. 

The  Western  world  listened  impatiently  before  the  war  to  the  tittle-tattle  of  a 
few  travelled  dreamers,  who  spoke  of  new  forces  and  new  ideals — new,  that  is, 
to  us.  But  we  all  doubted  until  we  saw  tke  new  forces  at  work,  and  then  con- 
tented ourselves  with  the  mere  registration  of  ascertained  facts,  till  we  had  in 
our  possession  a  volume  of  evidence  from  which  conclusions  might  be  drawn 
and  legitimate  deductions  made.  We  watched  the  dignified  conduct  of  the 
negotiations,  the  calm  decision  of  the  Japanese  Empire  to  make  war ;  we  saw  the 
deeds  of  Togo's  men  off  Port  Arthur ;  we  read  of  the  devotion  of  the  warriors 
who  sailed  their  ships  to  certain  death  in  that  fatal  channel  ;  we  noted  the  spirit 
of  Commander  Hirose,  of  Captain  Sakurai,  and  of  many  other  named  and  un- 
named heroes  on  land  and  sea,  at  the  Ya-lu,  at  Nanshan,  round  the  Motien-ling, 
and  at  Liau-yang  ;  we  observed  the  patient  constancy  of  the  people  oi  Japan,  and 
never  a  single  discordant  note  broke  the  harmony  of  the  strangely-fascinating 
epic.  We  saw  that  the  Japanese  were  fighting  with  the  firm  determination  to 
conquer  or  die ;  that  defenceless  men  in  unarmed  ships  preferred  death  to  sur- 
render, not  in  theory,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth  ;  that  men  and  olificers  were 
possessed  with  an  unconquerable  spirit,  and  so  remained  unconquered  ;  and  that 
from  highest  to  lowest,  and  in  all  categories  of  the  armed  forces,  the  story  was 
one  and  the  same.  Ihat  set  us  all  a-thinking,  for  it  was  evident,  as  our  Tokio 
correspondent  truly  says,  that  "  better  men  in  battle  have  not  been  educated  by 
any  creed." 

Valor  is  nothing  new  to  the  West,  since  tne  annals  of  all  armies  are  crowded 
with  it.  It  was  not  that  there  was  something  more  behind,  something  which^ 
had  all  Western   arnues  possessed  it,  would  have  prevented  black  marks  which 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  391? 


besmirch   the   military   escutcheons  of  all  nations  of  the  West  without  a  single 
exception.     What  was  it?     What  is  it  ? 

It  is  hardly  possible  for  any  one  who  turns  over  the  fascinating  leaves  of 
Captain  Brinkley's  truly  marvellous  work  upon  Japan  not  to  say  to  himself  at 
every  page — "  Russia  ought  to  have  known,  aye,  and  all  Europe  too."  The  art 
of  a  nation  is  the  expression  of  its  soul.  What  Japanophil  collectois  should  have 
boasted  when  they  added  a  fresh  gem  to  their  collection — a  carving  by  Hidart 
Jingoro,  a  masterpiece  of  lacquer  by  Korin,  a  painting  by  Sesshu,  or  a  Buddha 
by  Unkei — was  not  their  satisfied  vanity,  but  the  discovery  of  a  new  force  in  the 
family  of  nations.  The  genius,  the  application,  the  ingenuity,  the  infinite  variety, 
the  imagination,  and  the  finish  of  Japanese  craftsmen  should  have  told  us  long 
ago  that  the  nation  had  but  to  apply  these  talents  to  national  uses  in  a  wider 
sense  to  rise  in  a  moment  to  a  level  with  the  best. 

At  first  sight,  indeed,  there  appears  to  be  something  amiss.  History  shows 
that  great  and  lasting  national  pre-eminence,  whether  military  or  political,  carries 
with  it  every  other  form  of  greatness.  We  take  the  great  masterpieces  of  Greek 
and  Roman  art  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  we  expect  to  find  a  Titian  produced  by 
Venice  when  she  ruled  the  Adriatic,  a  Velasquez  by  Spain  when  she  dominated 
half  the  world,  a  Rembrandt  by  Holland  when  she  had  shaken  off  the  Spanish 
yoke,  a  Reynolds  by  England  to  recall  the  great  figures  of  the  fighting  aristocracy 
that  triumphed  over  a  world  in  arms. 

If  national  pre-eminence  in  Japan  has  apparently,  and,  we  may  almost  say,, 
inadvertently,  lagged  far  behind  the  days  when  Japanese  art  attained  to  its  zenith, 
it  is  more  appearance  than  reality,  since  the  spirit  that  runs  like  a  silver  thread 
through  Japanese  history  is  quite  unbroken,  and  bushido  itself,  the  soul  of  the 
nation,  is  a  direct  product  of  very  ancient -times,  so  ancient,  indeed,  that  no  one 
can  trace  its  original  beginnings.  The  subject  is  not  one  to  be  touched  upon 
lightly  or  without  a  preliminary  warning  that  no  one  is  really  competent  to  discuss 
bushido  save  a  bushi,  and  that  the  perfect  bushi  has  never  existed,  since 
perfection  is  not  for  man  to  achieve,  no,  not  even  in  Japan.  The  writings  of 
native  philosophers  upon  this  subject  are  not  all  that  can  be  desired,  since,  for 
the  most  part,  the  authors  who  have  endeavored  to  epitomize  or  codify  bushid<> 
are  themselves  not  bushis,  and  are  consequently  unable  to  unfold  the  whole 
gospel  of  this  remarkabie  code  of  eth'cs.  Bushido,  which  may  be  very  inade- 
quately translated  as  knightly  chivalry,  is  the  unwritten  code  of  moral  and  ethical 
principles  which  fashions  the  conduct  of  all  its  adherents  and  makes  up  the 
scheme  of  life  of  the  bushi  or  samurai.  It  is  a  Japanese  proverb  that  says,  "  As 
the  cherry  blossom  is  among  flowers,  so  is  the  bushi  among  men." 

If  we  cannot  adequately  express  all  that  bushido  is,  we  can  say  what  it  is  not. 
Take  the  average  scheme  of  life  of  the  average  society  of  the  West,  and  bushido 
as  nearly  as  may  be  represents  its  exact  antithesis.  Bushido  offers  us  the  ideal 
of  poverty  of  ostentation,  reserve  instead  of  reclaime,  self-sacrifice  in  place  of 
selfishness,  care  for  the  interest  of  the  State  rather  than  for  that  of  the  indi- 
vidual. Bushido  inspires  ardent  courage  and  the  refusal  to  turn  the  back  upon 
the  enemy  ;  it  looks  death  calmly  in  the  face,  and  prefers  it  to  ignominy  of  any 
kind.  It  preaches  submission  to  authority,  and  the  sacrifice  of  all  private  inte- 
rests, whether  of  self  or  of  family,  to  the  common  weal.  It  requires  its  disciples 
to  submit  to  a  strict  physical  and  mental  discipline,  develops  a  martial  s|nrit, 
and,  by  laudinu  the  virtues  of  courage,  constancy,  fortitude,  faithfulness,  daring, 
and  self-restraint,  offers  an  exalted  code  of  moral  principles,  not  only  for  the  man 
and  the  warrior,  but  for  men  and  women  in  times  both  of  peace  and  of  war. 


400  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


The  origin  of  bushido  is  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiquity.  To  the  ancients  it  was 
often  the  sole  form  of  religion,  but  it  has  drawn  inspiration  in  later  centuries 
from  many  faiths.  The  patriotism  of  indigenous  Shintoism,  the  stoical  philo- 
sophy of  the  Zen  sect  of  Buddhism,  the  ascetism  of  Brahminism,  and  the  self- 
abnegation  of  Christianity,  have  one  and  all  become  embodied,  or  are  gradually 
becoming  embodied,  in  the  unwritten  code  of  ethics  of  which  bushido  consists. 
There  is  no  dogma,  no  infallibility,  no  priesthood,  and  no  ritual  ;  bushido  takes 
the  very  best  and  the  very  highest  of  all  ancient  and  modern  philosophy  and 
morals,  and  endeavors  to  embody  it  in  an  ordered  scheme  of  life. 

The  term  bushi,  closely  represented  by  the  ideal  of  the  faithful  knight  of 
-chivalry,  can  be  traced  back  for  1,500  years  in  the  history  of  Japan.  Bushido 
is  not  a  religion,  but  a  philosophy.  It  does  not  centre  so  much  upon  personal 
loyalty  to  the  Emperor,  as  upon  loyalty,  for  its  own  sake,  to  all  superiors,  and  to 
the  Imperial  Heaven-descended  House  most  of  all,  as  the  highest  embodiment 
of  the  principle  of  authority.  If  an  Emperor  were  unworthy,  another  member 
of  the  Imperial  House  would  take  his  place  ;  there  would  be  no  civil  war,  for 
^idolatry  of  the  War  Lord  is  not  among  the  tenets  of  a  philosophy  in  which  the 
individual,  for  his  own  sake,  scarcely  counts. 

{To  be  concluded.) 


1F6  tbe  jfreetbouQbt  ipropagan&a  practical  ? 

BY   GEORGE    ALLEN   WHITE. 

-:o: 

in. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  one  hundred  and  tifty  thousand  minis- 
ters lived  in  the  United  States  alone,  which  signifies  that  probably  $150,000,000 
is  there  annually  wasted,  in  order  to  divert  into  profitless  channels  the  intelligence 
of  this  vast  army  of  men,  who  under  other  circumstances  would  be  of  incalcu- 
lable value  to  mankind.  Then  there  are  cardinals,  archbishops,  bishops,  eccle- 
siastical agents  and  boards,  missions,  and  the  rest  of  the  enormous  paraphernalia 
of  activities  outside  the  immediate  church  proper.  Costly  edifices  for  worship 
dot  the  country  in  great  profusion,  and  these  are  for  the  most  part  an  absolute 
waste  of  money.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  estimate  the  drain  entailed  every  year 
in  America  by  organized  religion  at  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars. 

Consider  what  such  a  vast  sum  would  do  in  elevating  mankind  and  making 
this  a  happier  country.  Two  hundred  million  dollars  represents  the  interest  on 
ft<ur  billion  dollars.  Mr.  Carnegie's  munificent  gift  of  ten  million  dollars  to  the 
Washington  University — a  gift  which  is  expected  eventually  to  influence  life  for 
the  better  in  every  hamlet  of  our  land— would  provide  an  income  of  but  half  a 
million  yearly,  even  were  the  entire  amount  to  be  used  for  running  expenses  ;  and 
yet  the  church  expends  four  hundred  times  as  much  in  a  bootless  and  selfish 
attempt  to  curry  favor  with  the  eternal  non  est  of  the  skies  ;  and  buys  up  some 
of  the  brightest  intellects  of  Christendom  to  expound  the  myths  and  fables  of  a 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  401 

barbaric  Judaism,  to  anaesthetize  their  naturally  active  brains  and  to  grace  pink, 
teas  and  other  social  frivolities. 

Were  the  prodigious  waste  for  which  Christianity  is  responsible  directed  into-* 
channels  making  for  the  genuine  uplift  of  humanity,  we  should  all  be  living  in  a- 
fairer  world  to-day,  and  the  white  blossoms  of  brotherhood  would  be  borne  on 
breezes  whose  furthermost  sweep  could  find  no  hell  of  horror  where  the  old  flag, 
waves.  If  only  a  modicum  of  this  prodigality  were  intelligently  brought  to  bear- 
on  the  study  of  surgery,  of  medicine,  of  poverty,  of  intemperance,  of  the  many 
things  awaiting  more  rational  solution,  it  requires  no  exceptional  eye  to  see  that 
stupendous  changes  would  rapidly  be  made. 

Which,  then,  is  the  more  "  practical  " — to  squander  hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars  annually  on  a  superstition  of  the  clouds,  or  to  spend  them  upon  the 
acquirement  of  knowledge  designed  to  elevate  mankind,  whose  home  is  here 
and  whose  destiny  is  still  locked  within  the  obdurate  lips  of  a  voiceless  Sphinx  ? 

TOLERANCE. 

Doubtless  a  considerable  part  of  the  body  of  Freethinkers,  investigating  at 
first  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  for  themselves  what  the  truth  might  be  re- 
garding religion,  were  led  into  truculent  attitudes  toward  their  opponents  because 
of  the  scandalous  treatment  accorded  them.  It  is  a  sad  reality  that,  although 
Freethinkers  are  sufficiently  catholic  to  respect  the  personal  character  of  Chris- 
tians, it  is  rare  to  find  Christians  prepared  to  look  with  anything  but  distrust  on 
the  character  of  the  former.  So  long  as  an  investigator  entertaining  certain- 
opinions  upon  the  problems  of  the  universe  is  met  with  opprobrium,  scurrility,, 
ostracism,  while  another,  no  more  honest  and  it  may  be  of  less  intelligence,  but 
holding  different  opinions,  is  received  with  honor,  so  long  will  it  continue  to  be 
"  practical  "  for  Freethought  publications  to  hurl  their  flaming  defiance  into  the 
camp  of  the  enemy. 

A  man  has  the  right  to  his  own  views  on  any  question,  without  incurring  con- 
slant  danger  of  being  socially  hamstrung  by  the  cohorts  of  midget  intellectuality. 
Though  he  [)e  wrong,  is  he  not  entitled  to  his  convictions  and  to  freedom  from 
persecution  ?  And  if  he  be  right— what  shall  we  say  to  the  justice  of  the  perse- 
cution then  ?  When  Kepler  told  of  the  ellipticity  of  planetary  orbits,  and  de- 
clared that  the  radius  vector  of  every  planetary  orbit  passes  over  equal  areas  in 
equal  times,  did  he  not  have  the  everlasting  right  to  hold  those  beliefs,  immune 
from  the  ostracizing  bulls  of  lascivious  popes  and  from  the  endeavors  of  vacuous 
jackals  to  rend  him  ?  Would  it  not  have  been  "  practical  "  for  men.of  his  school 
to  agitate  for  the  ushering  in  of  a  time  when  the  possibility  of  entertaining  the 
truth  on  these  points  as  a  private  opinion,  and  free  from  eflforts  to  make  their 
lives  miserable,  should  be  a  fact  ? 

In  its  sciolistic,  obscurantist  campaign  against  freedom  of  thought,  Christianity 
violates  not  only  the  abstract  entity  called  "  the  truth,"  but  also  that  concrete 
vessel  man,  in  whom  the   truth  would  reside.     Doubly  criminal,  she  is  doubly 


402  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

condemned.  The  propaganda  of  Freethought  will  not  cease  to  be  "  practical "  till 
men  can  think  as  they  please  and  still    be   free  from  the  attempts  of  superstition 
to  shipwreck  their  lives  in  this  world  and  consign  their  ruined   remnants  to  the 
fervent  heat  of  a  life  beyond. 
Professor  Huxley  says  : 

"  Who  shall  number  the  patient  and  earnest  seekers  after  truth,  from  the  days 
of  Galileo  until  now,  whose  lives  have  been  embittered  and  iheir  good  name 
blasted  oy  the  mistaken  zeal  of  Bibliolators  ?  " 

CHRISTIANITY    AN    ENEMY    OF    HAPPINESS.  , 

Nothing  which  is  untrue  can  contribute  to  permanent  happiness  — and  happi- 
ness is  what  all  are  consciously  or  unconsciously  seeking  to  attain.  As  has  been 
said,  every  person,  every  State,  and  every  race,  no  matter  how  ridiculous  or  re- 
volting the  beliefs  it  entertains  may  be,  is  firmly  convinced  that  they  minister  to 
its  happiness  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  others  could.  Were  this  not  so,  the 
beliefs  would  be  altered. 

Glancing  over  the  world,  we  find  the  crudest  notions  almost  irremovably  im- 
bedded in  the  popular  mind  ;  and  to  destroy  them  at  one  fell  swoop  would  seem 
in  the  beginning  to  hundreds  of  millions  like  tearing  out  their  heart-strings. 
Hence,  ah  hough,  in  common  with  the  devotees  of  other  faiths,  the  Christian 
strenuously  insists  that  his  happiness  for  life  is  involved  in  loyalty  to  his  own 
particular  superstition,  the  statement  is  of  no  weight  whatever  when  viewed 
calmly  and  soberly.  The  untrained  intellect  of  the  average  believer  cannot  be 
an  unprejudiced  witness  as  to  what  is  or  would  be  contributory  to  his  highest 
happiness.  His  protestations  are  ex  parte,  like  those  of  a  child  who  resists  the 
extraction  of  one  of  its  first  set  of  teeth.  The  Christian  knows  but  one  side  of 
the. case.     Addison  says  : 

"  As  it  is  the  chief  concern  of  wise  men  to  retrench  the  evils  of  life  by  the 
reasonings  of  philosophy,  it  is  the  employment  of  fools  to  multiply  them  by  the 
sentiments  of  superstition." 

The  trend  of  human  advance  since  the  dawn  of  history  has  been  away  from 
superstition,  away  from  religion,  and  into  degrees  of  happiness  greater  and 
greater  as  the  ideal  of  Freethought  came  nearer  and  nearer.  Who  can  doubt 
that  the  enjoyments  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  comparatively  close  as  these  peoples 
are  to  the  goal  of  ultimate  religious  emancipation,  are  richer  and  fuller  than 
were  the  enjoyments  of  the  trusting,  unlettered  Jews  of  old,  whose  very  life  was 
part  and  parcel  of  a  rigid  theocracy  with  which  it  appeared  to  them  impossible 
to  dispense? 

(To  he  concluded.) 


A  believe  that  the  common  school  is  the  breath  of  life,  and  all  should  be  com- 
manded to  eat  oi  the  fiuit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge. — Ingersoll. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  403 


Zbc  Ipreecnt  poeition  of  tbc  Bible* 


:o:- 


II 


BY    F.    J.    GOULD, 

If  one  could  imagine  the  Bible  to  be  endowed  with  consciousness,  one  migi 
say  of  it,  as  Napoleon  said  of  the  British  army,  that  it  does  not  know  when  it- 
is  beaten.  It  still  clings  to  its  divine  eminence,  though  its  claims  receive  no 
recognition  from  unclerical  culture  and  intellect.  What  the  clerical  interest  may 
declare  on  the  subject  does  not  count.  The  vicar  has  his  bills  to  pay,  and  the 
Bible  virtually  supplies  the  funds.  We  owe  the  vicar  no  malice,  but  we  talce 
note  of  his  economic  dependence  upon  orthodoxy^  and  we  accept  bis  Totesta- 
tions  of  faith  in  more  or  less  respectful  silence. 

But  our  concern  at  the  moment  centres  round  the  Bible  itself,  llie  history 
of  literature  has  never  presented  us  with  a  more  extraordinary  spectacle  than  we 
descry  in  the  present  position  of  the  Bible.  Critical  shots  have  riddled  the  Old 
Testament  into  a  mass  of  honeycombed  parchment.  The  New  Tessament 
crumbles  at  a  touch.  Only  here  and  there  does  a  fanatic  pretend  to  direct  his^ 
conduct  by  the  literal  precepts  of  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  scriptures.  Even' 
then  he  sustains  himself  in  his  errors  simply  by  means  of  a  random  choice  of 
texts.  One  kind  of  folly  will  erect  itself  on  the  basis  of  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
Another  will  find  its  specious  charter  in  the  Apocalypse.  A  third,  altogether 
different  in  aim  and  character,  will  found  its  egregiousness  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  Meanwhile,  the  working  world  goes  on  its  way,  seeking  new  lights, 
testing  new  tdeas,  suffering  from  the  failure  of  social  experiment,  hoping  in 
freshly-created  forms  of  moral  effort,  and  never  once  making  the  Bible  its  base 
of  operations  in  private  or  civic  pursuits. 

To  say  sooth,  a  large  mass  of  the  public  knows  next  to  nothing  about  the 
Bible  even  as  the  organ  of  orthodox  religion.  Only  a  scant  minority  is  aware 
of  the  conclusions  of  Biblical  criticism  ;  but  then,  fortunately,  this  scant  minority 
includes  the  men  and  women  who  are  destined  to  frx  the  future  ethical  and 
sptculative  course  of  civilization.  The  Bible  is  unknown  to  the  masses,  and 
declined  as  an  authority  by  the  few.  Yet  it  lies  on  the  altar  of  the  national 
churches,  half-obscured  in  a  dim  religious  light  of  awe,  and  isolate 
assumption  of  unique  majesty.  Each  Sunday  the  preacher's  messages  on  the 
higher  life  are  ostensibly  inspired  by  phrases  from  Holy  Writ.  If  the  preacher 
possesses  little  wit,  the  inanity  of  his  discourse  aptly  matches  the  rust  or  his 
text.  If  he  cherishes  broad  .ideas  of  human  nature  and  human  possibilities,  he 
makes-believe  to  draw  his  inspiration  and  enlightenment  from  manifestly  incon- 
gruous passages.  We  have  heard  the  whole  duty  of  man  expounded  from  the 
prophetic  utterance  :  "And  the  Lord  showed  me  four  carpenters." 

An  infinitude  of  poetry  and  allegory  and  essays  and  scientific  masterpieces 
stand  ready  for  the  service  of  the  teacher.     But   no  !  by  the  sleight-of-hand  of 


404  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


the  theologian,  all  wisdom  must  evolve  from  a  Jewish-Christian  bookshelf.  The 
Bible  holds  a  like  place  in  the  schools.  Education,  like  William  Pell,  is  com- 
manded to  bow  to  the  Gessler's-cap  of  theology.  Tell  refused.  Before  long 
our  national  education  will  also  shake  itself  free  from  the  tyranny.  The  cap  will 
not  fall  of  itself.  A  Tell  must  shoot ;  a  cry  of  revolt  must  arise  ;  a  people  must 
make  its  will  felt. 

Now,  of  the  minority  which  understands  the  hapless  condition  to  which  criti- 
cism has  reduced  the  once  infallible  Bible,  a  certain  proportion  will  not  move  a 
hand  in  protest.  They  know  ;  they  shrug  their  shoulders  ;  they  acquiesce.  They 
peep  from  snug  windows  at  those  who  plod  through  the  mire  of  propaganda. 
They  delight  in  clean  boots. 

VVe  who  march  are  also  satisfied.  The  accession  of  a  regiment  of  clean  boots 
tto  the  ranks  would  seriously  embarrass  our  progress.  Do  we  use  language  too 
militant  ?  Let  it  be  remembered,  we  are  engaged  in  a  struggle  which  has  more 
bearings  than  the  literary.  It  is  a  very  different  thing  from  discussing  the  authen- 
ticity of  Ossian  or  the  value  of  Thackeray's  novels.  We  have  to  encounter 
prejudice,  tradition,  custom,  vested  interests.  All  things  muster  against  us — 
except  the  future. — Literary  Guide. 


IRace^dulture* 

:o:, 

BY   DR.    E.    B.    FOOTE. 

:o: 


There  are  some  conspicuous  evidences  that  people  of  enlightenment  are  awaken- 
ing to  the  importance  of  race  culture.  In  1899  such  a  conservative  body  as  the 
American  Medical  Association  at  its  fiftieth  annual  meeting  at  Columbus,  Ohio, 
actually  allowed  a  symposium  to  be  presented  bearing  upon  the  subject.  A  bright 
woman  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  association  was  permitted  to  speak  from  the 
standpoint  of  Wife,  Mother  and  Home.  Several  physicians,  members  of  the 
asssociation,  were  outspoken  in  their  advocacy  of  laws  restricting  marriage,  with 
the  view  of  preventing  insanity  and  consumption  from  being  perpetuated  by 
heredity.  Well,  when  it  was  announced  that  there  was  to  be  a  National  Congress 
of  Mothers  to  be  held  in  Washington,  I  made  an  appeal  to  the  brave,  gifted  and 
well-qualified  woman,  a  resident  of  Washington,  who  had  had  the  courage  to 
speak  before  the  association  of  old  school  physicians  on  the  occasion  to  which  I 
referred,  to  go  before  that  Congress  of  Mothers  and  present  her  well-known  views 
as  bravely  as  she  had  done  before  the  disciples  of  i^Lsculapius  at  Columbus. 
Quite  to  my  surprise  she  declined  my  proposition,  on  the  ground  that  any  men- 
tion of  such  a  topic  would  not  be  tolerated  at  the  approaching  Congress.  Again, 
quite  as  much  to  my  surprise,  the  topic  was  introduced  at  a  later  National  Coun- 
cil of  Woman,  held  at  Washington  also,  and  was  found  to  have  many  advocates 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  405; 


and  able  supporters,  all  going  to  show,  in  the  language  of  the  colored  preacher, 
that  "  the  world  do  move."  The  views  of  President  Roosevelt  on  the  subject  of 
race  suicide  was  handled  without  mittens,  and  the  opinion  freely  expressed  by 
many  that  "  quality  rather  than  quantity"  was  to  be  urged  upon  American 
mothers.     One  emphatically  expressed  her  views  in  language  as  follows  : 

"  I  think  a  good  part  of  the  crime  of  the  world  may  be  traced  to  weak  mother- 
hood, that  motherhood  which  must  scatter  its  never  great  forces  over  the  bearing 
of  half  a  dozen  children — children  reared  without  proper  care  and  restraint,  to 
become  charges  upon  the  city,  county,  and  State.  If  the  mother  had  given  life 
to  but  two  or  three,  her  life  forces  might  have  gathered  strength"  that  would  have 
enabled  her  to  rear  two  or  three  that  would  have  been  creditable  to  the  family 
and  of  value  to  society. 

The  entire  quotation  I  have  cut  short  to  save  space,  but  the  words  I  have  sup- 
plied give  the  gist  of  her  remarks.  I  might  quote  those  of  nearly  or  quite  a 
dozen  other  wise  mothers  heard  on  that  occasion,  all  upholding  the  view  of  having 
"  fewer  and  better  children."  Some  placed  the  limit  at  two ;  others  at  four. 
The  whole  subject  pro  and  con  was  discussed  with  freedom  and  wisdom  ;  the 
predominance  of  opinion  seeming  to  favor  "  quality  rather  than  quantity." 

Not  long  ago  it  was  not  safe  to  write  or  talk  in  this  open  way.  Even  the  men- 
tion of  sex  in  plants  caused  the  works  of  the  great  Swedish  botanist,  Linnaeus,  to 
be  burned  a  century  ago  by  the  exasperated  populace.  It  has  been  related  in 
the  Blue  Grass  Blade  that  Luther  Burbank,  the  wonder-worker  in  the  creation 
of  new  varieties  of  plant  life  by  original  methods  of  mating  and  crossing,  in 
Santa  Rosa,  California, 

'•  was  invited  by  a  minister  to  attend  church  and  listen  to  a  sermon  upon  the 
work  he  was  carrying  on.  He  accepted  the  invitation  and  was  forced  to  listen  to 
an  address  violently  denouncing  him  as  a  foe  to  God  and  man,  one  who  was  in- 
terrupting the  well-ordered  course  of  plant  life,  destroying  forces  and  functions 
long  established  and  sacred,  reducing  the  vegetable  life  of  the  world  to  a  con- 
dition at  once  unnatural  and  abnormal." 

What  is  being  done  by  agriculturists,  horticulturists,  and  florists  in  improving 
fruits,  vegetables  and  fl(jwers,  and  by  the  stock-breeders  in  perfecting  domestic 
animals,  should  lead  the  human  family  to  ask  what  may  be  done  to  improve  its 
condition  by  wise  laws  regulating  marriage,  parentage  and  divorce. 

It  is  certainly  time  to  consider  the  problem  of  race  culture,  for  it  is  said  that 
the  Royal  Commission  of  Physical  Training,  in  examining  12,292  recruits  for 
the  English  army,  found  that  32  percent,  had  to  be  rejected  for  physical  defects  ! 
How  many  would  have  been  rejected  for  mental  and  moral  defects  if  an  exami- 
nation had  been  made  to  determine  this  (Question,  I  will  leave  it  to  the  intelli- 
gent reader  to  conjecture. 

The  United  States  Government  is  undertaking,  through  the  Commissioner- 
General  of  Immigration,  to  prevent  the  incoming  from  foreign  ports  of  idiots, 
crazy  folks,  convicts,  and  other  undesirable  people.  How  would  it  do  to  have  a 
Scientific  Commission  appointed  to  devise  measures  to  prevent  such  human 
trash  from  coming  into  the  world  ?  Would  not  that  indeed  be  a  sensible  pre- 
caution ? — Ingersoll  Beacon. 


406 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Details  Specitteb* 

A  certain  church  in  Montreal 

Decided  to  repair 
Its  ancient  sacred  pictures, 

That  were  damaged  here  and  there. 
So  they — the  priests— an  artist  hired 
To  do  the  touching  up  required 

But  when  he  sent  in  his  account, 
"This  bill  of  yours,"  said  they, 

*'  Unless  details  are  specified, 
We  must  decline  to  pay." 

Then  he,  obedient  to  their  will. 

Sent  them  these  items  of  his  bill. 


THE    ITEMS. 

Repairing  Adam's  fig-leaf  suit, 
Likewise  touching  up  Eve's  ; 

Increasing  the  width  of  the  lat- 
ter's  skirt. 
By  adding  a  conple  of  leaves  $i   75 

Painting  the  hull  of  Noah's  ark. 
Port  side,  from  bow  to  helm  ; 

Giving  to  Japhet  a  broader  smile, 

And  putting  a  head  on  Shem,     3  40 

Setting  new  ring  in  Sarah's  ear, 

Replacing  a  gem  in  her  ring,     2   80 

Repluming  as  well  as  regilding 
the  lip 
Of  Angel  Gabriel's  wing 4   15 

Washing  King  Solomon's  fingers 
and  toes. 

Polishing  up  his  crown i   50 

Brightening  up  the  flames  of  hell, 

Deepening  Satan's  frown  ...     3  05 

Restoring  lost  souls  and  putting 
new  tails 
On  three  of  the  Devil's  crew     5   33 
Renewing  the   sun  and  sprink- 
ling new  stars. 
And    making  the  old  moon 

new ^00 

Gleaning  the  Queen  of  Sheba's 
teeth, 
Also  her  neck  and  right  hand  ; 
Putting  new  hump  on  her  camel's 
back, 
.  And  dusting  the  desert  sand     6  80 


Varnishing  Aaron's  and   Moses' 
rods  ; 

Renewing  the  seven  plagues.      7   95 
Polishing  up  Elijah's  bald  pate, 

Straightening  out  his  legs.  . .      1   30 

Fixing    up   ladder  in  "  Jacob's 
Dream," 
Putting  three  new  rungs  in.  .      2   25 
Mending  the  string   on  Esau's 
bow. 
And  laying  fresh  hair  on  his 

skin I    95 

Cleaning  the  ears  of  the  prodi- 
gal son. 
Polishing  left  thumb  nail.  .  .      o  30 
Putting    fresh    tears   on  Peter's 
face. 
And    mending    his    rooster's 

tail T   78 


Rec'd  payment,  $48  53 

July  I,  '05.  J.  C.  Button. 


The  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
was  brusque  of  speech,  and  one  day  a 
lady  came  up  to  him  and  hysterically 
exclaimed,  "  Oh,  my  lord,  was  not  that 
a  terrible  accident  that  occurred  this 
morning  on  the  Great  Western  ?  Do 
you  know,  my  aunt  might  have  been 
in  the  train,  but  she  missed  it.  Now, 
was  it  not  providential,  my  lord  ?  " 

"  Well,  madam,"  he  replied,  "  I  can't 
say ;  I  have  never  seen  your  aunt." 


"  Well,"  remarked  Gabriel,  as  he 
finished  polishing  his  trumpet,  "  the 
time  is  very  near  at  hand." 

"  What  for  ?  "  asked  Peter. 

"  For  us  to  take  possession  of  the 
earth,"  replied  Gabriel. 

"  Yes,  that's  •  a  fact,"  said  Peter,  as 
he  took  up  his  keys  and  began  scraping 
off  some  of  the  thick  coating  of  oxide 
that  had  accumulated  upon  them. 
'*  guppose  you  taVe  a  flier  down  there 
and  see  what  Rockefeller  and  Morgan 
will  ask  for  their  claims  on  it." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


407 


INTERESTING    DISCOVERIES 
IN  EGYPT. 

TliC  excavations  which  were  begun 
at  Beniarun,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Nile,  some  200  miles  above  Cairo,  in 
December,  1902,  have  now  been  com- 
pleted. There  have  been  discovered 
and  searched  in  the  necropolis  extend- 
ing along  the  face  of  the  Hmestone 
ciiff  887  tombs,  including  that  of  Sebek 
Hetepa,  2300  B.  C,  together  with  its 
curious  funeral  models.  Each  burial 
chamber  was  formed  of  a  recess  at  the 
base  of  a  square  shaft,  occasionally  at 
a  depth  of  thirty  feet,  hewn  in  (he  solid 
rock  and  carefully  filled  in.  By  this 
careful  means  ttie  body  of  the  deceased 
was  preserved  from  disturbance.  This 
type  of  burial  antedates  the  mummifi- 
cation period,  but  it  was  found,  in  the 
case  of  bodies,  that  decay  had  been 
arrested  by  the  wrappings,  which  were 
found  still  intact.  Each  tomb  contain- 
ed a  wood  sarcophagus,  with  the  lines 
of  religious  formulae  and  text  inscribed 
upon  it  in  the  orthodox  hieroglyphics, 
and  with  the  head  pointing  to  the 
north  and  the  painted  "eyes  of  Osiris" 
toward  the  east. 

The  sarcophagus  was  surrounded 
with  a  lar.ge  number  of  little  wooden 
models  representing  river  and  sailing 
boats,  a  granary,  a  group  ofeeifsons 
baking,  a  man  brewing,  a^JfirtP^ading 
an  ox,  a  girl  carrying  a  Hwce  of  birds 
in  her  hands  and  a  basket  on  her  head. 
Notwithstanding  the  extreme  age — 
believed  to  be  4,000  years — of  these 
curious  relics,  they  were  found  to  be 
in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation, 
the  oarsmen  in  the  galleys  leaning  upon 
their  oars  and  the  paint  still  bright  and 
clean.  In  the  course  of  these  excava- 
tions is  an  exact  counterpart  of  the 
modern  weaving  reed  as  used  in  the 
mills  at  VVigan,  England,  the  only  dif- 
ference being  that  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians of  2,300  B.C.  used  care  teeth 
instead  of  steel  teeth. 


A  CONCLUSIVE  REASON. 

A  ceitain  Scottish  minister  in  a  West 
Highland  parish  has  never  yet  been 
known  to  permit  a  stranger  to  occupy 
his  pulpit.  Lately,  however,  an  Edin- 
burgh divinity  student  was  spending  a 
few  days  in  the  parish,  and  on  the 
Saturday  he  called  at  the  manse  and 
asked  the  minister  to  be  allowed  ta 
preach  the  following  day.  "  My  dear 
young  man,"  said  the  minister,  laying 
a  hand  gently  on  the  young  man's 
shoulder,  "gin  I  let  ye  preach  the  morn- 
and  ye  gie  a  better  sermon  than  me^ 
my  fowk  wad  never  again  be  satisfied 
wi'  my  preaching,  and  gin  ye're  nae  a 
better  preacher  than  me,  ye're  nc/ 
worth  listening  tae  !  " 


••DON'T  MENTION  IT  !  ^ 

An  English  officer,  exceedingly  un- 
popular with  the  men,  was  coming 
home  one  evening  when  he  slipped  and 
fell  into  some  oeep  water.  He  was 
rescued  with  difificulty  by  a  private  in 
his  regiment.  The  officer  was  profuse 
in  his  expressions  of  gratitude,  and 
asked  his  preserver  how  he  could  re- 
ward him. 

••  The  best  way,"  said  the  soldier, 
•*  is  to  say  nothing  about  it." 

"  But  why  ? "  said  the  officer  in 
amazement. 

'•  Because,"  was  the  blunt  reply,  "  if 
the  other  fellows  knew  I  pulled  you 
out,  they'd  chuck  me  in." 


ATLANTIC    WAVES. 

The  size  of  the  Atlantic  waves  has 
been  carefully  measured  for  the  Wash- 
ington hydrographic  bureau.  In  height 
the  waves  usually  average  about  30  feet, 
but  in  rough  weather  they  attain  from 
40  to  48  feet.  During  storms  ihey 
are  often  from  200  to  600  feet  long 
and  last  10  or  11  seconds,  while  Ihe 
longest  yet  known  measured  half  a 
mile  and  did  not  spend  itself  for  23 
seconds. 


408 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


THE    EDUCATION    SQUABBLE. 
The  Catholic. 

^Stauch  Roman  Catholics  are  we  ; 

All  other  canting  fools 
Should  excommunicated  be, 

And  banished  from  the  schools  ; 
The  English  Church  is  but  a  sham, 

The  Baptist  Chapel,  worse  ; 
Oh,  Lord,  their  feeble  efforts  damn, 

And  blight  them  with  thy  curse. 

The  Protestant. 
An  Anglican  each  boy  must  be, 

A  Church  of  England  lad, 
Nor  Rome,  nor  Nonconformity 

Shall  send  him  to  the  bad  ; 
No  dogmas  dread  shall  fill  his  head, 

Diverting  him  from  God. 
Far  better  that  the  lad  were  dead, 

And  laid  beneath  the  sod. 

The  Nonconformist. 
Dear  Son  of  God,  baptised  by  John, 

Oh  give  us  of  thy  might  ; 
The  war  we  are  engaged  upon 

Thou  knowest  to  be  right. 
Smite,    then,   with   fear  the  priests  of 
Rome 

That  English  prelates  be, 
And  spare  the  schools  to  be  the  home 

Of  Nonconformity. 

The  Boy. 
I'm  learning  lessons  all  the  time, 

And  smiling  at  the  fight ; 
The  spectacle  is  most  sublime — 

1  wonder  who  is  right. 
And  father  says  the  only  way 

To  stop  the  holy  split. 
Is  just  to  stop  the  parson's  pay. 

And  tell  them  all  to  quit. 

Ernest  Pack. 
—  Agnostic  Journal. 


A  CO-EDUCATION  PITFALL. 

New  Haven,  Con,,  July  lo. — Capt. 
Smoke,  in  charge  of  the  military  tactics 
at  the  Yale  summer  school,  during  a 
lecture  on  the  rudiments  of  the  drill 
branched  to  the  subject  of  "  standing 


at  attention."  The  room  was  nearly 
full  of  girls,  for  this  seems  to  have  be- 
come a  popular  course  with  the  young 
women.  Only  a  handful  of  men  were 
present.  The  captain  has  explained 
these  things  to  his  Yale  boys  so  often 
that  now  he  repeats  them  glibly  with- 
out thinking  of  what  he's  saying. 

"  In  standing  at  attention,"  said  he, 
quoting  the  words  of  the  manual,  "let 
the  arms  and  hands  hang  naturally  by 
the  sides,  with  the  little  finger  opposite 
the  seams  of  the  trousers." 

Tittering  caused  Capt.  Smoke  to 
remember  and  blush. 


ALAS  !   POOR  INFANTS. 

He  was  a  very  young  clergyman, 
and  on  this,  his  first  appointment,  he 
showed  evident  nervousness.  The  story 
is  vouched  for  by  Bishop  Tuitle,  whose 
stories  are,  of  course,  famous.  After 
reading  the  service,  the  young  clergy- 
man faltered  the  following  announce- 
ment :  "Services  will  be  held  at  ten 
a.m.  next  Sunday  at  the  north  end, 
and  in  the  afternoon  at  the  south  end 
at  half-past  three.  Infants  will  be  bap- 
tised at  both  ends." 

Infants,  however,  should  not  be  bap 
tised  at  both  ends,  but  only  at  the 
most  stupid  end. 


The  following  comes  from  a  small 
village  a  few  miles  from  Leicester. 
The  diocesan  inspector  was  examin- 
ing the  children  in  the  elementary 
school  and,  annoyed  at  the  "  block- 
headedness"  of  one  son  of  the  soil, 
spoke  very  sharply  to  the  boy,  who  was 
"  bringing  discredit  upon  the  school, 
his  companions  and  himself."  Having 
exhausted  the  whole  of  his  righteous 
indignation,  he  re-entered  upon  his 
examination  and  asked  :  "  If  our  Lord 
were  to  come  on  earth  now,  what  would 
you  ask  him  to  do  ?"  With  startling 
promptitude  the  dullard  raised  his  hand 
and  when  appealed  to  replied  :  "  To 
cast  the  devil  out  of  you,  sir." 


SEC  ULAK  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  H.  ELLIS,  Bus.  M^r. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  15.  TORONTO,  AUG.  26,    1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

IRo  ©ivine  Sanction  IReebeb^ 

:o: 

When  we  are  in  earnest  about  the  right  we  need  no  incitement 
or  support  from  above  ;  we  need  no  Christian  rule  of  political 
right  ;  we  need  only  one  which  is  rational,  just,  human.  The 
right,  the  true,  the  good,  has  always  its  ground  of  sacredness 
in  itself,  in  its  quality.  Where  men  are  in  earnest  about 
ethics,  they  have  in  themselves  the  validity  of  a  divine  power. 
— Feuerbach. 

EDITORIAL   NOTES^ 

The  decision  of  the  Privy  Council  on  the  appeal 
THE  LORD'S  DAY  from  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
ALLIANCE  AND  Canada  on  the   Sunday  question  confirms  that 

SUNDAY  judgment,  and  decides  finally  that  the  matter  of 

LEGISLATION.  Sunday  legislation  is  strictly  within  the  power 

of  the  Dominion  Parliament  and  beyond  that 
of  the  Provincial  Legislatures.  No  doubt  the  Alliance  wasps  will  con- 
tinue their  attempts  to  worry  all  persons  who  try  to  enjoy  the  weekly 
holiday  in  a  manner  both  rational  and  satisfactory  to  themselves  ;  but 
it  is  evident  that,  gradually,  common  sense  ideas  are  making  progress, 
and  that,  surely  if  slowly,  Sunday  is  becoming  recognized  as  a  day  of 
social  enjoyment  and  recreation. 

In  spite  of  the  very  clear  decision  given  by  the  Privy  Council  Com- 
mittee, the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  through  its  secretary.  Rev.  Shearer, 
asserts  that  it  will  continue  its  efforts  to  force  the  Provincial  Legisla- 
tures to  set  that  decision  at  defiance ;  but  it  is  certain  that  both  these 
Legislatures  and  the  Dominion  Government  would  be  only  too  glad  to 
be  rid  of  a  troublesome  and  difficult  question — difficult,  because  a  few 


410  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


blatant  and  pseudo-Puritanical  Sabbatarians  control  the  votes  of  many 
who  would  gladly  see  a  more  liberal  and  rational  policy  adopted. 

The  folly  and  inconsistency  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance's  attempts  to 
re-introduce  a  Puritanical  Sunday  observance  law,  are  well  illustrated 
by  Mr.  Shearer's  remarks.  He  asserts  that  the  Alliance  is  "  asking 
something  that  is  broad  and  reasonable — not  Puritanical  legislation." 
Of  course.  What  else  would  a  preacher  say  ?  From  a  tyrant's  point  of 
view,  what  would  not  be  a  reasonable  policy  ?  It  is  broad — because  it 
would  prevent  everybody  but  preachers  and  their  assistants  from  enjoy- 
ing Sunday  in  a  way  to  suit  themselves.  It  is  reasonable — because  it 
fits  the  ideas  of  Rev.  Shearer  and  those  who  pay  him  for  his  work. 

Mr.  Shearer  says  that  "  the  laws  the  Alliance 
SUNDAY  OBSERV-  wants  do  not  mean  compulsory  observance  of  the 
ANCE  NOT  TO  BE  Lord's  day,  or  fixed  rules  of  conduct ;  but  are 
COMPULSORY  !  for  the  protection  of  the  right  of  the  whole  com- 

munity and  of  each  individual  to  a  day  of  rest." 
But  what  are  laws  for  if  not  to  enforce  these  things  ?  What  does  the 
Alliance  want  laws  for  at  all,  if  not  to  compel  people  to  spend  Sunday 
in  the  way  the  Alliance  professes  to  think  is  right  ? 

Without  the  obsolete  laws  the  Alliance  rakes  up  wherewith  to  harrass 
liberal-minded  citizens,  every  man  has  the  right  to  enjoy  Sunday  in  the 
manner  which  he  considers  best,  so  long  as  he  does  not  interfere  with 
the  equal  rights  of  others. 

Laws  are  not  needed  to  give  liberties  to  men  ;  they  are  enacted  in 
almost  every  instance  to  restrict  liberty,  in  the  interest  of  some  class  or 
some  monopoly.  The  action  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance  is  distinctively 
intended  to  deprive  men  of  their  free  enjoyment  of  Sunday,  and  so  to 
force  them  to  observe  the  day  in  a  manner  conformable  to  the  religious 
views  and  conducive  to  the  financial  interest  of  the  preachers. 

In  point  of  fact,  Mr.  Shearer  and  his  friends  have  decided  that  it  is 
"  sacrilege  "  to  do  anything  excejjt  go  to  church  and  listen  to  a  preacher 
on  Sunday,  and  their  manifest  object  is  to  prevent  any  person  enjoying 
the  day  of  rest  and  recreation  except  in  this  way.  They  endeavor  to 
force  the  Provincial  Governments  to  legislate  on  the  subject,  because 
they  can  bring  their  petty  sectarian  powers  to  bear  with  more  effect  on 
the  Provincial  than  on  the  Dominion  authorities. 

We  could  wish  that  the  Rationalists  of  Canada  would  make  a  more 
pronounced  stand  against  this  pettifogging  Alliance.     If  they  were  to  do 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  411 

so,  the  signs  are  tliat  their  efforts  would  meet  with  a  sympathetic  re- 
sponse from  a  large  majority  of  the  people.  For  nothing  is  clearer  than 
that  crowds  of  people  are  always  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  every  new- 
opportunity  of  innocent  Sunday  recreation,  whether  by  steamboat,  rail- 
road, or  other  means  ;  and  the  aim  of  the  Alliance  is  to  stem  this  rising 
tide  in  favor  of  rational  Sunday  enjoyment. 

A  good  example  of  the  vindictive  and  reckless  methods  of  the  Lord's 
Day  Alliance  occurred  at  Cornwall,  Ont.,  on  Tuesday,  August  1.  Mr. 
Bronson,  a  farmer,  was  charged  by  Mr.  Milligan,  acting  for  the  Alliance, 
before  Magistrate  C.  Davis,  with  desecrating  Sunday  by  building  a  fence 
and  hauling  in  and  unloading  hay  on  that  day.  Mr.  Smith,  for  the 
accused,  contended  that  the  Lord's  Day  Act  of  the  Consolidated  Statutes 
of  Canada  did  not  include  farmers  in  the  class  of  persons  prohibited 
from  laboring  on  Sunday,  and  that  the  Privy  Council  had  declared  the 
Ontario  Act  to  be  vltra  vires.  The  magistrate  agreed  with  this  view  and 
refused  to  convict.  Then  the  Alliance  man  admitted  that  this  was  a 
correct  view  of  the  law,  and  withdrew  the  case. 

To  show  the  utterly  unjustifiable  character  of  this  prosecution,  it  may 
be  said  that  all  Mr.  Bronson 's  offence  consisted  in  repairing  a  gate — 
described  by  the  Alliance  as  "  building  a  fence  "  ! — and  unloading  one 
waggon-load  of  hay  so  that  another  loaded  waggon  might  be  taken  under 
cover  to  save  the  hay  from  injury  by  rain  ! 

Some  time  ago,  a  Mr.  Patterson,  who  acts  as  solicitor  for  the  Alliance 
in  Toronto,  stated  that  the  Alliance  did  not  prosecute  offenders,  but  that 
it  simply  gave  information  to  the  ofi&cers  of  the  law  and  left  them  to 
enforce  it.  Since  then,  several  cases  have  occurred  that  clearly  prove 
Mr.  Patterson's  statement  to  be  a  barefaced  falsehood.  Mr.  Milligan 
acted  for  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance. 

We  have  not  seen  a  financial  statement  of  the  Alliance  for  some  years, 
but  the  last  one  we  saw  showed  that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  collected 
funds  had  been  paid  in  solicitors'  fees  and  to  a  solicitor  who  acted  as  the 
secretary  and  prosecutor.  Mr.  Patterson,  in  a  letter  to  the  Toronto 
Mailj  the  other  day  repeated  the  statement  that  the  Alliance  did  not  pay 
solicitors'  fees,  but  it  will  certainly  be  a  strange  development  of  the  legal 
business  if  we  find  even  professedly  Christian  lawyers  working  without 
demanding  pay. 

Certain  it  is,  that  of  recent  years  the  Alliance  has  bulldozed  the  On- 
tario Government  into  assuming  financial  responsibility  for  the  appeals 
made  by  the  Alliance  against  judicial  decisions;  and  the  present  jaunt 


412  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

to  England  of  about  a  dozen  Canadian  lawyers  on  this  useless  business 
will  cost  Ontario  people  some  thousands  of  dollars.  Mr.  McPherson, 
the  Alliance  representative  on  this  picnic,  was  the  cause  of  a  sarcastic 
remark  by  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council.  He  was  refused  a  hearing, 
as  he  had  no  standing  in  the  appeal,  but  objected  that  the  Canadian 
Supreme  Court  had  listened  to  him.  "  The  Supreme  Court  can  make 
rules  for  itself,"  was  his  answer,  '*  but  it  cannot  make  rules  for  this 
court."     And  Mr.  McPherson  was  snuffed  out. 

The  recently-issued  circular  to  the  clergy  of  the 
PROGRESS  IN  Anglican   church,   asking   for   an  expression  of 

THE  ANGLICAN  their  sympathetic   opinion  as  to  the  conclusions 

CHURCH.  of  modern  Biblical  criticism,  is  an  unmistakable 

sign  of  intellectual  progress  in  the  church,  and 
has  caused  considerable  disturbance  in  the  clerical  ranks,  and  we  need 
not  wonder  that  the  Archbishop  of  Montreal  and  his  Coadjutor  Bishop 
should  think  it  advisable  to  issue  a  protest,  which  no  doubt  expresses 
the  opinions — real  or  professional — of  a  large  majority  of  the  men  who 
get  their  living  by  preaching. 

After  reciting  the  duty  of  church  preachers  to  expound  "  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  " — which,  we  are  informed,  "  is  not  divinely  brought  together 
in  the  form  of  a  cut-and-dried  Confession  of  Faith,  but  is  interwoven 
with  the  narrative  of  the  New  Testament,  the  doctrine  consecrating  the 
narrative,  and  the  narrative  illuminating  the  doctrine  !  " — the  Arch- 
bishop and  his  assistant  say  : 

"  We  desire,  then,  definitely  and  distinctly  to  repudiate  the  suggestion 
made  to  you  in  such  document  as  strongly  as  we  are  sure  your  own 
Christian  manhood  has  led  you  to  do,  that  you  should  cease  to  '  build  the 
faith  of  souls  primjirily  upon  details  of  New  Testament  narrative,  the 
historical  validity  of  which  must  ultimately  be  determined  in  a  court  of 
trained  research,  although  many  of  us  may  cling  devotedly  to  the  tradi- 
tional details  in  question  ' — in  other  words,  that  you  should  hold  back 
from  preaching  the  truth  as  you  conscientiously  hold  it  until  some  '  court 
of  trained  research,'  which  does  not  at  present  exist,  permits  you — the 
ordained  teachers  of  Christ — to  do  so,  in  the  light  of  the  decisions  such 
court  may  arrive  at. 

"  The  danger  of  this  suggestion,  as  far  as  congregations  are  concerned, 
is  to  our  minds  saddening  in  the  extreme,  and  only  shows  how  men, 
otherwise  honorable,  can  be  blinded  to  the  demands  of  honor  in  connec- 
tion with  matters  in  which  they  are  deeply  interested.  If  the  gentlemen 
who  have  signed  this  document  cannot  build  up  the  faith  of  their  people 


I 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  413 

on  the  details  of  New  Testament  narrative,  there  is  a  widely  open  door 
througli  which  they  can  pass  and  save  their  honor,  which  they  certainly 
cannot  do — in  the  light  of  their  ordination  vows — by  remaining  in  the 
Church  of  England." 

The  writers  of  these  sentences  do  not  seem  to  understand  that  they 
are  simply  asking  their  fellow  preachers  to  ignore  every  claim  they  ought 
to  be  able  to  make,  above  all  else,  of  being  apostles  of  truth — not  of  a 
mere  theological  mystery.  To  ask  men  not  to  follow  the  investigations 
of  scholars  is  simply  to  ask  them  not  to  exercise  their  own  reason,  but 
to  remain  the  blind  priests  of  an  ancient  superstition. 

It  is  amusing  to  note  the  assumption  both  of 
PRIESTLY  AS-  superior  knowledge  and  of   superior  honor  on 

SUMPTION  OF  the  part  of  these  two  very  commonplace  priests, 

HONOR  AND  Bond  and  Carmichael.     This  is  necessarily  part 

HONESTY.  of  the  outfit  of  men  who  have  fallen  into  a  soft 

spot  in  the  church.  Naturally,  men  are  chosen 
for  bishops  because  of  their  superior  knowledge  and  ability,  not  through 
wire-pulling,  or  party  influence,  or  personal  favoritism.  That  is  why 
the  words  of  a  bishop  are  all  so  full  of  wisdom.  The  bishops'  speeches 
should  be  collected  and  printed  ;  they  might  be  accepted  as  a  new  Bible 
. — by  those  who  pin  their  faith  on  episcopacy. 

These  two  men.  Bond  and  Carmichael,  no  doubt  consider  themselves 
competent  to  set  Canon  Davidson  or  Prof.  Delitzsche  right  as  to  matters 
of  archaeological  investigation  or  philosophical  criticism  ;  just  as  our  own 
Dr.  Langtry  thinks  himself  competent  to  upset  Darwin,  Spencer,  and 
Haeckel.  If  there  is  any  meaning  in  their  protest,  it  is  that  men  in 
the  church  who  continue  to  preach  the  doctrines  current  when  they 
took  orders,  and  refuse  to  listen  to  discussions  of  new  discoveries  or 
suggestions  of  new  theories,  are  more  honest  and  honorable  than  those 
who,  being  intelligent  and  truthful,  permit  their  ideas  of  truth  to  be 
modified  by  the  new  facts  that  are  constantly  being  brought  to  light. 

In  our  view,  "  honor  "  and  '*  honesty  "  are  terms  the  reverse  of  those 
suitable  to  describe  the  conduct  of  men  who  either  shut  their  eyes  to 
new  truths  or  ignore  them,  and  preach  as  if  they  had  never  been  dis- 
covered. The  two  prelates  ignore  the  plain  fact  that  falsehood  is  involved 
just  as  much  in  ignoring  or  suppressing  the  truth  as  in  denying  it.  And 
we  venture  to  suggest  that  the  demands  of  honor  are  fully  as  clearly 
recognized  by  the  Higher  Critics,  who  are  endeavoring  to  find  truth  in  a 


414  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


field  of  unending  dispute,  as  by  those  who  accept  comfortable  pay  for 
preaching  stereotyped  doctrines  and  shutting  their  eyes  to  inevitable 
changes. 

To  recommend  the  Higher  Critics  to  leave  the  church,  in  view  of  the 
admitted  latitude  permitted  in  "  preaching  the  Gospel,"  only  shows  the 
tyrannical  spirit  of  these  humble  followers  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus. 
In  other  days,  such  men  sent  heretics  to  the  stake  and  the  rack. 

In  an  open  letter  to  Dr.  Stubbs,  Dean  of  Ely,  one 
INSULTING  THE  of  the  signers  of  the  heretical  circular,  and  one 
ARCHBISHOP'S  of  the  cleverest  churchmen  in  England,  the  two 

CHAPLAINS.  chaplains  of    the  Archbishop — (what  does    the 

Archbishop  need  with  two  chaplains  ?  Does  his 
soul  need  curing  ?) — say  they  were  insulted  by  the  request  for  their  sig- 
natures to  the  circular,  and  accuse  Dr.  Stubbs  of  duplicity  and  other 
moral  lapses.  They  say  they  wonder  "  how  any  body  of  men  calling 
themselves  Christian  gentlemen  and  members  of  the  Church  of  England 
could  have  combined  to  write  it." 

Perhaps  the  chaplains  are  wrong  in  accusing  Dr.  Stubbs  and  his  co- 
adjutors of  having  called  themselves  "  Christian  gentlemen."  We  do 
not  know,  of  course.  But  they  evidently  think  that,  because  **  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints  "  has  been  preached  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years,  it  is  morally  wrong  to  entertain  the  idea  that  "  a  court  of  trained 
research — i.e.,  a  court  of  modern  critics,"  should  "  decide  what  Christ 
was,  what  he  really  said  and  taught  and  did,  and  what  the  apostles 
accepted  and  preached  as  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 

In  other  words,  because  a  story  is  two  thousand  years  old,  it  is  wicked 
and  ungentlemanly  to  question  its  truth  !  Nor  must  we  inquire  into  its 
origin  or  its  history,  or  do  anything  that  might  unsettle  our  faith. 

"  Prove  all  things  ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good,"  is  a  Bible  injunc- 
tion which  these  men  interpret  as  "  Prove  nothing,  but  hold  fast  to  the 
old  story  that  pays." 

Why  do  not  these  moss-backs  or  time-servers  insist  on  carrying  out 
the  Mosaic  law  to  the  full  ?  Why  do  they  not  make  some  effort  to  prac- 
tise the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ? 

If  the  modern  church,  with  its  teachings  about  "  Christ,"  its  bishops 
with  their  palaces,  and  its  priests  with  their  parsonages  and  big  salaries 
— imagine  the  Apostle  Paul  with  a  big  salary  ! — has  been  developed  out 
of  the  simple  teachings  of  Jesus,  why  should  there  not  be  some  further 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  415 

development  ?     Is  the  end  of  all  the  evolution  come  when  we  have  got 
the  largest  possible  salary  ? 

In  a  letter  to  the  London  Times,  the  Dean  of 
1,694  CLERGYMEN  Westminster,  Dr.  Furneaux,  whose  name  stands 
SIGNED  THE  first  in   the  list  of  signatures  on  the  disturbing 

DOCUMENT  !  letter,  combats  many  of   the  rash  statements  of 

those  who  have  attacked  both  the  ability  and  the 
honesty  of  the  Higher  Critics.  He  tells  us  that  30,000  copies  of  the 
letter  were  sent  out,  and  that  1,694  clergymen  had  signed  it  up  to  date, 
and  that,  finally,  ''  when,  in  due  time,  it  may  be  estimated  that  the  roll 
of  signatures  is  complete,  the  full  list,  together  with  introduction  and 
particulars,  may  be  published  in  book  form  at  a  small  cost." 

What  the  document  itself,  the  Dean  says,  desires  is  "  merely  that  our 
Fathers  in  God,  when  they  publicly  advise  upon  the  subject,  should  not 
deprecate  thorough  and  reverent  investigation  into  the  New  Testament 
records,  but  should  commend  it  as  a  duty,  an  enlightenment,  and  a  safe- 
guard." Tliere  are,  no  doubt,  varying  degrees  of  intelligence,  honesty, 
and  credulity  in  every  walk  of  life,  but  it  seems  absurd  to  attribute  dis- 
honesty or  duplicity  to  men  who  are  risking  their  livelihood  by  efforts 
to  attain  the  best  and  truest  results  from  modern  scientific  investigation. 
And  such  talk  comes  with  especially  bad  grace  from  men  who  hold  jobs 
with  big  salaries,  and  whose  one  watchword  is,  "  Keep  mum  !  " 

If  the  Anti-Higher  Critics  were  really  honest  and  honorable,  they 
would  welcome  any  test  that  might  be  applied  to  their  alleged  evidences. 
Their  effort  to  shut  off  discussion  and  to  abuse  the  investigators  is  clear 
evidence  to  us  that  they  know  they  are  hypocrites  and  humbugs  and 
their  creeds  a  sham. 

It  is  one  of  the  peculiar  features  of  these  reli- 
THE  BIBLE — OUR  gious  discussions,  that  many  of  the  advocates  of 
FAITH — STANDS  a  progressive  policy  still  profess  to  believe  that, 
SURE  !  no  matter  what  the  result  of  investigation  may 

be,  in  some  way  their  Bible  and  their  Faith  will 
remain  to  them.  We  need  not  pretend  to  think  that  **  spiritual"  beliefs 
will  ever  completely  vanish  from  the  human  mind,  but  it  seems  strange 
to  hear  intelligent  men  imagining  that,  when  the  divine  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  has  been  di8i>elled,  the  dogmas  founded  upon  it  will  remain  as 


416  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

the  basis  of  a  religion.     In  his  letter,  Dean  Furneaux  voices  this  idea 
when  he  asserts  that — 

"  Though  no  man,  looking  a  generation  or  two  ahead,  can  foresee  the 
results  of  criticism,  or  can  say  to  the  critical  movement,  '  Thus  far  shalt 
thou  go,  and  no  farther ! '  still  the  declaration  holds  that  the  Faith  of 
the  Church  will  remain  strengthened  and  secure." 

This  was  the  decision  of  the  Rev.  John  Brown,  "B.A.,  B.D.,  ex-chair- 
man of  the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales,  and  chairman 
of  the  Colonial  Missionary  Society  "  : 

"  It  was  feared  by  some  that  theories  now  being  advanced  by  scientists 
and  Bible  critics  tend  to  discredit  the  Christian  religion  ;  but  the  Bible 
stands  sure.  Amid  every  change,  the  hope  of  mankind  rests  upon  the 
great  personality  of  Jesus." 

Mr.  Brown,  like  Dean  Furneaux,  is  assured  that,  spite  of  all  criticism, 
the  Bible — at  all  events,  the  New  Testament — stands  sure.  The  ''  great 
personality  of  Jesus  "  is  his  stand-by,  while  Dean  Furneaux's  is  '*  the 
Faith  of  the  Church,"  whatever  that  may  be. 

These  varied  expressions  prove  what  really  small  grounds  our  orthodox 
preachers  have  for  fear  that  the  Higher  Critics  may  injure  their  "  graft." 
The  ''  Faith  of  the  Church,"  whether  it  be  faith  in  "  Jesus  and  his  love," 
or  in  transubstantiation  or  consubstantiation,  in  apostolic  succession  or 
infant  damnation,  will  be  very  little  disturbed  by  the  work  of  learned  or 
intellectual  men,  Fetichism  is  simply  the  natural  accompaniment  of 
ignorance  and  its  concomitant  credulity,  and  the  preachers  need  have 
little  fear  that  the  results  of  modern  Biblical  criticism  will  at  all  rapidly 
be  disseminated  among  the  mass  of  pious  Christians.  Even  the  bulk  of 
our  school  teachers  are  still  Bible  worshippers. 

The  State  Board  of  Control  of  Charitable  Insti- 
RELIGION  AND  tutions  of  Kansas  has   just   issued   an    official 

INSANITY.  report,  in   which   the  close  connection  between 

religion  and  insanity  is  very  conclusively  shown. 
There  have  been  a  long  series  of  revivals  in  the  State  during  the  past 
year,  and  in  every  case  a  wave  of  insanity  has  followed  the  religious 
excitement.     Mr.  H.  C.  Bowman,  a  member  of  the  Board,  says  : 

"  Insanity  seems  to  have  followed  the  religious  revivals  like  an  epi- 
demic. Reno  county,  where  there  was  a  protracted  revival  early  last 
year,  has  sent  32  insane  persons  to  the  State  asylum,  Topeka,  in  twelve 
months.     I  find  this  epidemic  of  insanity  has  followed  the  revivals  which 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  417 

were   held   in    Topeka,  Arkansas   City,  Winfield,   Wichita,    and   other 
places." 

Mr.  Bowman's  observations  are  corroborated  by  those  of  every  one 
who  has  watched  the  progress  of  the  so-called  "revivals."  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  mental  transformation  termed  "  conversion  "  is 
closely  akin  to  lunacy  ;  and  whether  the  predisposing  cause  be  a  radi- 
cally weak  intellect,  sheer  ignorance  and  lack  of  mental  training,  or  the 
hypnotic  power  of  the  revivalist  faker,  the  last-named  certainly  appears 
to  be  the  cause  immediately  responsible  for  most  of  the  lunacy.  In  the 
absence  of  the  howling  revivalist  the  lunacy  might  remain  undeveloped, 
like  a  charge  of  dynamite  awaiting  the  firing  of  the  fuse. 

When  the  deacons  of  a  church  engage  a  revivalist  to  attract  their 
people  to  the  road  4;o  heaven,  they  are,  in  fact,  only  employing  him  to 
drive  them  to  the  lunatic  asylum. 

Dr.  Bedford  Pierce,  medical  superintendent  of 
MAREIAGE  AND  the  Retreat,  York,  England,  in  giving  evidence 
THE  INSANE.  before  a  Royal  Commission  on  Insanity,  made  a 

suggestion  we  have  several  times  advocated.  He 
thinks  the  recklessness  of  all  classes  in  respect  to  marriage  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  production  of  the  unlit,  and  suggests  that,  at  any 
rate,  all  who  are  mentally  deficient  should  be  prevented  from  marrying. 

"  If  penalties  were  imposed  upon  people  who  married  and  had  failed 
to  disclose  the  fact  of  actual  detention  as  persons  of  unsound  mind  prior 
to  marriage,  it  would  help  to  waken  public  opinion,  and  lead  to  a  gene- 
ral recognition  of  the  fact  that  marriage  of  those  who  had  been  insane 
might  bring  much  suftering  to  future  children  and  be  rightly  termed  a 
*  crime  against  posterity.' 

Dr.  Pierce  refers  to  a  widely-spread  opinion  that  marriage  tends  to 
prevent  the  recurrence  of  iusanity,  but  says  there  is  little  or  no  evidence 
in  support  of  this  delusive  hope.  What  seems  to  us  to  be  the  proper 
course  to  pursue  is  to  accompany  the  issuance  of  every  marriage  licence 
with  an  investigation  similar  in  purpose  to  that  undertaken  when  a 
policy  of  life  insurance  is  issued,  if  not  so  wide  in  scope  as  the  latter. 

There  would  naturally  be  many  objections  to  such  a  policy,  but  the 
national  welfare  as  well  as  the  interests  of  future  generations  should  be 
of  paramount  importance  in  the  consideration  of  any  such  question. 

But  no  real  injury  would  be  done  by  such  a  requirement.  Cases  of 
complete  recovery  from  insanity  as  well  as  from  other  diseases  are  not 
at  all  rare,  and  a  competent  medical  referee  might  be  depended  upon  to 
do  justice.  Something  certainly  should  be  done  to  stem  the  tide  of 
race-degeneracy  which  seems  to  be  threatening  us. 


418  SECULAR  THOUGHT, 


^be  Soul  of  a  IRation* 

:o: 

{From  the  London  Times.) 

n.  {Concluded). 
This  sinking  of  all  individual  advantage  save  posthumous  honor  in  the  general 
fund  of  the  common  good,  leads  to  the  strange  neglect,  as  it  seems  to  us,  of 
honor  due  to  certain  leaders,  armies,  divisions,  regiments  and  ships  in  the  present 
war.  A  certain  detachment  goes  to  a  certain  place,  fighting  takes  place,  many 
thousand  men  perish  on  both  sides,  the  enemy  is  defeated,  and  the  war  con- 
tinues. But  seldom  indeed  is  a  word  uttered  of  praise  for  living  men  or  of  glory 
for  ships  or  corps  :  the  honor  of  fighting  for  the  general  good  is  enough. 

The  legends  of  Sparta  offer  very  exact  precedents  of  authentic  stories  told  of 
the  fortitude  shown  by  bushis  who  have  approached  most  nearly  to  their  ideal. 
When  Gongoro,  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  was  struck  by  an  arrow  in  the  eye,  he 
continued  the  chase  wi^h  the  shaft  embedded  in  his  head.  At  the  close  of  the 
battle  he  submitted  to  the  removal  of  the  arrow,  but  it  was  so  firmly  fixed  that 
the  fwend  who  removed  it  had  to  lay  Gongoro  on  his  back  and  place  a  foot 
upon  his  head  to  gain  the  necessary  leverage.  When  the  arrow  was  removed, 
Gongoro  sprang  up  and  challenged  his  friend  to  mortal  combat  for  the  indignity 
implied  by  the  manner  in  which  the  shaft  had  been  removed.  In  this  philosophy 
cowardice  is  the  greatest  of  all  crimes,  and  beggars  in  the  streets  make  songs  at 
the  expense  of  any  man  who  survives  disgrace,  even  though  such  disgrace  is 
only  capture  in  fair  fight.  From  this  comes  seppuku  or  harakiri,  the  final  act  of 
self-immolation,  which  the  bushi  or  samurai  is  always  ready  to  commit  whenever 
his  honor  or  that  of  his  master  is  discredited   in  any  way. 

But  it  would  be  the  greatest  of  errors  to  suppose  that  bushido  calls  upon  the 
faithful  for  a  mere  stupid  sacrifice  of  life.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the 
truth.  The  true  ideal  of  the  bushi  was  admirably  expressed  by  Commander 
Yuasa,  when  speaking  to  his  men  before  steaming  into  Port  Arthur  : 

"  Let  every  man  set  aside  all  thought  of  making  a  name  for  himself,  but  let 
us  all  work  together  for  the  attainment  of  our  object.  It  is  a  mistaken  idea  of 
valor  to  court  death  needlessly.  Death  is  not  our  object,  but  success  ;  and  we 
die  in  vain  if  we  do  not  attain  success.  If  I  die,  Lieutenant  Yamamoto  will 
take  the  command,  and  if  he  is  killed  you  will  take  your  orders  from  the  chief 
warrant  officer.  Let  us  keep  at  it  till  the  last  man,  until  we  have  carried  out 
our  mission." 

Can  anything  finer  be  found  in  the  history  of  war  ? 

Bushido  requires  its  disciples  to  live  with  Spartan  simplicity,  and  to  avoid 
every  kind  of  ostentation.  Content,  it  thinks,  is  natural  wealth,  and  luxury 
artificial  poverty.  Such  simplicity  is  almost  universal  in  Japan,  and  it  allows  a 
reverse  of  fortune  to  be  met  with  greater  dignity   by  the  Japanese  than  by  a 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  419 

nation  or  individuals  to  whom  the  term  "  ruined  "  implies  a  mere  monetary 
deficit  and  a  loss  of  material   luxury. 

The  philosophic  and  semi-stoical  basis  of  bushido  has  not  improbably  been 
the  cause  of  certain  misunderstandings  between  Japanese  leaders  and  some 
Anglo-Saxons  at  the  front.  We  can  imagine  a  stoic  to  be  many  things,  but  we 
can  never  picture  him  as  a  man  of  the  world,  even  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
term,  or  as  a  "  hail-fellow-well-met,"  the  "  old  chap  "  of  current  slang.  A  bushi 
is  necessarily  the  exact  reverse  of  these  things  believing  them  all  to  have  a 
substratum  of  hypocrisy  and  deceit.  He  is  reserved,  austere,  polite,  but  distant, 
thinking  that  the  display  of  natural  dignity  best  honors  himself  and  those  with 
whom  he  is  brought  in  contact.  Bushido  may  therefore  be  said  to  embody  the 
ideals  of  knightly  chivalry  and  of  Spartan  simplicity,  and,  further,  to  draw  much 
from  philosophy  and   the  purely  moral  side  of  '*  the  greatest  of  religions." 

Loyalty,  courage,  honesty,  simplicity,  temperance,  chastity,  and  charity  are 
one  and  all  cultivated  by  whosoever  would  become  a  bushi.  When  we  sign  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  a  nation  inspired  by  such  lofty  ideals,  we  know  that  its 
terms  will  be  kept  to  the  last  breath  of  the  ultimate  rag-picker. 

Thirty-seven  years  ago  Japan  was  a  military  empire,  and  the  ruling  class  was 
that  of  the  Samurai.  If  they  consented  to  the  loss  of  many  cherished  rights 
when  the  modern  revival  of  the  nation  began, — and  their  consent  was  in  itself  a 
splendid  practical  illustration  of  bushido,— they  surrendered  nothing  of  their 
tenets,  and,  while  remaining  essentially  a  warrior  caste,  spread  abroad  among  all 
ranks  of  the  people  the  code  of  ethics  which  had  won  for  them  their  distin- 
guished position  in  the  past.  Some  privileges  they  lost,  but  they  took  a  noble 
revenge,  and  set  about  to  level  up  the  nation  to  their  standard,  instead  of  them- 
selves falling  below  it. 

The  principles  of  bushido  have  always  had  an  intellectual  and  literary  basis, 
and  the  claims  of  learning  have  been  held  in  as  great  reverence  by  the  Samurai 
as  feats  of  arms.  That  is  a  very  important  point  to  remember,  since  it  explains, 
as  nothing  else  can,  the  receptivity  of  modern  Japan,  prei)ared  by  long  years  of 
intellectual  activity  to  recognize  good  and  evil — to  adopt  one  and  reject  the 
other.  The  superficial  world  of  the  West  called  the  Japanese  imitative.  That 
was  simply  untrue,  and  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to  spread  abroad  false 
ideas  of  the  national  genius. 

It  was  natural  that,  when  the  Samurai  became  officers  of  a  modernized  army 
and  navy,  they  should  seek  to  incorporate  fresh  recruits  in  their  ranks  from  the 
new  sources  opened  by  universal  service  for  the  career  of  arms.  If  bushido  is 
intellectually  aristocratic,  it  is  politically  and  socially  rather  the  reverse.  Any 
one  can  become  a  bushi  by  conduct  in  peace  and  by  valor  in  war ;  merit  alone 
recruits  and  maintains  its  ranks.  It  is  open  to  the  highest  and  the  lowest  in  the 
land  to  excel,  since  neither  birth  nor  wealth  is  required — only  personal  worth 
and  conduct. 


420         '  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


The  Government,  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  experienced  the  need  for  a 
moral  basis  for  its  system  of  education,  and  found  in  bushido  and  the  tenets  of 
the  Samurai  a  code  apphcable  to  all  classes  of  the  people.  None  of  the  existing 
creeds  was  likely  to  appeal  to  the  masses,  since  allegiance  was  divided  between 
them,  and  a  national  religion  hardly  existed.  A  moral  code  based  on  one  or 
the  other  would  have  provoked  and  encouraged  disunion.  Bushido,  on  the 
contrary,  was  a  code  peculiarly  suited  to  promote  union  of  thought  and  to  serve 
as  a  system  of  State  ethics  which  would  supply  the  moral  side  at  least  of  a  reli- 
gious education.  When  this  decision  was  taken,  the  priesthood  of  the  various 
Eastern  faiths  was  not  held  in  great  or  general  esteem.  It  was  ignorant  of 
science  and  philosophy,  and  did  not  shine  either  in  conduct  or  in  inteliigence. 
The  Samurai  filled  the  void,  and  bushido  offered  itself  as  an  admirable  moral 
training,  interfering  in  no  way  with  any  established  religions,  from  many  of  which, 
indeed,  it  had  drawn  some  of  the  finest  of  its  inspirations.  Thus  the  Samurai 
became  not  only  the  martial  leaders  of  the  people,  but  also  its  instructors  in  the 
ethics  they  had  long  preferred.  Vain,  indeed,  would  have  been  the  material  rise 
of  Japan  to  power  without  the  fortifying  strength  of  this  ancient  and  compen- 
dious philosophy. 

The  bushi  himself  is  formed  among  the  old  families  of  Samurai,  almost  from 
the  cradle,  by  his  mother  as  well  as  by  his  father,  for  the  share  taken  by  the 
women  of  Japan  in  the  conservation  of  the  ancient  tenets  of  bushido  has  been 
greatly  under-estimated.  Their  honesty,  their  aptitudes,  and  their  character 
have  been  almost  universally  misconceived. 

In  the  schools,  bushido  is  now  regularly  taught,  while  all  branches  of  the 
armed  forces,  including  cadet  corps,  may  almost  be  considered  the  high  schools 
of  its  learning.  When  a  number  of  officers  of  any  standing  or  rank  are  gathered 
together,  it  is  nine  chances  in  ten  that  the  doctrine  of  bushido  is  the  subject  of 
conversation,  since  the  precepts  and  practices  of  this  philosophy  exercise  a  pas- 
sionate attraction  upon  those  who  study  and  endeavor  to  live  in  them. 

When  the  modern  revival  began  in  Japan,  and  men  began  to  wander  over  the 
world  in  pursuit  of  science,  it  was  feared  that  bushido  would  lose  its  influence, 
and  that  materialism  would  dominate,  owing  to  the  multiplicity  of  things  that 
had  to  be  learnt.  So  firmly,  however,  was  it  imbedded  in  the  history  of  the 
people,  and  so  energetic  were  those  who  held  aloft  its  banners,  that  it  has  not 
been  overborne,  but  has  rather  prospered  with  every  material  advance  of  the 
country.  It  has,  in  the  present  war,  expressed  its  full  significance  and  attained 
to  the  maturity  of  its  fame.  Ill-starred  indeed  was  Russia  to  have  chosen  a 
moment  when  upon  the  material  foundation  of  modern  science  was  superim- 
posed the  moral  structure  of  an  older  age  ! 

The  corps  of  officers  in  particular  acts  as  a  great  rallying  centre  for  this  school 
of  philosophy,  and  is  always  on  the  watch  to  promote  and  extend  philosophy 
and  literary  culture.     Thus,  even  such  apparently  trivial  questions  as  to  whether 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  421 


dancing  and  music  should  be  permitted  for  young  officers  aroused  anxious 
debates.  It  was  decided  that  dancing  was  to  be  deprecated,  and  that  only  cer- 
tain branches  and  forms  of  music  of  a  martial  and  encouraging  character  should 
be  permitted.  A  Bayreuth  festival  would  be  considered  a  disease.  All  mourn- 
ful, depressing,  or  debilitating  strains  were  absolutely  banned. 

Bushido  provides  a  moral  basis  for  education  of  a  sufficiently  broad  character 
to  adopt  and  incorporate  all  the  greatest  teachi.igs  of  Christianity,  while  avoiding 
the  internecine  strife  of  sects  and  factions,  which  would  be  likely  to  follow  the 
acceptance  of  it  as  a  State  religion.  The  ideal  of  bushido  is  high.  As  a  system 
of  national  ethics  it  is  politically  admirable,  since  it  promotes  discipline  and 
union,  sinks  the  union  in  the  State,  and  affords  no  room,  or  no  apparent  room^ 
for  sectarianism  or  dissent.  It  has  no  forms  and  no  ritua),  and  is  broadly  based 
on  vital  forces  and  eternal  truths. 

We  are  not,  indeed,  asked  to  believe  that  forty-six  millions  of  people  practise 
the  principles  of  bushido  in  all  their  full  significance.  If  Japan  should  attain  to 
such  an  ideal  she  could  conquer  not  only  Russia,  but  the  world.  Better  far 
would  it  be  for  Japan  that  she  should  lose  her  material  attributes  of  power  than 
this  wonderful  moral  force  that  creates,  sustains,  and  renews  it.  The  Japanese 
feel,  in  the  words  of  one  of  their  writers,  that  "  we  have  been  raised  by  Provi- 
dence to  do  a  work  in  the  world,  and  that  work  we  must  do  humbly  and  faith- 
fully, as  opportunity  comes  to  us.  Our  work,  we  take  it,  is  this  :  to  battle  for 
the  right  and  to  uphold  the  good  ;  and  to  help  to  make  the  world  fair  and  clean, 
so  that  none  may  ever  have  cause  to  regret  that  Japan  has  at  last  taken  her 
rightful  place  among  the  nations  of  the  world." 

Whatever  views,  we  may  entertain  as  to  bushido,  there  can  be  no  possible 
doubt  that  its  teachings  supply  the  moral  forces  which  we  see  to-day  in  action. 
They  explain  rr.uch  and  help  us  to  understand  the  spirit  with  which  the  war  is 
waged  by  Japan. 

How  far  they  will  maintain  their  hold  upon  the  people  in  the  flood-tide  of 
victory,  or  under  the  ebb  of  defeat,  it  will  be  for  the  future  lo  tell  us.  But  it  is 
certain  that,  if  the  masses  of  the  people  prove  themselves  worthy  of  these  high 
ideals  during  a  long  and  wearing  struggle,  they  will  raise  bushido  to  a  height 
that  will  astonish  even  themselves,  and  make  its  doctrines  worthy  not  merely  of 
this  passing  notice  in  an  English  journal,  but  of  searching  inquiry  and  conside- 
ration by  the  best  of  our  Western  intellects. 


The  soul  immortal  !     Why,  then,  doth  the  mind 
Complain  of  death  ?     Why  not  rejoice  to  find 
Herself  let  loose,  and  leave  this  clay  behind, 
As  snakes,  whene'er  the  circling  year  returns, 
Rejoice  to  cast  their  skins,  or  deer  their  horns  ? 

— Lucretius  {ist  cent.  B.C.). 


422  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


He  tbe  ifrcetbousbt  lpropagan&a  practical  ? 


BY    GEORGE     ALLEN    WHITE. 


IV.   f  conclusion  J. 
Speaking  of  the  church,  John  Morley  says  in  his  "  Miscellanies  "  : 

'^  The  great  ship  of  your  church,  once  so  stout  and  fair,  and  laden  with  good 
destinies,  is  become  a  skeleton  ship ;  it  is  a  phantom  hulk,  with  warped  planks 
and  sere  canvas,  and  you  who  work  it  are  no  more  than  the  ghosts  of  dead  men, 
and  at  the  hour  when  you  seem  to  have  reached  the  bay,  down  your  ship  will 
sink  like  lead  or  like  stone,  to  the  deepest  bottom." 

And  yet  happiness  is  on  the  increase.  Let  us  go  to  these  countries  where  the 
populace  is  still  sunk  in  the  retrogressive  literalism  of  Christianity,  and  where 
religious  rites  demand  much  more  time  than  they  do  in  America.  What  shall 
we  see?  VVill  it  be  greater  happiness  as  faith  in  impossibilities  is  found  to  rest 
on  firmer  imaginative  bases?     No.     Exactly  the  opposite. 

And  how  shall  we  find  it  in  our  own  country  ?  Is  it  not  unquestionable  that 
those  people  upon  whom  we  can  count  as  sure  to  be  in  the  pew  on  Sunday 
morning  are  by  no  means  those  one  would  select  as  models  for  paintings  imaging 
forth  the  spirit  of  Happiness?  Do  not  the  non-communicants,  as  a  rule,  exhibit 
healthier  and  happier  countenances  than  the  communicants  ?  And  even  among 
the  latter,  is  it  not  the  fact  that,  whenever  we  encounter  a  smiling,  exuberant, 
sparkling  face,  it  is  invariably  of  one  who  more  or  less  openly  scouts  the  creeds, 
and  who,  slighting  the  necessity  of  faith  as  a  preliminary  to  salvation,  lays  stress 
upon  right  living  and  honest  purpose  ? 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  says  (Essay   14)  : 

*'  What  cheer  can  the  religious  sentiment  yield,  when  that  is  suspected  to  be 
secretly  dependent  on  the  season  of  the  year  and  the  state  of  the  blood  ?  I 
knew  a  witty  physician  who  found  theology  in  the  biliary  duct,  and  used  to 
afiSrm  that  if  there  was  disease  in  the  liver  the  man  became  a  Calvinist,  and  if 
that  organ  was  sound,  he  became  a  Unitarian." 

To  the  philosophical  mind  it  seems  incredible  that  a  believer  in  the  tenets  of 
Christianity  should  even  imagine  himself  to  be  happy  ;  and,  in  truth,  whatever 
happiness  is  vouchsafed  the  dogmatic  Christian  simply  furnishes  an  illustration 
of  the  power  of  men  to  accustom  themselves  to  the  least  attractive  environ- 
ments with  such  success,  that  eventually  Habit  is  mistaken  for  Happiness. 

How  can  a  moral  person  enjoy  life  while  actually  convinced  that  the  majority 
of  the  earth's  inhabitants  are  doomed  eternally,  if  not  to  that  degree  of  pain 
'Which  might  be  denominated  torment,  at  any  rate  to  poignant  remorse  and  a 
persistent  suffering  experienced  from  the  realization  of  separation  from  God  and 
friends  ? 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  423 

How  can  a  moral  person  enjoy  this  life  when  he  knows  that  countless  billions 
of  those  who  have  gone  before  are  suffering  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty  ? 

How  can  the  Christian  be  happy  who,  despite  his  publicly  professed  convic- 
tion of  going  to  the  realms  of  the  redeemed  at  death,  nevertheless  often  reviews 
in  private  his  admittedly  numerous  immoral  acts,  and  wonders  continually 
whether  in  reality  his  future  in  the  skies  will  be  all  roses  and  sunshine  ? 

How  can  that  man  make  the  most  of  the  present  life  whose  eyes  are  fixed 
always  on  the  hereafter ;  who  regards  his  own  body  and  our  whole  world  as  only 
temporary  prison-houses,  from  which  an  escape  is  to  be  effected  through  the 
grave  ?     Prudentius  says  : 

*'  We  through  this  maze  of  life  our  Lord  obey 
Whose  Light  and  Grace  unerring  lead  the  way. 
By  Hope  and  Faith  secure  of  future  bliss, 
Gladly  the  joys  of  present  life  we  miss  ; 
For  baffled  mortals  still  attempt  in  vain 
Present  and  future  bliss  at  once  to  gain." 

CLOSING    WORDS. 

As  to  what  shall  be  put  "  in  place  "  of  Christianity — nothing,  necessarily.  The 
passing  of  Feudalism,  of  Slavery,  of  Santa  Claus,  of  Sabbath  edicts,  and  other 
sumptuary  legislation,  did  not  call  for  substitutes  of  similar  character.  Feu- 
dalism and  Slavery  were  bad,  and  the  bald  abolition  of  them  was  a  good 
thing.  Santa  Claus  is  well  enough  for  children,  but  grown  folks  have  no  use 
for  him  ;  and  religion  is  and  must  continue  to  be  satisfying  to  people  just  as 
long  as  they  are  in  the  childhood  of  their  racial  evolution.  And  no  longer. 
When  the  average  of  intelligence  is  sufficiently  raised  Christianity  will  slough 
off  from  the  body  politic,  not  only  without  harm,  but  with  much  benefit,  and — 
let  Freethinkers  proselytize  meanwhile  all  they  want  to  to  forward  the  time — 
not  a  moment  sooner.  The  Blue  Laws,  the  existence  of  which  Quincy  Adams 
could  and  did  imagine  to  be  as  requisite  morally  as  the  laws  of  the  universe, 
have  gone,  and  nothing  has  taken  their  place.      Men  were  ready  for  the  change. 

But  let  it  n  >t  be  th'ought  that  the  Freethinker  has  no  plans  for  human 
betterment  when  Christianity  shall  have  taken  its  flight.  He  has  them — more 
and  better  than  anyone  else.  All  the  opponents  of  an  existing  evil  are  not 
called  upon  to  agree  on  an  identical  scheme  of  reform.  The  Abolitionists  of 
the  P'ifties  may  be  assumed  one  and  all  to  have  had  in  view  countless  ways  of 
helping  the  freed  negro  ;  and  it  would  have  been  simply  silly  for  slaveholders 
to  ridicule  those  agitators  merely  because  they  had  no  absolute  agreement  upon 
this  matter. 

All  reforms  are  tentative.  Clear  away  the  rubbish,  and  humanity  will  take 
care  of  itself.  It  would  be  but  an  evidence  of  mediaevalism  and  charlatanry  if 
the  Freethinkers  of  America  had  one  great  panacea  for  national  ills.  The  rank 
and  file  of  one  reform  can  never  hold   their  lines  intact  for  any  other  reform — 


424  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

•never.  In  the  centuries  of  the  future,  all  the  noble  propositions,  present  and 
'to  comCj  will  be  tried  as  by  fire  at  the  bar  of  Reason,  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  will  find  many  of  the  high  iconoclastic  and  reformative  ideas  of  to-day 
incorporated  for  ever  in  the  glorious  destiny  of  the  world. 

Thus  the  propaganda  of  Freethought  is  seen  to  be  eminently  practical.  Chris- 
tendom has  failed  to  understand  its  motives,  and  the  reason  is  that  Christendom 
has  not  wanted  to  understand  them.  She  has  arrogated  to  herself  all  the  purity, 
all  the  good,  and  all  the  splendor  of  achievement,  and  has  been  unable  to  see 
the  sweeter  and  more  comely  ideals  that  have  blossomed  in  the  minds  of  her 
adversaries.  The  attitude  of  Christendom  toward  Freethought  has  been  marked 
by  prejudice,  by  misunderstanding,  by  misrepresentation,  by  calumny,  by  invasive 
outrage.  But  the  hour  will  strike  when  over  the  foul  things  that  have  come  from 
the  arsenals  of  superstition  to  bedaub  the  heroic  figure  of  Freethought  will  be 
writ  the  word  Mistake — Mistake. 

That  Freedom  to  Think  which  during  thousands  of  years  has  been  steadily 
and  grandly  lifting  upward  a  humanity  whose  chief  thought  has  always  been 
to  besmirch  it  and  strike  it  down  ;  which  has  given  us  everything  worth  prizing 
to-day,  everything  that  will  glow  in  blessed  memory  during  millenniums  yet 
to  be  ;  is  rapidly  bringing  nearer  the  time  when  justice  shall  be  done — nearer 
the  fields  of  promise,  nearer  the  amaranthine  shores  that  await  us  just  ahead. 

Framingham,  Mass. 


Zbc  Biebop  an5  tbe  Birtb^lRate, 

:o: 

BY    A.    CORN,    SR.,    STRATFORD. 

:o: 

The  Bishop  of  Huron  recently  delivered,  to  the  Synod  of  Huron,  what  a  portion 
of  the  press  called  a  "powerful  deliverance,"  one  of  the  principal  parts  of  which 
was,  as  usual,  the  decreasing  birth-rate  in  Ontario.  This  is  one  of  his  lordship's 
pet  hobbies,  which  he  rides  to  death  at  every  favorable  opportunity.  In  season 
and  out  of  season  he  is  after  the  married  women  of  Ontario,  who,  he  says,  *'  prac- 
tise preventative  processes,  which  are  always  degrading,  and  sometimes  criminal." 
"  Primarily,"  he  adds,  "  the  fault  lies  with  women  who  refuse  the  responsibilities 
of  motherhood." 

His  lordship  proceeded  to  work  himself  up  into  a  mild  paroxysm  over  the 
matter,  and  he  seemed  to  imagine  that  everybody  who  heard  his  profound  deliv- 
erance, was  in  the  same  condition  of  mind.  This  fad  of  his  has  reached  the 
acute  stage,  but  people  who  have  cut  their  eye  teeth  wink  the  other  eye  whenever 
the  right  reverend  Bishop  trots  out  the  supposed  skeleton  in  Ontario's  closet. 

He  advised  his  hearers,  who  were  mostly  clergymen,  "  that  there  was  no  need 
'HOW  to  prove  by  statistics  the  low  birth-rate  of  Ontario.     It  is  admitted."     That 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  42d 

may  do  all  right  for  those  within  the  pale  of  the  church,  but  an  intelligent  public 
to-day  feels  quite  as  capable  of  drawing  correct  deductions  on  all  matters  affecting 
the  welfare  of  the  State  or  the  future  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  race,  as  any  church 
dignitary. 

Admit,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  there  is  a  decreasing  birth-rate  in 
Ontario  ;  what  manner  of  argument  does  the  Bishop  put  forth  to  prove  his 
assertion?  "  It  is  admitted,"  he  says,  and  that  should  settle  it.  Did  he  place 
any  statistics  in  evidence?  None.  Then,  how  do  we  know  that  there  is  a 
decreasing  birth-rate  in  Ontario?  Simply  because  Bishop  Williams  says  so,  and 
that  the  school  population  of  Ontario  is  36,700  less  than  it  was  fifteen  years  ago. 
What  has  the  school  population  to  do  with  the  birth-rate  ?  Who  would  think  of 
obtaining  a  correct  birth-rate  by  the  school  population  of  the  Province  ? 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  a  much  more  reliable  and  certainly  a  much 
cleverer  authority  than  Bishop  Williams,  says  :  "  The  birth-rate  of  a  population 
is  the  proportion  borne  by  the  number  of  births  in  a  year  to  the  number  of  the 
population.  It  might  seem  that  it  is  easy  to  obtain  this  rate,  but,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  is  practically  impossible  to  do  so." 

The  population  of  Ontario,  as  the  census  reports  show,  has  been  steadily  in- 
creasmg,  while  the  school  population  has  decreased.  This  may  be  attributable 
to  half-a-dozen  causes,  not  one  of  which  could  fairly  be  put  forward  as  evidence 
of  a  decreasing  birth-rate. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  very  large  emigra  ion  of  Ontario  people  with  families 
to  the  west  ;  this  explains  where  some  of  the  school  children  have  gone. 

The  general  concensus  of  opinion  in  this  country  for  years  past  has  been  that 
in  educational  matters  Ontario  has  been  for  years  at  a  standstill.  Education  has 
suffered  through  the  niggirdliness  of  the  local  school  authorities,  who  refuse  to 
pay  such  salaries  as  will  ensure  efficient  teaching. 

The  Public  schools  have  in  fourteen  years  lost  34  805  scholars,  it  is  true, 
while  the  Roman  Catholic  Separate  schools  have  gained  13,614  Yet  the  pro- 
portion of  Protestan  s  to  R  jman  Catholics  has  not  in  that  period  very  materially 
altered. 

It  probably  has  never  occurred  to  Bishop  Williams  that  where  there  is  a  high 
birth-rate  there  is  always  a  correspondingly  high  death-rale.  The  annual  report 
of  Montreal's  birth  and  death-rates  for  last  year  shows  this.  "  The  mean  birth- 
rate for  the  past  sixteen  years  has  been  3910  per  thousand;  that  is,  for  all 
nationalities  ;  while  the  purely  French  Canadian  birth-rate  ran  up  to  no  less  than 
49.95  per  thousand." 

Just  how  satisfactory  these  figures  are  can  be  seen  by  the  following  comparisons. 
The  birth-rate  last  year  in  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  was  31.1  per  thousand  ;  Liver- 
pool, 33.4;  Manchester,  32.1;  Belfast,  32.1;  Glasgow,  31.9;  Dublin,  288; 
St.  Petersburg,  294;  Paris,  20.3;  New  York,  25  4 ;  London,  28.4;  Berlin,  24.4; 
Boston,  26.6;  Ontario,  27. 


426  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

As  will  be  seen,  Montreal  is  a  shining  example  in  the  matter  of  birth-rate  ;  but 
what  of  her  death-rate?  The  mean  annual  death-rate  for  Montreal  for  the  past 
-eighteen  years  was  24.77  P^*"  thousand  of  her  population.  Compare  the  death- 
rate  of  these  cities  :  Chicago,  13  5  per  thousand  ;  Hamilton,  13.9  ;  London, 
13  8  ;  St  Louis,  13.3  ;  Providence,  18.5  ;  Hull,  18.3  ;  New  York,  18.  i  ;  Boston, 
.20  In  addition  to  the  above,  a  table  shows  that  the  death-rate  for  nineteen 
■North  American  cities  averages  21.1  per  thousand,  while  the  death-rate  for 
seventy-five  European  cities  averages  19.7-   Ontario's  death-rate  for  1904  was  19.1. 

If  there  is  a  decreasing  birth-rate  in  Ontario,  it  is  creditable  to  the  intelligence 
-of  the  people,  who  find  greater  trials  and  responsibilities  than  their  parents  met 
with.  Educated  people  nowadays  raise  just  as  many  children  as  they  think  they 
can  properly  clothe  and  educate.  In  this  way  they  have  an  equal  start  in  life 
with  others  and  do  not  become  burdens  upon  the  State.  But  Bishop  Williams 
would  swell  the  birth-rate  and  thus  have  a  further  increase  to  the  lunatic 
asylums  and  jails. 

The  struggle  for  bread  and  supremacy  is  greater  to-day  than  it  ever  was. 
Every  profession  is  overcrowded  and  every  business  overdone.  Crime  is.  on  the 
increase  and  all  the  asylums  are  overcrowded,  with  lunacy  on  the  increase.  Now, 
is  it  our  industrial  laws  that  bring  about  this  state  of  affairs,  or  is  not  more  likely 
the  indiscriminate  marrying  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  humanity  ?  These 
are  things  that  we  know.  Yet  Bi:hop  Williams  wishes  to  see  the  birth-rate  en- 
larged.    He  desires  to  remedy  the  evil  by  intensifying  its  cause. 

Dr.  Daniel  Clark,  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  Canada,  speaking  before 
the  Charity  Committee  of  Ontario  recently,  said  that  *' sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
lunatics  in  the  Ontario  Asylums  were  foredoomed  by  heredity.  That  the  insane 
are  frequently  not  the  actual  transgressors,  but  the  victims  of  their  parents'  vices, 
gives  them  a  special  hold  on  public  sympathy."  In  time.  Dr.  Clarke  thought, 
radical  and  surgical  measures  would  have  to  be  taken  to  stem  this  influx  of 
degeneracy. 

Mr.  Johnson,  late  Dominion  Statistician,  taking  the  figures  of  the  census  of 
1871,  shows  that  in  the  four  provinces,  Ontario,  Quebec,  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick,  the  number  of  the  insane  has  increased  in  twenty  years  34  4  per  cent., 
while  the  population  has  increased  23.5  per  cent.  By  an  analysis  of  the  figures 
it  is  shown  that  the  increase  of  insanity  has  been  chiefly  in  Ontario,  to  which 
province  immigration  has  been  largely  directed  for  the  past  score  of  years. 

Then  take  the  report  of  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  for  last  year.  The  returns 
are  instructive,  as  they  show  a  danger  to  the  State  from  the  increase  of  juvenile 
crime.  One-third  of  all  the  convictions  for  indictable  offences  in  Canada  was  of 
persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  nearly  one-half  of  this  third  were 
convictions  of  persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  In  that  year  the  increase 
.of  criminals  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one  was  186,  as  against  an  increase  of 
.•2;89  in  the  number  of  criminals  under  sixteen  years  of  age.     Thus  the  increase 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  427 

in  juvenile  criminals  is  much  greater  among  those  under  sixteen  years  than-- 
among  those  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one. 

While  there  is  a  decreasing  birth-rate,  all  over  the  world,  except  China,  yet  in^ 
all  countries  there  is  an  increase  of  population.  The  Chinese  civilization  is  far- 
older  than  ours,  and  that  race,  far  from  dying  out,  has  its  chief  quarrel  with  the 
increase  of  population.  Even  with  the  vile  conditions  that  exist  in  China,  and 
the  conscienceless  war  against  increase,  that  race  overflows  in  all  directions. 
Until  the  marriage  laws  of  Ontario  are  changed,  and  until  people  pay  the  same 
attention  to  their  children  marrying  that  they  do  to  their  stock  selection,  the  same 
old,  sad  story  of  life  and  life's  burdens  will  continue  to  darken  the  pages  of  our 
history.  Under  these  conditions,  don't  you  think,  dear  reader,  that  the  birth-rate 
is  high  enough  now,  if  we  are  breeding  a  race  of  degenerates,  as  statistics  pretty 
plainly  show  that  we  are? 

H  Call  3from  3cru0alem. 

:0: 

A  Salvation  Army  pamphlet  has  been  sent  to  us  from  Colombo  for  publication 
if  we  consider  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  give  it  publicity.  Its  full  title  is  "  A 
Call  from  Jerusalem  to  all  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  throughout  the  world." 
We  have  not  sufficient  space  at  our  disposal  to  reproduce  the  entire  pamphlet,, 
nor  would  General  Booth's  itinerary,  which  forms  a  part  of  it,  be  of  any  interest 
to  our  readers,  but  it  raises  some  questions  which  may  be  worth  a  brief  discussion^ 
Regarding  the  mission  of  Christ  to  save  "  ihese  outcasts,"  that  is  '"the  more 
helpless  and  hopeless  section  of  the  community,"  General  Booth  exclaims  : 

"Judging  from  their  state  to-day,  have  not  our  critics  some  ground  for  pro- 
nouncing the  Mission  of  Christ  a  failure?" 

Frankly,  yes,  many  good  grounds  indeed,  as  many  as  depositors  would  have 
to  pronounce  a  bank  a  failure  into  which  they  have  made  deijosiis  after  deposits, 
but  which  is  in  a  continual  state  of  l)ankruptcy  so  that  no  deposits  can  save  it, 
and  which  honors  not  the  smallest  draft  presented  to  it,  but  which  somehow  or 
other  manages  to  give  its  employees  good  salaries,  does  not  overburden  them 
with  work,  and  gives  them  long  annual  holidays,  in  consequence  of  all  of  which 
the  employees  call  it  a  first-class  institution  that  only  needs  general  confidence 
and  continued  deposits  to  make  everybody  as  happy  as  themselves.  And,  con- 
tinues General  Booth  : 

"  Notwithstanding  all  our  proud  boasting  respecting  the  advancement  of  the 
world,  could  the  condition  of  things  be  much  more  unlike  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  that  he  came  to  establish,  or  more  closely  resemble  what  we  know  of  the 
kingdom  of  Hell  ?  " 

Not  having  any  very  accurate  knowledge  of  either  kingdom  we  can  deliver  no 
positive  opinion,  but  the  citizens  of  the  rival  kingdom  seem  to  have  much  better 
and  easier  times  of  it  than  those  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  excepting  the  regular 


428  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

staff  of  officials  of  the  latter.  But  we  do  not  see  quite  such  a  hell  in  this  world 
as  General  Booth,  although  we  have  seen  sections  of  it  in  Berlin,  London  and 
New  York,  and  in  other  large  and  eminently  Christian  cities  of  the  world,  upon 
which  Beelzebub  himself  could  not  improve,  but  which  have  no  counterpart,  for 
instance,  in  the  "  heathen  "  cities  of  Tokyo,  or  Yokohama,  or  probably  in  any 
other  city  of  *'  heathen  "  Japan.  How  the  "  heathen"  have  managed  not  to  sink 
to  those  Christian  levels  is  a  point  that  so  far  has  remained  unexplained.  Japan, 
however,  is  making  up  for  that  strange  deficiency  in  her  inner  life  by  the  shedding 
of  torrents  of  human  blood  abroad — if  we  will  believe  her,  with  great  reluctance, 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  with  as  much  innocent  and  sincere  delight  as  a  school- 
boy who  is  mowing  off  the  heads  of  poppies  with  a  new  stick.  Hence  there  is 
every  prospect  that  she  will  make  up  for  lost  time  and  opportunities  in  other 
directions  also. 

After  that  General  Booth  comes  to  a  point  which  is  of  some  direct  interest 
just  now,  and  on  which   we  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  more  from  him.     Says   he  : 

"  Look  at  the  brutal,  selfish,  senseless,  and  inhuman  wars  from  which  the 
poorer  classes  are  the  main  sufferers." 

Yes,  look  at  those  wars.  But  what  good  will  the  mere  looking  at  them  do  ? 
It  requires  honest,  fearless  men  to  protest  against  those  wars  from  the  housetops, 
and,  coming  to  that  question,  we  feel  constrained  to  ask  :  What  has  General 
Booth,  what  has  the  Salvation  Army  anywhere,  done  to  protest  against  the 
present  war,  in  which  hundreds  of  thourands  have  already  been  killed,  crippled 
and  maimed,  and  in  which  as  many  more  may  yet  be  killed,  crippled  and 
maimed.  Had  he,  or  any  member  of  bis  army,  a  lesser  duty  to  do  than  we  had  ? 
Should  not  all  and  any  considerations,  even  of  imprisonment  and  banishment, 
have  been  sacrificed  in  the  cause  of  peace,  in  the  cause  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
whom  they  profess  to  serve  ?  Should  that  not  be  done  even  now  ?  And  what 
have  the  servants  of  God  generally  done  here  or  anywhere  in  that  cause  ?  Not 
a  single  word  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  press,  which  has  sometimes  teemed  with  the 
discussion  of  religious  quibbles  of  all  kinds,  is  on  record  in  protest  against  the 
(Utterances  of  a  rabid  native  press  and  of  a  hired  or  bribed  foreign  press  that 
seems  to  take  as  much  delight  in  inflaming  public  passions  as  some  people  take 
iin  exciting  dogs  in  a  dog-fight. 

In  this  respect,  then,  both  General  Booth  and  the  Salvation  Army,  whatever 
good  they  may  have  done  in  other  directions,  have  signally  failed  in  doing  their 
duty,  their  duty  as  Christians  and  as  men.  The  voice  in  them  that  should  have 
spoken  aloud,  even  before  a  great  King,  who  above  all  others  would  have  listened 
to  it,  was  silent,  or  was  silenced^  silenced  by  worldly  considerations,  or  silenced 
by  the  fear  of  the  great  and  the  powerful  of  this  world.     Which  was  it  ? 

And  further,  how  can  we  reconcile  the  *'  loving  toil  "  of  God,  of  which  we 
read  in  another  part  of  the  pamphlet,  the  love  of  an  omnipotent  and  benevolent 
Deity  for  its  creatures,  for  its  children,  with  the  relentless  slaughter  that  has  now 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  42i> 

been  going  on  for  more  than  a  long,  long  year.  The  description  of  the  fights  in 
the  tunnels  and  subterranean  chambers  of  death  at  Port  Arthur,  which  we  have 
seen,  reads  more  like  the  relation  of  the  dream  of  a  fiend  than  like  a  description 
of  the  actual  experiences  of  living  men.  Can  we  imagine  the  father  of  a  family 
who  calmly  leans  back  in  his  easy  chair  and  looks  on  while  his  children  stab,  cut> 
kill  and  burn  one  another,  so  that  streams  of  blood  run  around  his  feet,  and  who 
nevertheless  tells  them  he  loves  them,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  love  him  ?  We 
are  only  human  and  have  only  human  understanding,  and  how  such  things  can 
be  we  do  not,  cannot  understand.  And  we  are  truly  grateful  that  that  is  so,  for 
with  the  understanding  of  them  might  come,  indeed  would  and  must  come,  the 
desire  to  go  and  do  likewise,  and  thus  perhaps  murderers  are  made,  whom  again 
the  world  at  large  will  not  understand  and  punishes.  Principally  perhaps 
because  they  have  not  the  power  behind  them  to  justify  their  crimes,  because 
they  cannot  claim  the  divine  right  of  kings,  that  makes  that  which  in  the  indi- 
vidual is  crime  the  fulfilment  of  a  sacred  or  national  duty.  Again,  we  are  grateful 
that  the  understanding  of  these  things  has  been  denied  to  us. — The  Eastern 
World,  Yokohama^  J  a  pan. 


A  STRANGE  INFATUATION. 

It  is  one  of  the  strangest  infatuations  of  religion  that  God  needed  it.  So  men 
have  brought  sacrifices  to  placate  him,  uttered  prayers  to  persuade  him,  sung 
psalms  to  please  him,  and  with  a  thousand  rites  and  ceremonies  fondly  fancied 
that  they  have  been  serving  God.  But  God  cannot  be  glorified  when  his 
children  are  enslaved  or  oppressed,  or  miserable,  or  wretched  ;  and  when  his 
children  are  happy  and  free  God  is  glorified  already.  If  he  is  infinite,  then  he  is 
unchangeable  and  conditionless  ;  he  can  neither  be  pleased  nor  provoked,  com- 
plimented nor  offended,  gladdened  nor  angered,  praised,  blamed,  appeased, 
placated,  or  bribed.  It  surely  cannot  be  of  great  concern  to  him  who  made  the 
unwalled  temple  of  the  sky  inlaid  with  suns  what  the  mutteringsand  genuflexions 
of  men  are  in  the  temples  made  with  hands.  Religion  has  imagined  that  there 
were  certain  ceremonies,  baptism,  for  instance,  of  vast  moment  to  the  infinite. 
Some  have  contended  that  unless  a  man  were  baptized  he  could  not  be  saved  ; 
until  that  act  was  performed  God  was  helpless  ;  ho  couldn't  do  a  thing  for  him  ; 
the  most  he  could  do  was  to  put  him  on  the  waiting  list.  Unbaptized  infants 
were  believed  to  slip  at*  the  magical  touch  of  death  out  of  their  mother's  arms 
and  God's  into  eternal  night.  Some  have  contende  1  that  the  very  form  of  the 
ceremony  was  of  great  importance  to  the  maker  of  worlds.  Others  have  said 
that  the  form  was  not  so  particular ;  still  others  have  contended  that  the  infinite 
maker  of  constellations  and  stars  would  not  even  consider  anything  except  im- 
mersion. They  thought  that  since  he  had  made  the  world  threefourlhs  water  he 
intended  they  should  use  plenty  of  it. — Dr.  J.  E.  Roberts. 

Teacher — What  happened  to  Lot's  wife  when  she  looked  back  ? 

Small  Pupil — She  was  turned  into  a  pillar  of  salt. 

Teacher — And  what  did  Lot  do  ? 

Small  Pupil  —  Looked  around  for  a  fresh  wife. 


430 


SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


/iDosbeim  anb  Cbambera  on  tbe  paaan  ©rigtn  ot  Cbrtstiantt^. 


-:o: 


MosHEiM,  the  learned  German,  in  his 
Ecclesiastical  .History,  whose  scholarly 
work  betrays  his  honesty  on  every  page, 
thus  wrote  : 

"  The  rites  and  institutions,  by 
which  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  other 
nations  had  formerly  testified  their  re- 
ligious veneration  for  fictitious  deities, 
were  now  adopted,  with  some  slight  al- 
terations, by  Christian  bishops,  and  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  true  God 
^'  *  >;c  Hence  it  happened  that  in   these 

times    THE    RELIGION  OF     THE  GREEKS 

AND  Romans  differed    very  little 

IN  ITS  EXIERNAL  APPEARANCE  FROM 
THAT   OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.     They   both 

had  a  most  pompous  and  splendid 
ritual.  Gorgeous  robes,  mitres,  tiaras, 
wax  tapers,  crosiers  [staffs  surmounted 
by  a  cross],  processions,  lustrations, 
images,  gold  and  silver  vases,  and 
many  such  circumstances  of  pageantry, 
were  equally  to  be  seen  in  the  heathen 
temples  and  the  Christian  churches." 
Chambers,  in  his  Encyclopedia,  stated 
a  fact  which  all  know  who  are  familiar 
with  the  great  author's  productions. 
He  says  :  The  Ecclesiastical  History 
of  Mosheim  "  Is  a  work  of  great  learn- 
ing, fulness  and  accuracy."  Educated 
however  in  the  church,  and  a  professor 
in  a  theological  college,  as  was  Mo- 
sheim, possibly  he  did  not  suspect  what 
thousands  of  learned  men  now  know — 
that,  instead  of  the  Christian  church 
stealing  the  ritual,  ceremonies  and 
institutions  of  paganism  and  engrafting 
them  on  Christianity,  the  latter  was 
only  reconstructed  paganism.  The 
scholarshi[)  of  the  last  50  to  75  years 
has  revealed  with  certainty  that  which 
•for  centuries  had  been  suspected  and 
hinted  at,  and  ever  proclaimed  by 
leading  churchmen.  But  such  persons 
were  soon  silenced  by  imprisonment 
and  torture,  or  the  stake  and  fagot. 

In  conversation  with  a  bigoted 
churchman   a  while  ago,  in  which  this 


revamping  of  paganism  and  construc- 
tion of  Christianity  was  being  discussed, 
he  said  :  "There  are  persons  as  learned 
as  you  who  do  not  accept  your  ideas 
on  that  subject.  There  was  Gladstone, 
who  you  will  concede  was  a  great 
scholar,  who  died  an  earnest  Christian." 

"  True,"  we  replied,  "  but  the  atten- 
tion of  the  scholar  you  refer  to  and 
Gladstone,  was  not  directed  to  this 
subject.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  a  politi- 
cian. His  time  and  thought  were 
turned  to  great  national  issues,  and 
he  had  no  time  to  investigate  in  the 
direction  others  equally  honest  and 
truthful  have  traveled.  So  soon  as 
learned  men  in  the  church  become 
acquainted  with  the  facts,  you  pro- 
nounce them  heretics,  and  set  out  to 
destroy  their  influence.  You  cannot 
burn  them  any  longer,  but  you  expel 
them  from  your  church  and  brand  them 
with  being  renegades  from  the  faith. 
But  in  spite  of  all  your  efforts  the 
numbers  who  have  investigated  are 
increasing  at  a  marvellous  rate,  and 
your  church  literature,  when  carefully 
examined,  supplies  proof  that  cannot 
be  controverted  that  your  church  be- 
ginning was  in  paganism." 

The  truth  is,  churches  built  on  the 
ignorance  of  the  ages  cannot  survive 
the  light  of  modern  intelligence,  pro- 
vided they  still  cling  to  their  old- time 
narrow  conceptions  of  a  future  life. — 
Prozfessive   Tninker. 


ALWAYS  THE    CHESTNUT. 

The  new  arrival  knocked  at  the  gate. 

"  Who  are  you  ?"  asked  St.  I'eter. 

"I'm  a  humorist,"  answered  the 
party  on  the  outside.  "  I  used  to  write 
jokes  for  the  comic  papers.  " 

"  Well  rU  have  to  investigate  your 
case,"  said  the  keeper  of  the  keys. 
"  In  the  meiintime  go  over  and  sit  down 
in  the  shade  of  that  chestnut  tree  and 
make  yourself  at  home." 


SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


4B1 


A  NEWSPAPER  SERMON  ON 

SUNDAY. 

—  :o:  — 

We  are  glad  to  reprint  the  following 

article  as  an  instance  of  the  advancing 

views  perceptible  in  many  journals. 

"  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath."— Mk.  2  :  27. 

That  was  probably  the  first  scientific 
statement  of  the  law  of  the  Sab- 
bath that  had  ever  fallen  on  Jewish 
ears.  It  is  the  final  word  on  the  whole 
question  of  the  observance  of  a  day  of 
rest.  The  moral  obligation  to  rest  on 
one  day  in  seven  cannot  rest  upon  the 
code  given  by  Moses,  neither  can  it 
rest  upon  the  custom  of  the  churches. 
Moral  obligations  are  not  created  by 
laws.  The  authority  of  every  code 
must  lie  in  some  necessity,  some  law 
written  in  the  constitution  of  man,  and 
it  must  be  supported  by  some  evidence 
of  benefits  received  from  its  observ- 
ance. 

Man  needs  this  day  of  rest  ;  that  fact 
alone  gives  force  to  this  law.  Experi- 
ence demonstrates  the  necessity  of  the 
Sunday  and  the  advantage  of  its  rest. 
The  law  of.  the  Sabbath  is  given  not  to 
protect  a  day  but  to  protect  the  race. 
The  day  is  sacred  not  because  the  Al- 
mighty stole  it  from  man's  measure  of 
time  and  kept  it  for  himself,  but  be- 
cause it  is  reserved,  set  aside,  saved 
from  man's  selfishness  for  his  highest 
service.  It  is  desecrated,  not  in  that 
men  steal  it  from  heaven,  but  in  that 
they  despoil  it  of  its  possibilities  for 
themselves. 

The  Sabbath  is  not  an  institution  so 
much  as  an  opportunity.  It  is  not  an 
idol,  a  fetich,  a  something  to  be  served 
or  to  be  kept  in  a  glass  cabmet.  It  is 
rather  a  tool  or  a  servant,  a  day  of  rest 
for  the  body,  to  turn  the  eye  from  its 
long  downward  looking  that  it  might 
glance  up,  to  straighten  the  bent  back, 
and  to  uplift  the  bowed  heart. 

This  day  was  made  a  separate  day 
for  man,  not  for  his  money  but  for  him- 
self.    It  is  the  little  space,  the  break 


in  the  walls  of  daily  grind  when  the 
soul  may  assert  itself,  when  a  man-may 
pause  long  enough  to  remember  that 
he  has  a  right  to  say,  with  upward  look, 
"  Our  Father,"  that  he  is  more  than  a 
cog  in  this  world  machine,  more  than 
one  slave  driven  by  another. 

'J'he  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  but 
not  for  his  misery.  Nowhere  is  its 
loving  law  more  flagrantly  violated  than 
when  the  religionist  would  make  it  a 
day  of  gloom,  when  men  are  laught  to 
put  on  the  garb  of  mourning,  and  chil- 
dren learn  by  harsh  repression  to  dread 
its  dawn,  and  to  delight  at  its  darken- 
ing. 

How  then  shall  one  keep  this  day  ? 
By  making  it  a  delight,  the  happiest 
and  most  helpful  of  all  the  week. 
Whatever  makes  a  better,  clearer, 
stronger,  more  valuable  man  is  good 
for  the  day  ;  whatever  weakens,  de- 
grades, cultivates  selfishness  or  cor- 
rupts the  heart  is  its  desecration.  An 
orgy  of  church  may  be  a  desecration  as 
truly — though  not  as  disastrously — as 
an  orgy  of  pleasure,  'i'he  day  is  to  be 
judged  by  its  fruits  on  the  morrow. 
That  is  a  worthy  Sabbath  that  leaves 
a  larger  heart,  a  clearer  head,  a  nobler 
spirit,  and  a  deeper  love  for  man,  for 
this  fair  world,  and  for  all  good  things. 

It  must  be  a  day  when  the  finer  qua- 
lities come  into  play,  when  the  inner 
life,  the  bvrtter  self  has  a  chance.  The 
whole  man  is  rested,  refreshed  as,  in 
the  course  of  his  upward  climbing,  he 
comes  to  those  plateaux  of  vision.  They 
permit  of  deep  breaths,  larger  outlook, 
cheering  retros[)ects,  and  bracing  pros- 
pects. 

This  spirit  of  observation  cultivates 
care  for  others.  Every^  benefit  that 
comes  to  one  that  one  will  seek  to  keep 
for  all.  It  is  a  day  of  opportunity  to 
brush  the  cobwebs  from  some  hearts, 
to  brighten  faces  and  homes  with  good 
cheer,  to  cultivate  happiness  all  round. 
It  will  surely  then  be  a  happy  day  for 
ourselves.  It  is  better  to  keep  the  day 
merry  than  to  let  it  get  mildewed. — 
Chicago  Tribune. 


432 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


THE   MULES   OF  WALES. 

(A  cablegram  states  that  because  of 
so  many  conversions  among  the  miners 
of  Wales,  the  mules  in  the  collieries  can- 
not be  made  to  work,  as  there  is  no  one 
to  swear  at  them.) 

The   mules  of   Wales  !     The  mules  of 

Wales  ! 
They  lounge  around  with  listless  tails. 
They  look  with  blank,  lack-lustre  eyes, 
And  heave  a  lot  of  mulish  sighs, 
Because    no    driver    puffs    and    pants 
Conglomerated  consonants. 

From  Llynnwwnfyddyll  down  to  Ffwekt 
Tonffddwwll  (or  words  to  that  effect) 
The  mules   in  gloomy  patience  stand, 
And  wonder  what  has  struck  the  land, 
And  what  peculiar  force  annuls 
The  urging  polysyllables. 

For  years    and    years    each    mule   has 

feared 
The  words  entangled  in  the  beard 
Of  one  who  mentioned  all  his  views 
In  words  of  fs  and  ws — 
The  earnest  and  outspoken  man 
Of  speech  sesquipedalian. 

In  Wales  to-day  no  man  will  swear, 
No  dash  or  blank  is  sounded  there, 
And  so  the  mules  in  wonder  wait 
For  words    to    make  them  strike    their 

gait— 
For  wods  which  cannot  grace  this  page 
Kaleidoscopic  verbiage. 
— Montreal  Star. 


THE    ATTAINMENTS    OF    WISE 
WILLIAM. 
—  :o: — 
Upon  the  ship  "Galusha  Shad  " 
That  sailed  the  watery  brine, 
Bill  Stover  was  the  wisest  lad 

That  ever  drew  a  line  ; 
And  I'd  be  stowed  and  likewise  blowed 
If    I  know  all  that  William  knowed. 

One  lime   I    asked,   "  What   bares   o' 
Grei  c  t 
Was  greatest  of  their  class  ?" 


He  answered,  "  Fido,  Pyranees, 

And  Erysipelas." 
I  must  cornfess,  I  ruther  guess, 
Ye  couldn't  corner  Willam  S. 

And  chemistry  !      Say,  Bill  could  talk. 

As  easy  as  a  wink, 
On  alimony,  sulphur,  chalk. 

And   suicide  of  zink. 
He'd  tell  you,  too,  what  he  could  do 

By  mixin'  radium  glue 

And  so  il  was  quite  natterile 
That  William  liked  to  shirk. 

To  set  in  contemplation  while 
Us  others  done  the  work. 

Says    Bill,    *'  By  heck,  guess    I    do'nt 
wreck 

Me  mind  by  swabbin'  down  no  deck  !  " 

And,  while  we  worked  and   held  our 
tongues, 

Wise  Bill  continued  thus 
A-tellin'  all  the  ribs  and  lungs 

What  growed  inside  of  us  ; 
And,   if  ye  please,  he'd  name  with  ease 
Jest  eighty  kinds  o'  heart  disease  ! 

Until,  one  day,  the  mate  he  says 

To  knowing  Bill,  says  he, 
"  You   should  be  writin'  books  instead 

Of  loafin'  round  the  sea. 
I'll  hire  some  slob  to  fill  yer  job — 
For  any  Chinaman  can  swab." 

—  Wallace  Irwin. 


Mrs.  Kyndley — But  you  promised 
that  if  I  gave  you  your  breakfast  you 
would   cut  the  grass  and  rake  the  lawn. 

Homeless  Homes — And  I  lied.  Let 
this  be  a  lesson  to  you,  lady,  not  to  put 
trust  in  strange  men.  They  are  all 
gay  deceivers. — Cleveland  Leader. 


Elsie — Don't  children  have  anything 
to  play  with  in  heaven  ? 

Mother — I  don't  think  there  are  any 
toys  there,  dear.     Why  ? 

Elsie  — I  should  think  they  might  be 
allowed  to  play  with  their  old  halos. — 
Philadelphia  Press. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  i6. 

TORONTO,  SEPT.   15, 

1905. 

IOC. ;  $2  per  ann. 

:o: 

According  to  most  religions,  **  God  "  is  an  ^*  Infinite,  Eternal 
and  Almighty  Being;"  which  illogical  definition  implies  that 
he  is  everything  and  a  part  only  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
As  all  acknowledge,  this. definition  is  accepted  entirely  on  faith, 
for  all  except  a  few  erratic  individuals  admit  that  ^*  God  "  is  an 
inscrutable  mystery.  Were  it  supported  by  logical  reasoning 
based  on  any  sort  of  knowledge,  it  would  need  neither  faith 
nor  authority.  As  it  is,  **  God"  is  only  an  inference,  drawn 
by  imperfect  deduction  from  defective  observation. 

According  to  some  persons,  who  see  the  gross  contradiction 
involved  in  the  ordinary  definition,  **God"  is  an  **  Infinite 
Power" — the  direct  cause  of  all  the  phenomena  of  the  uni- 
verse. Here  it  is  clear  that,  if  anything  be  infinite,  it  must 
also  be  everything.  There  cannot  be  anything  outside  of  or 
separate  from  the  Infinite.  If,  then,  ^*God"  be  an  Infinite 
Power,  every  manifestation  of  power  must  be  a  manifestation 
of  *^  God."  ^*God  "  is  thus  seen  to  be  merely  another  name 
for  Nature. 

The  two  definitions  are  typical  of  all  notions  associated  with 
the  term  **  God."  The  first  regards  **  God  "  as  a  person  or 
being  separate  from  the  material  world,  who  controls  all  its 
varied  motions  ;  the  second  regards  **  God  "  as  identical  with 
the  universe  itself  or  with  the  power  the  universe  manifests, 
for  we  only  know  the  material  universe  by  the  power  it 
manifests. 

In  this  way, ^11  notions  of  **God"  resolve  themselves  into 
forms  of  the  two  mutually  exclusive  theories  of  Theism  and 
Atheism  ;  and  any  reader  of  the  sermons  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  intellectual  churchmen  must  admit  that  the  adherents 


434  SECULAli    THOUGHT. 


of  the  latter  school  are  making  great  progress  in  the  church. 
We  hear  of  many  variations  of  the  two  main  theories,  which 
involve,  the  one  the  principles  of  Creation  and  Revelation,  the 
other  the  principles  of  Self-existence  and  Evolution  ;  but  they 
are  all  more  or  less  illogical  and  inconsistent  attempts  to  har- 
monize two  totally  irreconcilable  theories,  and  only  serve  to 
show  the  deeply-seated  nature  of  the  prevailing  theological 
notions,  and  to  mark  one  stage  of  progress  on  the  road  from 
orthodoxy  to  Rationalism. — J.  S.  E. 

EDITORIAL    NOTES^ 

The  sudden  ending  of  the  long-drawn-out  peace 
THE  END  OF  THE  negotiations  at  Portsmouth,  N.H.,  by  Japan's 
BUSSO- JAPANESE  acceptance  of  the  Russian  ultimatum,  whereby 
WAR.  she  foregoes  her  claim  to  indemnity  for  the  cost 

of  the  war,  to  one-balf  of  Sakhalien  Island,  to 
the  interned  Russian  warships,  and  to  a  restriction  upon  Russian  naval 
power  in  the  Far  East,  will  be  keenly  welcomed  by  all  but  the  most  bel- 
licose of  the  Jingo  element. 

It  may  be  looked  upon  as  fitting  that  the  Russians,  who  have  had  an 
almost  unexampled  series  of  disasters  on  sea  and  land  ever  since  the  war 
began,  should  score  one  victory  in  the  peace-making.  For,  as  things  go, 
we  may  look  upon  it  as  a  victory  for  Russia  that,  by  aid  of  bluff  and  a 
"  stiff  upper  lip,"  she  has  been  allowed  to  escape  some  of  the  punish- 
ment her  misconduct  merited.  As  for  Japan,  she  has  secured  all  for 
which  she  undertook  her  colossal  struggle  ;  and,  though  her  sacrifices 
in  the  war  have  been  very  heavy,  she  may  well  afford  to  be  indifferent 
to  the  claims  she  has  given  up.  She  has  taken  her  place  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  nations  of  the  world,  in  the  arts  both  of  peace  and  of  war  ; 
and  to  her  honor  be  it  said,  her  newly-developed  power  has  been  exerted 
solely  in  her  own  defence,  and  in  the  interests  of  those  Western  Powers 
who,  had  they  joined  her  in  her  just  demands  upon  Russia,  might  have 
prevented  the  necessity  of  the  terrible  war. 

Japan  has  learned  lessons  of  civil  as  well  as  of  military  administra- 
tion that  will  be  of  immense  service  to  her  in  her  future  development. 
Her  national  character  has  doubtless  been  chastened  by  her  fiery  ordeal, 
and  we  may  well  believe  that  her  future  progress  will  be  commensurate 
with  the  heroic  ideals  with  which  she  opens  her  new  era  of  peace.  We 
need  not  suppose  that  Japan  is  faultless — that  crime  and  vice,  poverty 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  435 

and  oppression,  misery  and  disease  and  distress  are  unknown  within  her 
borders.  Nature  has  never  yet  produced  a  race  or  nation  without  these 
faults,  and  we  doubt  if  she  ever  will  do  so  ;  but,  judging  from  all  that 
we  hear  of  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun,  we  imagine  there  is  less  of  the 
evils  and  more  of  the  pleasures  of  life  among  its  people  than  among  the 
people  of  any  other  land. 

The  future  of  Japan  will  largely  depend  upon  the  wisdom  of  her  pre- 
sent leaders.  If  they  are  animated  by  the  truly  democratic  spirit,  setting 
the  welfare  of  the  whole  nation  before  any  idea  of  mere  personal  gain  or 
power,  and  endeavoring,  through  the  system  of  national  education,  to 
train  the  new  generation  to  a  high  moral  standard  free  from  degrading 
supernaturalism,  the  future  history  of  Japan  may  be  written  in  letters 
of  gold  as  a  text-book  for  the  rest  of  the  world. 

As  for  Russia,  her  fate  is  but  a  lesson  to  over-reaching  tyrants  and 
bullies.  As  the  result  of  the  preceding  war,  and  with  the  cowardly  con- 
nivance of  the  Western  Powers,  she  had  stolen  Port  Arthur  from  Japan 
and  had  firmly  established  herself  there,  spending  millions  of  dollars  in 
gigantic  fortifications.  Here,  with  the  port  of  Dalny  close  by,  she  had 
concentrated  a  great  fleet,  sufficient  to  dominate  the  Orient,  and  had 
just  connected  it  with  the  west  by  her  Trans-Siberian  Railway.  Had 
she  been  content  to  allow  matters  to  develop  somewhat  slowly  and  natu- 
rally, a  few  years  more  might  have  seen  her  in  an  almost  impregnable 
position,  with  Japan  at  her  mercy.  But  the  last  Chinese  war  gave  her 
the  opportunity  of  seizing  a  vast  stretch  of  Chinese  territory,  garrisoning 
it  with  troops,  and  making  herself  a  menace,  not  only  to  the  commerce 
of  all  nations  in  the  Far  East,  but  to  the  integrity  of  both  China  and 
Japan  ;  and  Japan,  confronted  with  the  problem  of  national  life  or  death, 
had  no  alternative  but  to  risk  her  all  in  a  struggle  with  the  military 
Colossus. 

In  her  opening  address  at  the  recent  annual 
THE  UNITED     .  convention  of   the  National  Women's  Suffrage 

STATES  A  RE-  Association,    recently   held    at   Portland,    Ore., 

PUBLIC,  BUT  NOT      Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper  said  : 
A  FREE  COUNTRY.        ''There   are   forty-two  reasons   why   women 

cannot  vote  in  the  United  States.  The  first  and 
greatest  lies  in  the  national  Constitution  ;  the  other  forty-one  are  found 
in  the  Constitutions  of  the  different  States.  In  these  revered  documents 
one  little  word  of  four  letters,  '  male,'  is  all  that  stands  between  sixteen 
million  women  and  the  suffrage. 


436  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


''  The  religious,  the  property,  the  educational,  and  the  color  qualifica- 
tions have  been  swept  away  ;  but  in  tlie  constitutions  of  all  the  States 
except  four  this  word  'male  '  still  remains  in  the  suffrage  clause,  abso- 
lutely prohibiting  to  all  women  a  voice  in  the  government.  Such  is  the 
situation  to-day  in  the  country  which  poses  before  the  world  as  the 
greatest  and  most  perfect  Eepublic  that  ever  existed  ;  which  exults  over 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  as  the  only  land  of  equal  rights;  and  which 
declares  that  its  foundation,  its  corner-stone,  the  keystone  of  its  arch,  is 
individual  representation.  The  irony  of  it !  The  injustice,  the  tyranny, 
the  disgrace  of  it ! 

"  In  no  monarchy  is  there  such  arbitrary  discrimination  against  one- 
half  the  people.  There  is  not  another  country  having  an  elected  repre- 
sentative body,  where  this  body  itself  may  not  extend  the  suffrage.  Aus- 
tralia, by  an  act  of  its  Parliament,  enfranchised  850,000  women.  The 
Parliament  of  New  Zealand,  by  a  single  act,  conferred  the  suffrage  on 
150,000.  The  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  has  absolute  power  to  grant 
the  franchise  to  its  millions  of  women.  This  is  true  of  all  the  legisla- 
tive bodies  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  But  the  Government  of  the 
"United  States,  in  its  overpowering  desire  to  vest  all  authority  in  the 
people  themselves,  has  placed  one-half  of  the  people  in  complete  and 
helpless  subjection  to  the  other  half." 

Mrs.  Harper  exposes  what  has  always  seemed  to  us  to  be  a  weak  and 
dangerous  spot  in  the  United  States  system,  and  one  which  marks  it  as 
distinctly  less  free  and  elastic  than  the  constitutions  of  Britain  and  her 
colonies.  In  the  United  States,  indeed,  there  is  little  more  freedom  than 
there  was  in  France  under  Napoleon  III.  :  citizens  are  mere  puppets  in 
the  hands  of  bureaucrats  and  monopolists,  the  police  and  the  judiciary. 
The  President  is  almost  as  much  an  autocrat  as  William  of  Germany  ; 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  Supreme  Court  can  at  any  time  set  aside 
the  expressed  will  of  Congress  or  of  the  State"  Legislatures. 

A  wi-itten  Constitution  may  seem  a  fine  piece  of  work  to  its  authors 
and  to  those  who  may  profit  by  it ;  but,  to  avoid  dangerous  crises,  modi* 
fications  of  it  should  always  be  made  possible  without  undue  delay. 

Certainly,  to  dub  a  "  Bulwark  of  Freedom  "  a  Constitution  which  dis- 
franchises one-half  of  the  people  is  a  huge  piece  of  satire. 

It  is  but  natural  that  the  members  of  a  "  Bible 
THE  AMERICAN  League  "  should  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  in- 
BIBLE  LEAGUE  spired   word   of    "  God,"    and   that   it  is  their 

BELIEVES  IT  ALL.   bounden   duty  to  defend   every  story,  however 

unbelievable,  that  is  to  be  found  in  it.  As  well 
expect  the  fishmonger  to  cry  *'  Stinking  fish  !  "  as  to  expect  preachers  to 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  437 

throw  doubt  upon  the  authenticity  of  their  text-book.  Even  the  more 
rational  of  the  Higher  Critics  express  their  faith  in  a  something  or  other 
of  a  more  or  less  cloudy  or  supernatural  nature  back  of  the  Bible  and 
its  follies  and  ignorance. 

And  so  it  does  not  astonish  us  to  find  that  the  speakers  at  the  recent 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  Bible  League  in  New  York  were  all 
prepared  to  accept  "the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the 
Bible."  At  its  last  session,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burr  gave  an  address  on  *'  The 
Effects  of  the  Higher  Criticism  on  the  Ministry,"  and  some  of  his  ob- 
servations are  worth  record.     He  said  : 

"  We  wish  to  warn  ministers  against  the  insidious  disease  called  the 
Higher  Criticism,  which,  like  consumption,  runs  through  various  phases 
till  it  brings  the  destruction  of  all  distinctively  Christian  dogmas.  Let 
it  come  to  prevail  among  yourselves  and  your  public,  and  it  will  do  you 
infinite  mischief." 

Not  a  single  question  as  to  its  truth.  It  is  simply  a  question  with  Dr. 
Burr  as  to  the  effect  upon  his  business.  If  it  tends  in  any  way  to  weaken 
the  authority  of  the  preaching  fraternity  it  is  bad,  no  matter  whether  it 
is  true  or  not. 

Dr.  Burr  thinks  it  will  lessen  the  number  of  ministers,  which  he  says 
"  is  altogether  insufficient  to  save  the  vast  number  of  people  who  are 
spiritually  astray  in  the  world;"  and  bethinks  this  effect  is  increased  by 
the  more  favorable  views  now-a-days  entertained  of  heathen  nations  and 
slum  populations,  which  have  decreased  the  incentives  to  missionary 
efforts.  He  thinks  the  number  of  ministers  depends  on  two  factors — 
*'  the  disposition  of  some  men  to  become  ministers,  and  of  others  to 
support  them." 

These  factors  are  no  doubt  important  ones,  but  we  imagine  that  while 
the  people  are  willing  to  provide  salaries  preachers  and  missionaries  will 
feel  an  incentive  to  accept  them,  whatever  otherwise  may  be  their  dis- 
position. If  there  is  a  falling  off  in  the  number  of  ministers,  it  is  no 
doubt  due  to  a  growing  feeling  among  the  salary  providers  that  the  busi- 
ness of  soul-saving  is  an  unprofitable  one  for  them ;  and  the  truer  views 
which  have  become  current  through  the  Higher  Criticism  may  be  also 
largely  answerable  for  it. 

It  is  noticeable,  that  the  great  variety  of  reasons  given  to  account  for 
the  observed  falling  off  in  the  supply  of  both  preachers  and  adherents 
is  fair  evidence  that  most  of  the  reasons  are  not  the  real  ones.  What 
appears  to  us  to  be  the  most  important  factors  leading  to  the  falling  off 


438  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

in  church  attendance  are  (1)  the  growing  intelligence  of  the  middle  and 
church-going  classes,  owing  to  theii*  increasing  familiarity  with  current 
literature,  which  causes  them  to  criticise  unfavorably  the  vapid  and 
often  childish  sermons  of  the  ordinary  preacher  ;  and  (2)  the  increasing 
attention  given  to  secular  amusements,  benefit  society  and  other  social 
engagements,  and  the  increasing  out-door  Sunday  attractions  of  various 
kinds.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  neither  ''  infidelity  "  nor  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism have  yet  reached  the  lower  strata  of  society,  which  still  appear  to 
furnish  recruits  to  the  Salvation  Army  in  proportion  to  the  loudness  of 
its  exhorters'  screams  and  the  banging  of  the  big  drums. 

The  Japanese  nation,  in  its  terrible  war  against 
RELIGIOUS  FAITH  a  gigantic  and  tyrannical  power,  has  given  us  an 
NOT  NECESSARY  example  of  a  nation  animated  by  morality  and 
TO  MORALITY.  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  very  highest 

order,  and  with  hardly  any  sign  of  the  factitious 
incentives  which  Dr.  Burr  and  his  friends  would  have  us  believe  essential 
to  such  sentiments.  To  talk  of  '*  saving  the  souls"  of  the  heathen  Japs 
is  idiotic  rubbish  that  only  semi-demented  preachers  could  indulge  in  ; 
and  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  people  are  beginning  to  refuse  to 
contribute  to  such  a  ridiculous  enterprise. 

To  liken  the  progress  of  the  Higher  Criticism  to  a  disease,  and  to  talk 
of  the  "  vast  number  of  people  who  are  spiritually  astray  in  the  world," 
are,  of  course,  parts  of  the  business  of  an  orthodox  preacher.  All  men 
are  spiritually  astray  who  do  not  accept  our  creeds  and  support  our  pul- 
pits. "  There  is  nothing  like  leather  "  is  a  fair  business  proposition 
compared  with  this  lop-sided  and  interested  cry.  We  may  far  more 
rationally  compare  Christianity  to  a  disease,  from  the  more  acute  symp- 
toms of  which  the  Higher  Criticism  is  endeavoring  to  relieve  us. 

Dr.  Burr  thinks  that  the  Higher  Criticism  "  will  impair  the  quality  of 
ministers  ;"  but,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  the  Higher  Critics  are  the  only 
men  in  the  Church  who  rise  above  the  dull  and  leaden  mediocrity  of  the 
ordinary  creed-monger  or  the  fanaticism  of  the  Bible-banger.  To  think 
that,  because  a  man  endeavors  to  discard  the  monstrosities  that  are 
gradually  bringing  all  religions  into  universal  contempt,  he  will  have  no 
incentive  to  do  anything  but  take  his  salary,  is  to  ignore  the  evident 
fact  that  the  brightest  intellects  in  the  church  are  endeavoring  to  use 
their  positions  to  elevate  as  far  as  may  be  possible  the  ideals  of  their 
fellow  men  and  the  conditions  of  society,  instead  of  wasting  their  time 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  439 

expounding  impossible  dogmas  and  exhorting  their  followers  to  believe 
in  the  eternal  salvation  of  their  mythical  souls  as  an  equivalent  for  pre- 
sent contributions  of  cash. 

Still,  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  preachers  like  Dr.  Burr  insist  that 
their  religion  is  necessary  as  a  foundation  for  morality,  when  even  men 
like  Goldwin  Smith  give  way  to  the  same  illogical  phantasma. 

The  Rev.  John  Urquhart  came  all  the  way  from 
JONAH  AND  THE  Glasgow,  Scotland,  to  tell  the  New  York  Bible 
WHALE  STORY  Society  that  there  need  be  no  further  dispute 

HISTORICALLY  about  Jonah  and  the  Whale.     It   had  all  been 

TRUE.  amply  corroborated    both   by  the  discoveries  in 

Assyria  and  b}^  scientific  investigation,  which 
proved  its  possibility.  The  Deism  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  been 
unable  to  believe  the  possibility  of  a  man  living  for  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  belly  of  a  whale  ;  but  that  was  **  no  more  than  the  raising 
of  a  man  from  the  dead,  or  the  turning  of  water  into  wine,  or  the  feed- 
ing of  five  thousand  people  with  five  small  loaves  and  two  small  fishes." 

Quite  correct,  Mr.  Urquhart.  Your  Scotch  logic  is  unanswerable. 
After  hearing  it,  can  we  wonder  why  any  man  should  doubt  the  whale 
story  ;  or  that  other  historical  fact  you  mention — that  Jonah's  visit  to 
Nineveh  resulted  in  a  **  deep  and  universal  repentance  "  of  the  people. 
This  is  certainly  a  wonderful  historical  fact.  Mr.  Urquhart  vouches  for 
it.     This  was  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  we  suppose. 

Of  course  it  was  true — Jesus  vouched  for  it.  **  He  who  said  the  Jew 
should  have  that  sign  read  the  future.  He  gave  a  promise,  and,  rising 
from  the  dead,  he  has  kept  it.  He  has  proved  his  claim  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  world's  Savior ;  he  has  attested  the  Book  of  Jonah ;  he 
has  attested  the  entire  Scripture,  and  for  us  that  attestation  is  final !  " 

This  is  the  way  to  talk.     Dr.  Langtry  could  hardly  do  better. 

Then  Professor  A.  T.  Clay,  of  Pennsylvania  University,  told  how  the 
recent  discoveries  in  Babylonia  bore  testimony  to  the  historical  character 
of  the  Bible  narrative.  While  Prof.  Delitzscbe  shows  us  clearly  how 
the  Bible  stories  are  derived  from  traditions  and  myths  in  existence  cen- 
turies previous  to  the  time  in  which  the  former  were  supposed  to  have 
been  written,  Mr.  Clay  can  see  nothing  but  corroboration  of  tales  that 
are  manifestly  of  a  mythical  character;  and  yet  he  sees  danger  ahead 
from  the  truth  being  known  : 


440  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


"  It  is  not  the  voice  of  an  alarmist,  but  the  prediction  of  a  careful 
observer,  that  most  serious  times  are  ahead  for  the  Christian  church  if 
greater  efforts  are  not  put  forth  to  challenge  such  advanced,  far-reaching 
conclusions." 

Why  all  this  alarm,  if  the  Bible  is  only  corroborated  by  the  modern 
discoveries  ?  We  can  only  suppose  that  Mr.  Clay,  while  he  says  "  corro- 
boration," really  knows  the  very  opposite  to  be  the  fact. 

Mr.  McPherson,  the  counsel  sent  at  public  ex- 
THE  "  CONTI-  pense  to  represent  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance  on 

NENTAL  SUNDAY."    the  appeal  to  the  Privy  Council,  but  who  was 

snuffed  out  by  the  Court,  was  interviewed  on 
his  return,  and  among  other  subjects  spoke  of  the  *'  English  Sunday." 
He  said  he  took  particular  pains  to  find  out,  and  "  was  surprised  to  find 
not  a  business  shop  open  "  wherever  he  went  during  four  Sundays.  This 
corresponds  with  what  we  have  often  said,  that,  though  omnibuses,  street 
cars,  railways,  and  steamboats  carry  thousands  of  passengers  on  excur- 
sions on  Sunday,  and  have  done  so  for  more  than  a  generation,  there  is 
no  tendency  to  verify  the  prophecy  of  the  Alliance  and  its  friends, — that 
such  things  will  naturally  and  inevitably  lead  to  Sunday  being  converted 
into  a  working  day,  and  the  workmen  forced  to  do  seven  days'  work  for 
six  days'  pay. 

Mr.  McPherson  is  not  a  very  observant  man.  He  did  not  find  out 
whether  the  art  galleries  or  museums  were  open  on  Sunday,  or  whether 
steamboats  or  railway  trains  were  running.  One  would  have  thought  he 
would  have  paid  some  attention  to  these  things,  especially  considering 
the  business  which  took  him  to  London.     He  said  : 

*'  A  great  many  of  the  restaurants  were  closed.  In  fact,  being  near 
Ludgate  Hill,  1  asked  a  policeman  where  I  might  find  the  nearest  open 
restaurant.  He  replied,  that  it  would  be  no  nearer  than  Fleet  Street,  which 
was  a  very  long  way.  As  to  pleasure  steamers  on  the  Thames,  I  cannot 
say  whether  they  were  running  on  Sunday  or  not.  Neither  would  I  be 
sure  whether  or  not  the  art  galleries  and  the  museums  were  open  on 
Sunday.  In  Paris,  however,  all  the  art  galleries  and  museums  were 
open  on  Sunday,  and  closed  on  Monday  for  cleaning.  No,  there  were 
no  Sunday  business  shops  open  in  Paris.  Kestaurants  were  open,  of 
course.  Otherwise,  Paris  has  just  as  orderly  a  Sunday  as  London,  and 
London  is  much  the  same  as  Toronto," 

So  that  we  have  Mr.  McPherson's  testimony  to  the  fact  that  Sunday 
is  kept  in  London  and  Paris  in  just  as  orderly  a  fashion  as  in  Toronto, 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  441 


though  selling  a  cigar  or  a  dish  of  ice-cream  is  not  a  criminal  offence,  as 
it  is  in  Toronto. 

Mr.  McPherson's  lack  of  observing  power  is  emphasized  by  his  state- 
ment regarding  Ludgate  Hill  and  Fleet  Street.  Both  are  short  streets, 
and  are  conterminous ;  so  that  his  statement  is  equivalent  to  telling  us 
that,  "being  near  Toronto  Street  (Toronto),  a  policeman  told  him  the 
nearest  restaurant  would  be  found  in  Leader  Lane — which  was  a  very 
long  way  !  " 

The  rest  of  the  interview  with  Mr.  McPherson  shows  with  what  sub- 
terfuges and  shuffling  arguments  the  action  of  the  Alliance  can  be  de- 
fended by  an  interested  lawyer,  who  would  be  ashamed  of  his  miserable 
cliildishness  were  he  not  a  pious  Christian — and  a  paid  or  *'  rice"  Chris- 
tian at  that. 

From  any  point  of  view,  Mr.  McPherson's  failure  to  observe  certain 
prominent  features  of  London  life  is  remarkable.  Many  thousands  of 
excursionists  leave  the  great  city  by  railway  every  Sunday,  the  public- 
houses  are  open  during  a  portion  of  the  day,  there  are  not 'a  few  beer- 
gardens  open  in  the  suburbs,  the  street  cars  and  omnibuses  give  a  full 
service,  and  the  church  attendance  is  very  small  compared  with  that  of 
Toronto  ;  and  yet  we  have  Mr.  McPherson's  testimony  that  in  London 
— and  also  in  wicked  Paris — Sunday  is  as  well  kept  as  it  is  in  our  pious 
Toronto. 

The  Sabbatarian  fanatics  are  not  content  with 
''  SUNDAY  CLOSING"  bulldozing  their  fellow-countrymen  in  religious 
IN  JAPAN.  matters,  but  have  carried  their  Puritanical  ty- 

ranny to  Japan,  where  one  cause  of  the  recent 
riots  is  said  to  have  been  the  attempt  of  the  missionaries  to  compel  the 
closing  of  all  shops  on  Sunday. 

In  the  riots,  several  Christian  churches  were  destroyed  in  Tokio,  and 
we  suppose  the  Japanese  authorities  will  be  called  upon  to  replace  them 
.'ifter  apologizing  for  the  misconduct  of  the  populace.  The  riots  are  to 
be  regretted,  but  they  are  no  doubt  signs  of  the  growing  sentiment  of 
the  people  in  favor  of  individual  liberty  and  freedom  of  opinion  and  of 
public  rights  that  are  results  of  the  modern  Japanese  reforms. 

As  for  the  missionaries,  they  appear  to  be  utterly  reckless  of  all  con- 
sequences so  long  as  they  can  push  forward  their  dogmatic  and  domi- 
neering system  under  the  protection  of  their  own  Governments.  The 
Japanese  authorities,  however,  may  be  safely  ti'usted  for  the  future  to 


442  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


keep  these  Western  religious  fanatics  and   their   followers  within  more 
reasonable  bounds. 

There  is  no  greater  satire  upon  the  homilies  of 
MODERN  RELI-  religion-mongers  than  the  news  that  comes  to  us 

GIOUS  SAVAGES.        every  few  months  from   South-eastern  Europe. 

Russia  and  Turkey  are  two  countries  in  which 
"  religion  "  has  perhaps  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  people  than  it  has  in 
any  country  outside  of  India ;  and  there  are  certainly  no  countries  in 
the  world  in  which  such  terrible  and  barbarous  tragedies  are  enacted. 
Kisheneff,  the  Caucasus,  and  Armenia  have  been  the  scenes  of  the  most 
diabolical  outrages  by  religious  fanatics  upon  both  Jews  and  Christians, 
to  which  plain  cannibalism  is  innocent  pastime. 

It  seems  difficult  to  understand  how  two  men  like  the  Sultan  and  the 
Czar  can  permit  the  wholesale  assassination  of  large  sections  of  their 
people  to  go  on  without  some  attempt  at  suppression.  We  can  under- 
stand that  ignorant  peasants  and  semi-civilized  and  half-trained  soldiers 
may  exult  in  venting  their  religious  ferocity  upon  their  fellow-country- 
men ;  but  what  can  we  think  of  a  ruler  who,  while  keeping  a  million  of 
men  in  the  field  to  conquer  new  territory,  permits  thousands  of  his 
people  to  be  slaughtered  by  other  religious  fanatics  ? 

We  see  in  these  Tartar  and  Khurdish  massacres  the  working  of  that 
brutal  and  religious  savagery  which  has  already  depopulated  large 
sections  of  the  earth's  surface,  once  fertile  and  prosperous. 

We  talk  of  Russia  and  Turkey  as  being  religious  and  civilized.  Such 
terms  are  the  very  reverse  of  being  appropriate.  Religious  they  maybe, 
and  no  doubt  they  are  ;  but  in  them  religion  is  synonymous  with  the 
most  brutal  and  fiendish  savagery. 

The  rulers  of  these  countries  may  be  educated  and  civilized  gentlemen ; 
but  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  logic  of  men  who  think  the  just  way  of 
dealing  with  them  is  to  treat  them  as  wild  beasts. 

In  our  view,  the  Emperor  or  Sultan  who  permits  such  atrocities  to  be 
repeated  in  his  dominions  without  using  every  endeavor  to  effectively 
stop  them,  is  certainly  no  better  than  a  wild  beast ;  and,  considering  his 
.  pportunities,  we  cannot  but  regard  him  as  a  great  deal  worse. 

We  need  not,  and  do  not,  advocate  political  assassination,  but  we  do 
sympathize  with  those  who  regard  it  as  their  only  means  of  procuring  a 
remedy  for  their  terrible  wrongs.  In  a  struggle  for  life  and  justice,  we 
can  no  more  commiserate  the  fate  of  a  ruler  who,  for  his   own  private 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  44  3 

ends,  had  sacrificed  the  interests  and  happiness  of  his  people,  and  had 
heen  assassinated  by  his  victims,  than  we  should  that  of  a  slaughtered 
man -eating  tiger. 

That  the  Salvation  Army  has  been  permitted  to 
THE  SALVATION  carry  on  its  noisy  and  offensive  campaign  in 
ARMY  AT  MON-  many    communities    where    *' religion  "    has    a 

TREAL.  strong  hold,  seems  to  have  given  them  the  idea 

that  they  possess  a  prescriptive  right  to  carry  it 
on  anywhere.  Our  Canadian  Government  is  so  far  a  religious  institution, 
that  for  political  purposes  it  has  fostered  this  idea,  and  w^e  cannot  wonder 
that  the  Salvationists  have  felt  themselves  justified  in  making  demon- 
strations in  Catholic  districts,  where  for  many  years  past  Protestant 
processions  have  been  forbidden.  The  time  is  come,  however,  when 
noisy  public  demonstrations  of  religion  are  anachronisms  that  should  be 
stopped.  A  religion  that  needs  big  drums  and  noisy  harangues  in  the 
public  streets  for  its  propagation  becomes  offensive  to  public  decency, 
and  its  demonstrations  should  be  restrained  by  law,  instead  of  being 
allowed  to  excite  the  passions  of  rival  fanatics. 

We  are  glad  to  note  that  Mr.  Justice  Magee  has 
A  VICTORY  FOR  given  a  judgment  favorable  to  the  Sarnia  Street 

SUNDAY  STREET  Railway  Company  in  the  suit  brought  against 
CARS  AT  SARNIA.       it  by  the  Township  (backed,  we  understand,  by 

a  sum  of  $500  given  by  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance). 
The  railway,  under  a  clause  in  their  agreement  permitting  cars  to  be 
run  on  Sunday  "  to  and  from  the  cemetery,"  had  run  cars  from  both 
ends  of  the  line  to  the  cemetery,  which  was  situated  midway.  The  Alli- 
ance sought  to  stop  all  Sunday  cars  except  cars  from  the  town  to  the 
cemetery,  one  to  accommodate  church-goers,  and  one  for  milk.  The 
case  is  set  down  for  future  trial,  and  in  the  meantime  the  Alliance  asked 
for  an  order  preventing  the  company  from  running  any  but  the  cars 
named.  Justice  Magee,  however,  held  that  the  interpretation  of  the 
Alliance  could  only  be  held  to  apply  to  the  morning  service,  and  as  far 
as  the  afternoon  service  is  concerned,  adjourned  it  to  the  trial. 

Practically,  this  judgment  gives  the  company  power  to  run  its  cars  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  whicli  is  really  all  the  people  want  The  church- 
goers and  the  milkmen  can  have  their  cars  in  the  morning,  and  the  pic- 
nickers have  theirs  in  the  afternoon.  Why  should  religious  bigots  try 
to  stop  so  equitable  an  arrangement  ? 


444  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 


IRevivaliat  Zovvc^  Conbemnet)  b^  Wi.  Z.  Steab* 


:o:- 


In  the  July  Review  of  Reviews,  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  the  well-known  Chris- 
tian journalist,  gives  a  full  explanation  of  his  recent  correspondence  with 
Dr.  Torrey,  the  Eevivalist,  who  has  heen  carrying  on  a  missionary  cam- 
paign in  England,  which  we  have  already  noticed.  Like  all  other  Revi- 
valists, Dr.  Torrey  made  a  great  feature  of  attacking  "  infidelity."  Being 
challenged,  however,  by  some  of  the  London  Freethinkers,  Dr.  Torrey 
finally  insisted  upon  the  truth  of  two  of  his  charges,  one  against  Thomas 
Paine,  the  other  against  Robert  Ingersoll.  As  a  set-off  to  the  Torrey 
crusade,  Mr.  G.  W.  Foote,  the  editor  of  the  London  Freethinker,  issued 
three  specially-prepared  pamphlets,  many  thousands  of  copies  of  which 
were  distributed  among  the  attendants  at  Dr.  Torrey 's  meetings  at  Albert 
Hall,  London.  One  of  these  pamphlets  was  handed  to  Mr.  Stead  as  he 
was  entering  the  hall,  and  led  to  his  making  inquiries ;  and,  becoming 
convinced  of  the  incorrectness  of  Dr.  Torrey's  statements,  and  finding 
it  impossible  to  get  a  straightforward  or  honorable  reply  from -him,  he 
determined  to  publish  a  full  statement  of  the  whole  matter  in  his  maga- 
zine.    From  this  statement  we  select  the  following  passages. 


HOW    THE   QUESTION    AROSE. 

The  correspondence  with  Dr.  Torrey  came  about  in  this  wise.  When  Dr. 
'lorrey  was  at  Liverpool  two  years  ago  he  appears  to  have  committed  himself  to 
some  variant  of  his  favorite  thesis — that  infidelity  and  immorality  are  Siamese 
twins.  He  was  thereupon  challenged  by  a  Liverpool  Freethinker  to  say  whether 
Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Haeckel,  Morley  and  Rradlaugh  were  all  immoral 
men.  Dr.  Torrey  says  that  he  '"could  not  honorably  dodge  the  question."  He 
evaded  it  by  riding  off  on  a  side  issue,  changed  the  venue  to  one  where  he 
thought  he  was  on  sure  ground,  and  attacked  the  moral  character  of  Tom  Paine 
and  Colonel  Ingersoll.  The  exact  words  which  he  used  on  that  occasion  were 
not  stenographically  reported  ;  but,  again  to  use  his  own  phrase,  '•  The  main 
facts  stand."  He  attributed  wickedness  to  his  opponents,  as  he  was  careful  to 
explain  to  a  correspondent,  "for  the  simple  reason— in  practical  experience,  by 
the  confessions  of  countless  men,  I  have  found  that  immorality  lay  at  the  basis 
of  their  infidelity,  and  that  when  they  give  up  their  immorality  they  get  that 
clear  vision  of  truth  that  enabled  them  to  see  there  is  a  God,  and  that  the  Bible 
is  His  Word." 

He  attempted  to  cover  Tom  Paine  and  Colonel  Ingersoll  with  moral  obloquy 
in  order  to  discredit  their  judgment  of  the  Bible.  Such,  at  least,  was  the  explana- 
tion which  he  gave  when  challenged  on  the  subject  in  a  letter  written  by  him  on 
October  20th,  1903,  from   Mather's  Hotel,  Dundee,  to  Mr.  James,  of  Liverpool. 

THE    CHARGES    AGAINST    PAINE    AND    INGERSOLL. 

I  should  probably  have  known  nothing  about  this  if  there  had  not  been  put 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  445 


into  my  hand,  as  I  was  entering  the  Albert  Hall  on  the  opening  day  of  the 
mission,  a  small  but  very  effective  pamphlet  entitled  "  Dr.  Torrey  and  the 
Infidels,"  written  and  published  by  Mr.  G.  VV.  Foote,  the  well-knowji  editor  of 
the  Freethinker.  The  challenge  was  clear  and  precise,  and  it  was  a  few  days 
later  emphasized  by  Mr.  Blatchford  in  the  Clarion.  Do  the  Christians  of 
London,  it  was  asked,  condone  or  tolerate  the  libelling  of  Freethinkers  as  a 
legitimate  method  of  Christian  propaganda?  As  I  had  taken  part  in  welcoming 
Dr.  Torrey  to  London,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  clear  myself,  certainly,  and  Dr.  Torrey, 
if  possible,  from  so  scandalous  an  imputation. 

The  particular  immoralities  which  he  laid  to  the  door  of  these  two  eminent 
American  Freethinkers,  in  support  of  his  thesis  that  infidelity  and  immorality  are 
Siamese  twins,  were  understood  by  his  catechist  to  be  adultery  in  the  case  of 
Paine,  and  assisting  the  circulation  of  obscene  literature  in  the  case  of  IngersolL 
What  Dr.  Torrey  said  in  order  to  support  his  charge  that  Paine  was  indulging  in. 
immoralities  after  the  usual  fashion  of  Freethinkers,  was  to  refer  to  what  he 
described  as  "  the  coinmonly  believed  outrageous  action"  of  Thomas  Paine  in 
*'  taking  another  man's  wife  with  him  to  France  and  living  with  her."  As  to 
Ingersoll,  he  appears  to  have  endorsed  and  repeated  the  statement  of  one  Dixon, 
who  had  libelled  Ingersoll  by  asserting  that  he  was  "  paid  by  the  publishers  of 
obscene  literature  in  America  to  support  them  in  polluting  the  minds  of  youth." 

THE    TRUTH    ABOUT    PAINE. 

Dr.  Torrey  was  most  unfortunae  in  thus  condescending  upon  particulars. 
Mr.  G.  VV.  Foote,  the  editor  of  the  Freethinker,  in  the  pamphlet  1  have  just 
referred  to,  at  once  pointed  out  that  in  both  cases  the  falsehood  of  the  accusatiarv 
thus  revived  by  Dr.  Torrey  had  been  demonstrated  in  American  Courts.  The 
"commonly  believed  outrageous  action  "  of  Thomas  Paine  in  living  with  another 
man's  wife  was  shown  to  have  been  the  kindly  hospitality  shown  by  an  old  man 
of  sixty-seven  to  the  refugee  family  of  his  French  benefactor.  The  only  man  who 
had  ever  imputed  a  shadow  of  obloquy  to  Paine  in  this  connection  went  into  the 
witness  box  after  Paine's  death  and  solemnly  swore  that  there  was  no  foundation 
for  his  calumny.  The  over-zealous  publisher  who  had  repeated  it  was  found 
guilty,  in  a  criminal  action,  of  slandering  Mme.  Bonneville,  the  "  man's  wife"  in 
(]uesti()n,  and  was  mulcted  in  a  fine  which  was  reduced  to  a  minimum  because, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  jury,  the  libel  appeared  in  a  journal  published  in  the 
interests  of  the  Christian  religion  !  Dr.  Torrey,  as  will  be  seen  from  his  letter 
quoted  below,  is  very  well  aware  that  the  charge  of  adultery  was  not  anly 
unproved,  but  was  clearly  disproved  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  Christian  jury  ;  yet 
in  his  zeal  against  the  Freethinkers  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  charging 
Paine  with  indulging  in  itiKnoralities,  adducing  in  proof  of  this  accusation  his 
"  outrageous  action  "  in  "  taking  another  man's  wife  to  (or  from)  France  and 
living  with  her." 

COLONEL    INGERSOLL    AND    OBSCENE    LITERATURE. 

The  case  about  Colonel  Ingersoll  is,  if  possible,  even  stronger,  because  it  is  so 
recent,  and  the  matter  is  one  of  Court  record  no  farther  back  than  1893.  The 
American  law  authorizing  a  Post  Office  official  to  decide  what  is  and  what  is  not 
obscene  literature  places  an  arbitrary  authority  in  the  hand  of  an  unknown 
censor  which  wou'd  not  be  tolerated  for  a  moment  in  Great  Britain.  The 
Comstock  law,  as  it  is  called,  is  so  obviously  capable  of  abuse  that  from  time  to 
time  men  who  hold  the  faith  which  Milton  held  in  the  liberty  of  the  press  have 


446  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


protested  against  such  absolute  power  being  lodged  in  the  hands  of  any  official. 
If,  at  this  moment,  this  unknown  bureaucrat  were  to  decide  that  the  Song  of 
Solomon  and  Shakespeare's  poems  were  obscene,  anyone  who  sent  a  copy  of  the 
Bible  or  of  Shakespeare  through  the  post  would  be  liable  to  be  sent  to  gaol  on 
the  charge  of  using  the  mails  for  circulating  obscene  literature  !  In  a  recent 
case  which  led  to  the  tragic  death  of  a  friend  of  my  own,  the  judge  expressly 
refused  to  listen  to  any  evidence  as  to  the  morality  of  the  book  in  question. 
When  the  Post  Office,  he  ruled,  had  decided  that  any  publication  was  obscene, 
the  function  of  the  Court  was  limited  to  ascertaining  whether  or  not  an  attempt 
had  been  made  to  send  that  book  through  the  mails.  This  law  arms  a  Post 
Office  official  with  absolute  power  to  place  whatever  publication  he  pleases  on  a 
far  mote  terrible  Index  Expurgatorius  than  that  of  Rome.  Its  existence  in  a 
free  country  is  a  temporary  anomaly  and  an  intolerable  anachronism.  Colonel 
Ingersoll  and  the  Freethinkers  of  America  wished  to  amend  the  law.  But 
Colonel  Ingersoll  was  so  extremely  puritan  in  his  detestation  of  obscenity  in  any 
shape  or  form  that  he  actually  resigned  his  vice-presidency  on  the  Comstock 
Law  Reform  Committee  because  the  majority  wished  to  go  farther  than  he 
thought  desirable  in  forbidding  any  tampering  with  mail  matter.  He  declared 
that  he  yielded  to  none  in  his  desire  to  stamp  out  obscene  literature.  All  that 
he  desired  was  to  prevent  a  law  aimed  at  obscenity  being  abused  so  as  to  curtail 
the  legitimate  liberty  of  discussion. 

HOW    HE     WAS    LIBELLED. 

His  position  was  perfectly  clear.  Nevertheless,  a  Reverend  Mr.  Dixon  did 
not  hesitate  to  declare  that  Ingersoll  was  paid  by  publishers  of  obscene  literature 
to  support  their  efforts  to  pollute  the  mind  of  American  youth.  Upon  this 
Iriger-oH's  patience  gave  way,  and  he  brought  his  libeller  into  Court.  Dixon  in 
his  dtfjnce  did  not  even  try  to  justify  his  charge  that  Ingersoll  was  paid  by 
vendors  of  obscene  literature,  beyond  referring  to  the  well-known  fact  that 
Ingersoll  had  publicly  advocated  the  amendment  of  the  Comstock  law,  and  was 
a  notorious  infidel. 

So  far,  therefore,  from  the  action  of  Ingersoll  in  this  matter  justifying  any 
imputation  upon  his  morality,  the  facts  show  hirn  to  have  taken  a  very  high 
moral  line  on  the  question.  IngersoU's  own  character  is  on  record.  He  was  a 
Freethinker,  an  eloquent,  audacious,  profane,  atheistic  blasphemer.  But  he  was 
not  an  immoral  man.  He  did  not  aid  and  abet  the  circulation  of  obscene 
literature.  His  family  life  was  one  of  idyllic  purity  and  felicity,  and  so  far  from 
being  an  advocate  of  unlimited  license  in  the  circulation  of  obscene  literature,  he 
severed  himself  from  his  own  colleagues  and  associates  rather  than  follow  them 
in  advocating  a  liberty  which  he  feared  might  tend  to  pollute  the  mind  of 
American  youth. 

WHY    I    WROTE    TO    DR.    TORREY. 

Paine  and  Ingersoll  were  the  two  typical  and  conspicuous  Freethinkers  who 
were  singled  out  by  Dr.  Torrey  as  notorious  examples  of  the  intimate  and 
necessary  connection  which  prevails  between  immorality  and  infidelity.  It 
seemed  to  me  absolutely  unthinkable  that  Dr.  Torrey  could  have  brought  such 
foul  accusations  and  insinuations  against  two  such  well-known  public  men, 
except  in  sheer  and  honest  ignorance.  Believing  this,  I  ventured  in  all  kindli- 
ness of  spirit  to  call  Dr.  Torrey's  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  had  inadvertently 
-done  a   gross  injustice  to  Paine  and  Ingersoll,  and  appealed  to  him  to  take  an 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  447 


opportunity  of  putting  himself  right  with  the  pubh'c  by  making  a  generous 
amende  to  the  character  of  men  whom  he  had  libelled,  I  was  sure,  unwittingly 
and  in  all  good  faith.  To  my  intense  surprise  and  regret  Dr.  Torrey  did  not 
respond  to  my  appeal  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  made  It  was  only  after  a 
prolonged  correspondence  that  I  was  able  at  last  to  extract  from  him  a  statement 
which  appears  to  be  the  nearest  approach  which  Dr.  Torrey  is  able  to  make 
towards  an  amende  honorable  to  the  man  upon  whose  moral  character  he  had 
cast  an  unwarrantable  aspersion. 

DR.  torrp:y's   statement. 

Writing  on  Saturday,  May  6th,  Dr.  Torrey  set  forth  the  reasons  why  he  did 
not  think  it  necessary  to  repeat  the  charges  which  he  had  actually  made  against 
Paine.  But  when  on  Monday  the  letter  was  brought  to  him  to  sign,  he  added 
the  following  postscript,  which  I  reproduce,  as  he  insists,  exactly  as  it  is  written, 
although,  as  will  be  seen,  three-fourths  of  it  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
only  point  which  was  in  controversy,  viz.  —  Did  Dr.  Torrey  suggest  that  Paine 
lived  in  adultery  with  another  man's  wife,  and,  if  so,  was  it  true  ?  Dr,  Toirey 
now  admits  that  this  was  not  true  ;  but  he  implies  that  when  he  charged  Paine 
with  living  with  another  man's  wife,  he  did  not  mean  to  suggest  adultery  !  Upon 
that  statement  it  is  unnecessary  to  comment.  Here  is  the  voluminous  postscript 
just  as  it  was  written  [some  few  passages  have  been  excised]  : 

The  number  of  charges  made  against  Mr.  Thomas  Paine  by  those  who  have 
sought  to  expose  his  character  are  seven.  There  are  others,  but  I  think  it  will  be 
sufficiently  full  to  state  these  seven. 

1.  That  Thomas  Paine  was  on  two  occasions  dishonorably  discharged  from 
his  office  in  the  Excise. 

2.  That  the  cause  of  his  discharge  was,  that  while  he  himself  was  an  Excise 
officer,  that  he  at  the  same  time  dealt  in  and  smuggled  tobacco,  and  secreted 
thirty  pounds  entrusted  to  him  by  the  Excise  men. 

3.  That  he  put  away  his  lawful  wife  without  giving  any  explanation  of  the 
cause  of  his  trouble  with  her,  and  afterwards  on  several  occasions  lived  with  the 
wife  of  another  man,  who  followed  him  from  France  on  his  return  from  America, 
and  that  at  his  death  lie  did  not  leave  his  property  to  his  wife,  who  was  still 
living,  but  did  leave  it  to  this  woman  and  her  children. 

4  That  his  relations  with  this  woman  who  followed  him  from  Paris  were 
positively  immoral  and  licentious,  and  that,  furthermore,  his  relations  with  her 
were  immoral  while  they  still  lived  in  France,  and  that  one  of  her  children, 
"Thomas,"  bad  the  features,  countenance  and  temper  of  Paine — the  implication, 
of  course,  being  that  he  was  Paine's  son. 

5.  That  while  in  Paris,  about  the  time  of  publishing  "The  Age  of  Reason," 
he  fell  into  habits  of  excessive  drinking,  that  these  habits  were  continued  through 
a  number  of  years,  and  that  after  his  return  to  America  resulted  in  unpleasant 
manners  and  dress.  That  this,  along  with  other  things,  caused  many  of  his  old- 
lime  friends  to  withdraw  their  society  from  him. 

6.  That  because  George  Washington,  who  in  earlier  days  had  been  his  friend 
and  had  shown  him  much  kindness,  felt  compelled  to  withdraw  his  support  from 
him  in  these  later  days,  Paine  accused  Washington  of  treachery,  and  wrote  a  long 
and  bitter  attack,  trying  to  besmirch  Washington's  military  career,  as  well  as  his 
{)olicy  as  President. 

7.  That  Paine  tried  to  stir  up  an  invasion  of  England  by  Napoleon,  and  sub- 


448  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


scribed  loolivres  in  1789  toward  a  descent  upon  England  ;  and  thai  again  in  1804 
he  was  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  such  an  invasion  being  made. 

These  are,  perhaps,  the  principal  charges  that  have  been  made  against  Paine. 
My  opinion  about  the  charges  is  as  follows  : 

Charge  1.     Proven  and  undenied,  a  matter  of  record. 

Charge  2.  I  do  not  think  that  this  is  proven.  The  charge  is  made  by 
Oldys,  one  of  the  commissioners,  but  it  does  not  appear  in  the  official  document. 
As  far  iis  the  first  discharge  is  concerned,  the  record  is  that  he  was  discharged 
for  neglect  of  duty  by  entering  in  his  books  examinations  which  had  not  been 
actually  made  ;  and  as  far  as  regards  the  second  discharge  is  concerned,  the 
official  document  states  simply  that  he  had  left  his  h)usiness  without  leave  and 
gone  off  on  account  of  his  debts. 

Charge  3.  The  third  charge  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  not  denied  by  anyone  who 
has.  ever  investigated  the  matter  at  all  caiefully.  It  is  sometimes  obscured,  or 
-not  mentioned  by  his  defenders,  but  I  know  of  no  one  who  has  written  intelli- 
gently on  the  subject  who  has  denied  it — not  even  those  whose  defences  of 
Paine  have  most  distorted  the  facts,  to  give  them  a  coloring  favorable  to  Paine. 

Charge  4  /  douH  regard  as  proven.  Cheetham,  who  made  the  charge  that 
Thomas  had  the  features,  countenance  and  temper  of  Paine,  was  sued  for  libel 
by  the  woman  in  the  case,  and  she  obtained  a  verdict  against  him.  Of  course, 
this  does  not  prove  that  the  charge  was  net  true,  for  it  is  oftentimes  impossible 
to  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  jury  charges  that  may  be  true,  but  certainly 
•sufficient  evidence  for  regarding  the  charge  as  not  proven  .  .  .  It  is  the  obliga- 
tion of  those  who  make  the  charges  to  prove  them,  and  to  my  mind  this  par- 
ticular charge  against  Paine  has  not  been  proven,  and  we  are  bo^ind  to  believe 
Jiim  innocent  of  this  particular  charge  until  it  is  proven.  The  fact  that  Paine 
himself  slandered  George  Washington,  slandered  the  Bible  and  men  of  the  Bible, 
and  sought  to  bring  bloodshed  upon,  his  native  land,  is  not  sufficient  reason  for 
^believing  insufficiently  supported  statements  against  him. 

Charge  5.  The  fifth  charge  is  admitted  to  be  true  by  Paine's  defenders  as 
well  as  by  his  enemies.  Some  of  them  seek  to  obscure  the  fact,  but  are  forced 
to  admit  it  before  they  get  through.  For  example,  one  writer  who  writes  in 
defence  of  Paine  says,  "  The  special  charges  of  drunkenness  made  by  Cheetham 
and  Carver  are  discredited  by  this  proof  of  their  character,"  and  further  on  says, 
^'Carver  afterwards  confessed  that  he  had  lied  as  to  the  diink,"  but  this  very 
writer  further  down  says,  "  It  is  admitted,  however,  that  the  charge  of  drinking 
was  not  without  foundation." 

Charge  6.     This  charge  is  unquestionably  true. 

Charge  7.     The  seventh  charge  is  unquestionably  true. 

Here,  then,  is  the  state  of  the  case  as  regards  Mr.  Thomas  Paine  as  I  under- 
stand it.  It  certainly  leaves  him  in  a  very  unattractive  light,  and  shows  him  as 
an  altogether  unlovely  man.  But  in  spite  of  his  erratic  thinking,  his  utter  unre- 
liability as  a  statesman  (one  of  his  admirers  has  recently  written  of  him  as  a 
-*'  great  statesman  "),  and  his  very  reprehensible  conduct,  it  is  only  justice  to 
Paine  to  say  that  at  an  important  crisis  in  the  American  Revolution  a  pamphlet 
by  him  played  an  important  part  in  heartening  the  revolutionists  ;  and  if  the 
separation  of  America  from  England  was  a  good  thing,  then  part  of  the  credit 
for  it  belongs  to  Paine,  though  probably  no  such  important  part  as  he  and  his 
friends  have  claimed  for  him.  He  seems  to  have  very  much  over-estimated  his 
services,  but  they  were  not  small.     Furthermore,  it   is  due   him    to   say  that  he 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  449 


anticipated  many  of  the  so-called  results  of  what  its  advocates  delight  to  call  "  the 
new  views  of  the  Bible.  "  If  the  destructive  criticism  of  to-day,  represented  by 
the  Graf-Wellhausen  school  of  criticism,  is  true,  and  a  real  advance  in  Biblical 
knowledge,  it  is  not  more  then  fair  to  admit  that  on  this  point  Paine  was  about 
a  century  ahead  of  them,  for  many  of  the  points  they  most  emphasize  are  found 
in  Paine's  writing.  In  fact,  at  a  great  religious  congress  in  America,  Rev.  Dr. 
Howard  Osgood,  Professor  at  Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  read  at  the  Con- 
gress a  statement  of  the  positions  held  by  these  advanced  critics,  and  then 
appealed  to  them  and  asked  if  it  was  not  a  fair  statement  of  their  positions. 
They  replied,  "  Yes,"  that  it  was.  Then  he  said,  "  I  have  been  reading  ver 
batim  from  Thomas  Paine's  '  Age  of  Reason.'  " 

Now,  as  to  what  I  said  about  Paine  at  Liverpool.  It  is  contained  in  the 
third  charge  given  above,  and  which  is  proven.  I  think  I  rnay  have  also  referred 
to  the  fifth  charge,  which  is  also  proven ;  but  it  is  a  long  time  ago,  and  I  am  not 
sure  on  this  latter  point 

Upon  this  statement  Mr.  Stead  remarks  : 

Paine  married  twice.  His  second  wife  and  he  parted,  no  one  knows  why.  No> 
one  even  among  Paine's  worst  libellers  suggests  that  she  had  any  reason  of 
complaint  against  him.  As  for  the  other  accusations,  some  are  trumpery,  others 
nonsensical,  and  none  of  them  material  to  the  main  issue.  If  at  one  time  of  his 
career  Paine  drank  more  than  was  good  for  him,  he  but  followed  the  example  of 
the  greatest  statesmen  of  his  time.  To  drink  each  other  under  the  table  was  the 
custom  in  the  best  English  society  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  Paine  at  his  worst 
never  drank  as  heavily  as  Pitt  and  Fox  and  most  of  their  contemporaries.  That 
Paine  criticized  Washington  for  leaving  him  in  the  lurch  in  Paris  is  true,  and  no 
one  can  blame  him  for  doing  so.  As  to  Paine's  stirring  up  Napoleon  to  invade 
England  in  1789  {sic)  by  a  subscription  of  100  livres,  that  may  or  may  not  be 
true  ;  but  it  does  not  prove  that  Paine  was  immoral.  If  Paine  entertained  hopes 
that  the  French  would  invade  England,  he  shared  the  sentiments  of  many  dis- 
tinguished Englishmen  of  that  time.  That  he  rendered  yeoman's  service  to  the 
American  Revolution  is  to  be  rembered  by  Englishmen  with  gratitude.  For 
George  HI.  was  in  the  wrong  and  George  Washington  was  in  the  right,  and  so 
say  all  of  us  to-day.  As  to  his  anticipation  of  the  results  of  the  Higher  Criticism, 
that  also  should  be  placed  to  his  credit.     But  all  these  are  mere  side  issues. 

(To  be  concluded). 


1?attonaI  Cbrtettaniti?^ 

:o: 

BY    GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.    SUN. 

:o: 

To  the  Editor. 

Sir, — Your  correspondent's  '*  attitude  toward  Christianity  "  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  lively  comment  in  clerical  quarters.  He  is  denounced  as  an  "  atheist," 
a  term  which  seems  to  be  deemed  applicable  to  one  who,  though  he  has  by  no 
means  renounced  theistic  belief,  has  lost  faith  in  the  evidences  of  a  miraculous 
revelation  and  in  the  authority  of  dogma.     My  attitude,  and  I  apprehend  not 


450  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


mine  alone,  is  that  of  one  who  has  heard  the  words  of  the  founder  of  Christen- 
dom on  a  hillside  in  Galilee.  No  miracle  was  needed  to  confirm  belief  in  his 
words,  nor  was  any  performed  by  him  on  that  occasion.  Of  dogma  nothing  fell 
from  his  lips. 

The  evidence  of  Christianity  to  people  of  my  way  of  thinking  is  the  character 
it  has  produced  and  the  effect  which  its  approximate  influence  has  had  on  the 
progress  of  mankind,  notwithstanding  all  the  adverse  forces,  including  the  per- 
version of  religion  itself  by  Popes,  inquisitions,  Jesuits  and  fantics  of  various 
kinds.  No  other  creed — Buddhist,  Mohammedan  or  Rousseauist — has  shown 
such  power  for  good. 

"  I  express  myself  with  caution  lest  I  should  be  mistaken  to  vilify  reason, 
which  is  indeed  the  only  faculty  we  have  to  judge  concerning  anything,  even 
revelation  itself;  or  be  misunderstood  to  assert  that  a  supposed  revelation  cannot 
be  proved  false  from  internal  characters." 

So  says  Bishop  Butler,  of  all  apologists  the  greatest.  If  reason  has  been  given 
us  by  the  author  of  our  being  as  our  guide  and  our  sole  guide  to  truth,  are  not 
the  discoveries  of  science  and  criticism  as  really  revelations  as  though  they  had 
been  dictated  to  an  inspired  penman  or  proclaimed  amid  the  thunders  of  Sinai  ? 

Of  all  the  miracles  not  one  is  better  attested  than  the  casting  out  of  devils  into 
a  herd  of  swine  at  Gadara.  Mark  the  apologetic  agonies  of  Dean  Farrar  and 
other  orthodox  commentators  in  dealing  with  this  passage.  Are  their  devices 
less  injurious  to  Christianity  than  the  belief  that  in  this  case  as  in  many  others 
there  has  gathered  about  the  adored  head  a  halo  of  miracle  ;  miracle  in  this  case, 
-like  the  character,  wholly  beneficent,  not  destructive  or  mere  display  of  power  ? 

As  to  dogma,  the  whole  structure  apparently  rests  on  the  Mosaic  account  of 
the  Creation  and  of  the  Fall  of  Man.  Without  the  Fall  there  could  have  been 
no  room  for  the  Incarnation  and  the  Atonement.  But  who,  in  the  face  of  the 
discoveries  of  science,  can  continue  to  believe  in  the  Mosaic  account  of  Creation 
and  the  Fall  of  Man  ? 

I  would  not  say  anything  by  way  of  retort  or  infuse  a  single  drop  of  gall  into 
the  discussion.  It  is  very  easy  to  sympathize  with  the  clergy  in  their  alarm  at  the 
spreading  doubts.  But  they  who  should  be  our  guides,  unfortunately  for  us  all, 
are  fettered  by  ordination  tests,  and  they  can  hardly  look  without  prejudice  on 
the  simple  pursuit  of  truth,  which  nevertheless,  if  God  speaks  to  us  through  our 
reason  and  our  conscience,  instead  of  being  atheism  is  obedience  to  the  com- 
mands of  God. 


I  am  disposed  to  think  that  a  great  and  increasing  portion  of  the  moral  worth 
of  society  lies  outside  of  the  Christian  Church,  separated  from  it  not  by  godless- 
ness,  but  rather  by  exceptionally  intense  moral  earnestness.  It  is  that  the  moral 
ideas  of  men  have  overtaken  and  passed  beyond  and  above  those  contained  in 
the  doctrinal  presentations  of  Christianity. — Professor  Bruce. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  451 


a  IDoice  from  tbe  ^Tombe. 


BY    F.    J.    GOULD. 

:o: 

A  NEW  bishop  has  been  enthroned  in  the  see  of  Gloucester.  His  name  is 
Gibson.  I  never  heard  of  him  before.  I  trust  he  may  live  for  many  decades 
yet.  When,  however,  he  does  pass  to  a  more  intelligent  world,  I  fear  it  will  not 
be  said  of  him  : 

"  He  left  a  name  at  which  the  woild  grew  pale, 
To  point  a  moral  or  adorn  a  tale." 

Unless,  indeed,  it  is  the  tale  of  the  tombs.  It  seems  that  his  tendency  is  not 
to  the  extreme  High  Church.  Invitations  to  dissenting  persons  were  issued  on 
the  occasion  of  the  enthronement ;  and  the  dissenters  accepted.  Baptist  virtOes, 
Wesleyan  piety,  and  Congregational  scholarship  flashed,  like  the  diamonds  in 
the  coronets  f)f  peeresses,  across  the  sacred  building  in  which  the  ceremonial  took 
place.  One  would  have  thought  all  the  world  would  be  delighted.  It  was  not 
so.  A  melancholy  indignation  presided  over  the  subsequent  meeting  of  the 
Gloucestershire  (Central)  District  of  the  English  Church  Union.  A  committee, 
as  big  with  grave  thoughts  as  the  historical  Council  of  Ten  in  Venice,  had  sat 
with  closed  doors,  wrestled  in  official  agony,  and  then  produced  the  following 
sacerdotal  yell,  which  the  assembly  endorsed  : 

*'  Your  committee  cannot  conclude  without  uttering,  most  regretfully  and  with 
all  respect,  their  solemn  protest  against  the  grave  breach  of  ecclesiastical  order 
and  discipline  which  was  committed  by  the  cathedral  authorities  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  enthronement  of  Bishop  Gibson.  Not  only  were  leaders  of  sects 
invited  to-be  present  and  to  accept  seats  in  the  choir,  but,  in  consequence,  some 
of  the  clergy  had  to  seek  such  sequestered  accommodation  as  the  ambulatories 
and  tombs  could  afford.  The  invitation  to  leaders  of  sects,  who  reject  episcopal 
authority,  to  take  part  in  a  bishop's  solemn  enthronement  might  have  excited 
amazement  only  were  it  not  for  the  gravity  of  the  scandal.  The  extrusion  of 
priests  from  the  choir  of  their  own  cathedral  because  their  seats  have  been 
assii^ned  to  conscientious  opponents  of  the  Church  of  England  is  only  less  an 
insult  than  it  is  a  wrong." 

I  have  often  felt  inclined  to  complain  to  Providence  for  an  excessive  endowment 
of  imagination,  only  I  never  quite  knew  the  correct  channel  through  which  to 
forward  the  regretful  communication.  And  it  was  truly  painful  to  me  when  my 
imagination,  going  beyond  all  decent  bounds,  pictured  the  scene  in  Gloucester 
Cathedral.  Charming  enough  was  the  view  of  the  Free  Church  leaders  gleaming 
in  their  armor  of  light  as  they  sat  in  the  august  choir.  But  not  without  a  pang 
could  I  conceive  the  outer  circle  of  the  dam — I  mean  the  extruded  (see  Report 
supra)  clergy  in  the  ambulatories  and  among  the  tombs.  Nonconformity  exalted 
in  high  places,  and  the  Apostolic  Succession  lurking  gloomily  in  the  corners  of 
the  side-walks  and  behind  marble  sepulchres  !  The  bright  beams  of  Bishop 
Gibson's  presence  playing  effulgently  on  the  countenance  of  Schism,  while  the 


452  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


seraph  Abdiel   ("among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he!")  skulks  in  dim  aisles 
amid  Gloucester  market  women  and  local  ironmongers  ! 

It  is  all  very  well,  however,  for  the  Church  Union  to  dub  itself  Catholic.  The 
children  of  Rome  know  better.  There  was,  and  is,  but  one  Christian  Catholicism, 
and  that  has  its  seat  of  authority  in  the  Vatican.  And  though  the  New  Zealander 
will  never,  as  Macaulay  hinted,  see  a  ruined  St.  Paul's  look  dismally  down  on 
the  broken  arches  of  London  Bridge  while  the  Roman  Church  still  flourishes, 
yet  the  Papal  Communion  will  subsist  for  a  long  period  to  come,  and  will  never 
yield  its  supremacy  to  the  so-called  Catholic  Church  of  the  xAnglican  species.  In 
spite  of  the  voice  from  the  ambulatories  and  the  tombs,  the  Anglican  clergy  are 
historically  on  a  level  with  the  "  conscientious  opponents  of  the  Church  of 
England."  They  all  row  the  same  Protestant  boat.  They  are  afflicted  with  the 
same  religious  sterility.  They  are  brethren  in  the  same  philosophical  anarchy. 
They  are  under  the  same  sentence  of  death  pronounced  by  the  genius  of  the 
age.  Protestantism  cannot  form  a  government,  even  though  it  should  receive 
ever  so  many  seals  of  office.  Luther  founded  a  dynasty  which  was  bound  to 
become  extinct  in  a  few  centuries.  T'he  once  majestic  line  of  the  Reformation 
^as  frittered  itself  into  plebeian  groups  which  fail  to  rally  or  regulate  the  soul  of 
•civilization. 

If,  setting  aside  the  anachronisms,  we  can  suppose  a  congress  of  the  modern 
pioneers  of  science — say  Galileo,  Kepler,  Huyghens,  Bacon,  Descartes,  and 
Newton — to  have  assembled  on  the  threshold  of  the  new  age,  and  if  they  had 
been  asked  whether  they  believed  their  scientific  spirit  would  prevail  against  its 
enemies,  we  may  be  quite  sure  they  would  all,  with  one  consent,  have  answered 
Yes.     Faith  animated  their  breasts,  and  victory  sparkled  in  their  eyes. 

And  now  suppose  that  a  similar  meeting  were  held  to-day  of  clerical  leaders 
from  all  parts  of  Protestant  Christendom.  Let  them  glance  at  the  conditions  of 
the  modern  world,  intellectual  and  moral.  Let  them  note  the  attitude  of  the 
working  classes  and  the  educated  social  grades.  And  then  let  them  say  if  they 
think  heaven  flings  out  any  sign  in  which  they  shall  conquer. 

They  may  take  what  station  they  like  ;  bask  in  the  glory  of  the  choir,  creep  in 
the  ambulatories,  or  fidget  among  the  haunted  tombs.  The  future  is  not  with 
them. — Literary  Guide. 


SEEMED  A  GOOD  CAUSE  TO  THE  BOY. 

^'  Ma,  what  are  the  folks  in  our  church  getting  up  a  subscription  for?  "  asked 
a  small  boy  of  Holton  of  his  mother. 

"  To  send  our  minister  on  a  vacation  to  Europe  this  summer." 

'•  An'  won't  there  be  no  church  while  he's  gone  ?  " 

"  No  preaching  service,  I  guess." 

"  Ma,  I  got  $1.23  saved  up  in  my  bank — can  I  give  that?" — Holton  Register. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  45B 


Zbc  ^wentij^ecven  Dai?  pcrtoD  of  flDagnetic 
®i6turi)ance. 

:o: 

BY    A.    ELVINS 

:o: 

( A  Paper  read  before  the  Toronto  Astronomical  Society.) 

If  we  take  a  steel  wire  and  magnetize  it  and  then  suspend  it  with  a  fibre  of  silk, 
the  wire  will  take  a  position  and  remain  in  that  position,  unless  disturbed.  It 
always  lies  parallel  lo  the  meridian  of  the  place  at  which  it  is  situated,  or  nearly 
so,  one  end  pointing  north  and  the  other  south. 

And  again.  If  it  was  perfectly  balanced  before  it  was  magnetized,  it  will  when 
magnetized  point  downward  (that  is,  the  north  end  will),  and  unless  disturbed  it 
will  retain  that  position. 

But  if  we  place  iron  near  it  it  will  be  disturbed  ;  one  of  the  ends  will  point 
toward  the  iron,  and  if  it  be  a  magnet  which  is  the  disturbing  force,  one  end  of 
the  magnet  will  be  attracted  and  the  other  repelled. 

It  is  found  that  disturbances  of  the  needle  exist  frequently  when  no  disturbing 
cause  is  visible,  and  such  disturbances  affect  magnets  over  a  very  large  area  at 
the  same  time  ;  on  some  occasions  it  is  probable  that  magnets  at  all  points  on 
the  earth's  surface  are  thus  disturbed. 

Now,  I  wish  to  notice  another  fact.  A  large  quantity  of  matter  falls  on  the 
earth  from  space  every  year  ;  it  was  thought  at  one  time  that  the  quantity  was 
small,  but  af^r  weighing  the  matter  carefully  Proctor  shows  that  the  probable 
increase  to  the  earths  mass  must  be  enormous  : 

"  Prof.  Alexander  Herschel,  from  observations  of  the  amount  of  light  gfven 
out  by  these  bodies,  and  a  calculation  founded  on  the  velocity  with  which  they 
penetrate  our  atmosphere,  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  must,  for  the 
most  part,  be  very  small,  rarely,  perhaps,  exceeding  a  few  ounces  in  weight.  We 
shall  certainly  not  exagg.;rate  their  weight  if  we  assign  one-hundredth  part  of  an 
ounce  to  each  We  thus  ohrain  for  the  weight  of  the  whole  cluster  one  thousand 
millions  of  ounces,  or  about  28,000  tons.  The  actual  weight  of  the  November 
meteor  system  cannot  however  but  enormously  exceed  this  amount  ;  and  there- 
fore we  recognize  how  erroneous  that  opinion  is  jvhich  an  eminent  astronomer 
recently  expressed,  who  asserted  that  the  united  weight  of  all  the  bodies  other 
than  planets  in  the  solar  system  must  be  estimated  rather  by  pounds  than  by 
tons.  We  have  certainly  no  reason  for  thinking  that  the  November  system, 
though  one  of  the  most  important  encountered  by  the  earth,  is  exceptionally  im- 
portant in  the  solar  system.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  every  reason  which  the 
laws  of  probability  can  afford  us  for  believing  that  there  nmst  be  millions  of  sys- 
tems equally  or  more  extensive.  Aud  further,  the  fall  of  enormous  masses, 
many  tons  sometimes  in  weight,  upon  the  earth,  would  point  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  members  of  the  November  system  are  exceptionally  insignificant  as 
regards  their  individual  dimensions.  So  that  we  seem  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  aggregate  weight  of  the  various  meteoric  systems  circulating  around  the 
sun  must  be  estimated  by  billions  of  tons  rather  than  by  any  of  our  ordinary 
units 


454  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


"  Now,  coml)ining  all  these  results,  we  seem  fairly  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
purposes  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the  economy  of  tlie  solar  system  must  be 
subserved  by  these  uncounted  thousands  of  meteoric  streams.  If,  indeed,  we 
could  suppose  that  the  planets  steered  clear  of  them,  and  that  the  bodies  com- 
posing them  simply  circulated  unceasingly  in  their  orbits,  we  might  form 
another  opinion.  But  we  know  that  meteors  are  continually  falling  upon  the 
atmosphere  of  our  own  earth,  either  there  to  be  dissipated  into  finest  dust,  or  to 
pass  onwards,  with  or  without  explosion,  to  the  actual  surface  of  the  earth  ;  and 
we  cannot  doubt  that  in  a  similar  way  countless  thousands  of  meteors  are  failing, 
not  only  upon  all  the  primary  members  of  the  solar  system,  but  upon  asteroids 
and  satellites — nay,  are  even  streaming  in  among  the  minute  bodies  composing 
the  rings  of  Saturn.  These  encounters  cannot  be  wholly  without  result,  and  it  is 
quite  conceivable  that  most  injurious  consequences  might  ensue  to  the  inhabitants 
of  all  the  worlds  in  the  solar  system  if  the  continual  supply  of  meteoric  matter 
were  importantly  diminished. 

"  Now,  if  meteoric  masses  fall  continually  upon  the  planets,  such  masses  must 
fall  in  numbers  inconceivably  greater  upon  the  sun  ;  and  it  is  here,  unless  I 
mistake,  that  the  great  purpose  of  the  meteoric  systems  becomes  apparent. 

"  Let  us  clearly  recognize,  however,  why  and  how  the  sun  must  be  assaulted 
hy  a  continual  inrush  of  meteoric  bodies.  We  have  seen  how  enormous  must 
be  the  number  of  these  bodies  ;  we  know  how  swiftly  they  travel,  and  on  what 
eccentric  orbits;  but  we  must  go  farther  before  we  can  prove  that  they  fall  upon 
the  sun.  For  example,  the  November  meteors  are  enormous  in  number,  and 
travel  with  enormous  velocity  in  a  very  eccentric  orbit,  but  they  do  not  approach 
the  sun  within  a  distance  of  90,000,000  of  miles.  Nor,  indeed,  can  any  known 
meteoric  system  pour  a  steady  hail  of  meteors,  so  to  speak,  upon  the  sun  ;  for 
he  is  the  ruling  centre  of  every  meteoric  system,  and  therefore  ui\der  ordinary 
circumstances  the  meteoric  orbits  must  pass  around  him,  and  not  in  such  a 
direction  as  to  intersect  his  substance. 

"  But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  meteors  must  be  infinitely  more  crowded  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  sun  than  at  a  distance  from  him.  An  indefinitely  large 
number  of  meteoric  orbits  must  absolutely  intersect  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  the  sun  ;  and  collisions  must  be  continually  taking  place  as  countless 
thousands  of  meteoric  flights  rush  towards  and  past  and  then  away  from  their 
perihelia.  Where  these  perihelia  lie  close  to  the  sun  the  velocity  with  which  the 
meteors  travel  must  exceed  200  miles  per  second,  and  therefore  the  collision  even 
of  two  minute  meteors  must  result  in  the  generation  of  an  enormous  amount  of 
light  and  heat.  But  that  is  not  all.  Amongst  the  collisions  thus  continually 
taking  place  m  the  sun's  neighborhood  there  must  be  a  considerable  proportion 
in  which  the  two  bodies  are  brought  momentarily  almost  to  rest  by  the  shock. 
In  such  cases  the  combined  mass  of  the  two  meteors  would  fall  directly  upon  the 
sun,  a  fresh  supply  of  light  and  heat  being  generated  as  they  were  brought  again 
to  rest  upon  his  surface. 

"VVhether  in  the  continual  collisions  of  meteors  amongst  themselves,  and  in 
their  precipitation  upon  the  sun's  surface,  we  have  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the 
seemingly  exhaustless  emission  of  light  and  heat  from  the  sun,  I  should  not  care 
positively  to  assert.  Sir  W.  Thomson,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  adopt  this 
view,  has  now  abandoned  it ;  though  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  strongest 
evidence  in  its  favor  has  been  obtained  since  he  withdrew  his  support  from  it.  or 
at  least  admitted  that  the  downfall  of  meteors  on  the  sun's  surface  is  not  alone 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  455 


sufficient  to  account  for  the  solar  light  and  heat.  But  I  am  quite  certain  thai 
there  is  no  flaw  in  the  evidence  I  have  adduced  from  the  laws  of  probability 
applied  to  recent  discoveries  ;  and  that  we  are  bound  to  accept,  as  a  legitimate 
conclusion  from  that  evidence,  the  theory  that  at  least  a  proportion  of  the  sun's 
heat  is  supplied  from  the  meteoric  streams  which  circulate  in  countless  millions 
around  him."     (R.  A.  Proctor,  in  "Other  Worlds  than  Ours.") 

Now  it  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  much  of  this  matter  which  reaches  us  from 
outside  contains  Iron  ;  you  can  see  specimens  in  all  mineralogical  museums. 
And  I  will  quote  from  the  Scievtific  American  of  Oct.  28,  1868,  the  description 
of  the  flight  of  one  of  such  bodies  as  it  passed  by  an  observatory  in  South 
America,  and  you  will  notice  what  occurred  to  properly  mounted  magnets  at  that 
time. 

*^An  Aerolite. 

"The  Anglo-Brazilian  Times  of  the  7th  August  contains  a  communication- 
from  Dr.  Franklin  Massena,  giving  an  account  of  an  aerolite  which  he  observed  at 
the  Ob  ervatory  of  Itataya  upon  the  30th  of  July,  near  daybreak.     He  says  : 

*' '  Suddenly,  toward  the  east,  at  almost  30  deg.  of  the  meridian,  I  saw  an  im- 
mense and  beautiful  aerolite  crossing  to  the  south-west.  I  called  Messrs.  Arsenio 
and  Veija,  and  together  we  watched  the  disappearance  of  the  luminous  body,, 
and  its  form  and  motion.  Its  form  was  that  of  a  globe,  having  an  apparent 
diameter  of  about  43  m.,  and  a  tail  of  9  deg.,  in  an  elliptical  curve  extending  into 
space  with  an  inclination  of  about  30  deg.  The  tail  was  an  oval  form,  and  very 
divergent  toward  the  part  away  from  the  nucleus.  The  motion  was  made  by  the 
nucleus,  the  tail  following  its  track.  Both  the  tail  and  the  nucleus  were  as 
brilliant  as  electrical  light,  and  emitted  some  luminous  drops  or  tear-like  particles, 
which  threw  out  silvery  sparkles  with  incredible  rapidity.  Six  minutes  after  its 
meridian  passage  the  body  exploded  toward  the  south-west.  Such  was  the  rapidity 
with  which  it  moved  that  in  seventeen  seconds  it  traversed  a  celestial  area  of 
77  deg.,  41  m.,  losing  itself  behind  a  hill  at  5  hrs.  55  m.  50  sec,  or  17  hrs.  55  >n. 
50  sec   of  true  solar  time. 

"  'This  aerolite  so  disturbed  the  magnetic  instruments  that  the  declinometer 
turned  its  pole  from  the  north  toward  the  west  and  stuck  itself  in  the  box  where 
it  found  resistance  ;  the  horizontal  magnometer  turned  toward  the  west  eight 
divisions  of  the  scale  ;  the  vertical  magnometer  fell  in  its  centre  of  gravity,  and 
finally,  the  compass  oscillated  15  deg  from  north  to  west.  I  showed  Sr.  Arsenio 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  declinometer.  It  is,  therefore,  demonstrated  for  physics 
that  an  aerolite  has  an  intense  action  upon  the  north  pole  of  magnets,  powerfully 
attracting  them. 

•' '  The  following  are  some  mathematical  elements  of  the  orbit  of  this  body  : 
Meridian  passage,  5  h.  55  m.  33  sec,  on  July  30,  1868  ;  declination  65  deg. 
south  ;  vertical  distance,  42  deg.  32  m.  ;  setting,  50  deg.  15  m.  W.  by  S. 

"  With  these  data  the  orbit  of  the  aerolite  is  found  to  have  17  deg.  40m.  of  irr- 
clinalion  upon  the  line  of  the  earth's  rotation,  with  its  movement  contrary  to  that 
of  the  earth. 

'•  *  At  6  o'clock,  at  the  moment  of  detonation,  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  Xo 
be  taken  into  account  for  the  calculation  of  distance,  was,  Bar.  584.3  ;  Ther.  C. 
8  deg.  3  ;  Hyg.  of  relative  humidity  76.5.  Sky  clear  and  cold  ;  wind  N.W., 
weak.  The  motion  of  the  aerolite  was  followed  by  a  noise  like  that  of  silk 
dragged  over  the  ground.     '1  he  aerolite  must  have  passed  between  Itajuba  and 


453 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Guarantingueta,  and  it  remains  now  to  find  out  where  it  fell  in  order  to  ascertain 
its  size.'  " 

Such  observations  are  rare,  for  there  are  not  many  magnetic  observatories  ;  and 
as  we  have  no  knowledge  of  when  a  meteoric  mass  will  reach  any  point,  no  one 
will  be  on  the  watch  to  observe. 

{To  be  continued.) 

MISCELLANEOUS. 


ANCIENT  BABYLON. 

—  :o:  — 
The  members  of  the  Babylonian  ex- 
pedition sent  out  by  the  German  Ori- 
ental Socieiy  have,  in  spite  of  heat,  wind 
and  dust,  held  out  steadfastly  at  their 
post,  and  have  brought  to  light  many 
valuable  memorials  which,  with  those 
already  unearthed,  will  some  day  give 
a  faithful  picture  of  the  ancient  metro- 
polis, its  streets,  temples  and  palaces, 
and.  its  social,  intellectual  and  religious 
life.  Up  to  now  four  hundred  inscri- 
bed clay  slabs  have  been  found  in  the 
cent  re  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon.  Of 
only  iwo  of  them  are  the  inscriptions 
yet  dac  i  phered.  One  tablet  contains 
a  great  part  of  a  celebrated  Babylon 
compendium  which  explains  the  Baby- 
lonian cuneiform  characters.  It  is  an 
ancient  dictionary,  of  great  linguistic 
interest  and  of  exceptional  value  prac- 
tically. The  second  tablet  contains 
nothing  less  than  the  litany  which  was 
chanted  by  the  singeis  of  the  Temple 
of  E^agila  on  the  return  of  the  god 
Marduk  to  his  sanctuary.  Marduk,  or 
Merodach,  was  the  son  of  Ea,  and  one 
of  the  twelve  great  gods  of  the  Assyro- 
Babylonian  Pantheon.  His  temple, 
Esagila,  "  the  exalted  house,"  became 
the  national  sanctuary  of  the  whole 
empire.  He  also  had  a  sanctuary  at 
Sippar.  He  is  twice  mentioned  in 
the  Book  of  Jeremiah,  and  in  Isaiah 
as  Bel.  It  was  the  custom  to  sing  the 
litany  which  has  now  been  found  after 
Ihe  periodical  procession  to  that  grand 
pantheon  which  has   been  brought  to 


light  by  the  expedition,  and  which,  it  is 
hoped,  by  the  winter  will  be  completely 
excavated. 

In  the  meantimi::  Hcrren  Koldewey 
and  Andrae  have  made  another  impor- 
tant discovery,  a  temple  of  Ador,  or 
Nineb,  the  tutelar  god  of  physicians, 
hitherto  quite  unknown. 

The  German  Society's  account  of 
these  discoveries,  which  has  just  been 
published,  also  gives  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  an  amulet,  supposed  to  protect 
the  wearer  from  the  machinations  of  the 
demon  Labartu.  Labartu  was  an  ashen 
hued  being,  who  made  people  pale 
with  terror,  drank  human  1 1  jod,  caused 
great  sorrow,  and  was  accompanied  by 
a  black  dog.  1  his  amulet  was  once 
hung  round  a  child's  neck  in  order  to 
drive  off  the  demon. — London  News. 


RELATIVE   POWER. 

Dr  Jowett,  of  Oxford  was  a  formid- 
able wit.  At  a  githering  at  which  he 
was  present  the  talk  ran  upon  the  com- 
parative gifts  of  two  Balliol  men  who 
had  been  made  respectively  a  judge 
and  a  bishop.  Professor  Henry  Smith, 
famous  in  his  day  for  his  brilliancy, 
pronounced  the  bishop  to  be  the  greater 
man  of  the  two  for  this  reason  :  "  A 
judge,  at  the  most,  can  only  say,  'You 
be  hanged,'  whereas  a  bi§hop  can  say, 
•  You  be  damned.'  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Dr.  Jowett,  "  but  if  the 
judge  says,  '  You  be  hanged,'  you  are 
hanged." — Chicago  Daily  News. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


457 


MAN,  PROUD  MAN. 

A  man  can't  live  on  love  alone, 

A  man  can't  live  on  thought ; 
A  man  can't  live  on  liberty, 

No  odds  how  dearly  bought. 
All  these  are  nothing  to  a  man — 

I  don't  care  what  you  say — 
Unless  he  manages  to  get 

Three  good  square  meals  a  day 

A  man  can  lose  his  pile  entire 

And  never  turn  a  hair  ; 
But  if  the  ham  and  eggs  are  cold 

There's  brimstone  in  the  air. 
A  man  can  lose  his  hair  and  teeth 

And  friends,  and  still  be  gay, 
If  he  is  fixed  so  he  can  get 

Three  good  square  meals  a  day 

A  man  can  wear  a  smiling  face 

Above  a  broken  heart ; 
A  man  can  grin  and  bear  the  pain 

When  fondest  hopes  depart. 
The  only  thing  that  downs  a  man 

And  puts  him  out  to  stay 
Is  separating  him  for  keeps 

From  three  square  meals  a  day. 

—Ex. 


SAYING  GRACE. 

The  new  Headmaster  of  Eton 
regrets  the  tendency  of  grace  to  dis- 
appear as  an  accompaniment  to  English 
meals.  It  survives,  no  doubt,  at  every 
Well-regulated  nursery  tal)le,  in  hall  at 
most  colleges  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
and  at  public  and  private  dinners. 
But  an  incident  narrated  by  Canon 
Lyttelton  shows,  unfortunately,  how 
purely  complimentary  such  a  survival 
is  apt  to  be.  At  a  dinner  to  twenty-five 
people  in  a  great  house  the  hostess  turn- 
ed round  to  him  amid  a  hubbub  of 
chatter  and  jokes  and  asked  him  to  say 
grace.  But  he  could  see  that  no  one 
expected  any  such  remarkable  detail 
of  the  dinner,  and  he  flatly  refused  to 
say  grace  unless  the  hostess  would 
rap  upon  the  table  with  the  soup-ladle 
and   secure  silence  ;  which    we  gather 


she  did  not  do. ",  If  grace  is  doomed, 
it  is  regrettable  on  many  grounds  ;  but 
obviously  it  had  better  go  rather  than 
remain  as  an  irksome  and  artificial  in- 
terruption which  people  regard  solely 
as  a  form.  Unless  the  spirit  is  there 
the  form  does  not  conduce  to  reverence. 
—P.  M.  G. 


ACCORDING  TO  SCRIPTURE. 

A  certain  tailor  of  very  strict  prin- 
ciples was  in  the  habit  of  excusing  the 
faults  of  his  assistants  only  if  they 
could  justify  themselves  by  scripture. 
One  day  a  woman  entered  his  shop 
and  asked  to  see  some  material,  but 
refused  to  buy  it  because  it  was  too 
cheap.  After  showing  her  some  other 
goods,  the  assistant  brought  back  the 
same  material,  this  time  asking  a  much 
higher  price,  whereupon  the  customer 
bought  it.  Afterwards,  the  proprietor, 
who  had  witnessed  the  transaction, 
reproved  his  assistant  severely.  The 
latter,  remembering  the  rules  of  the 
establishment,  replied  :  "  Oh,  it's  ac- 
cording to  scripture,  all  right.  She 
was  a  stranger,  and  I  took  her  in" — 
Harper's  Weekly. 

GROSS  DARKNESS. 
A  teacher  while  giving  a  scripture 
lesson  to  his  class  of  boys  asked  them 
what  was  meant  in  the  Bible  by  gross 
darkness  A  bright  little  fellow  put 
up  his  hand — "Please,  sir,  I  know." 
•'  Well  ?"  said  the  teacher.  "  It  means 
144  timcj  darker  than  ordinary  dark- 
ness," replied  the  boy. 


CYNICAL    BACHELOR. 

"  I  think,"  said  the  strong-minded 
female,  "  that  women  should  be  per- 
mitted to  whistle,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  replied  the  cynical 
bachelor.  "There  is  no  earthly  reason 
why  women  should  be  denied  the  pri- 
vilege accorded  to  locomotives  and  tug- 
boats.'— Chicago  News. 


458 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


AWKWARD    GENEROSITY 

A  man  from  Dunedin  once  visited 
(the  town  of)  Wellington.  An  Irish 
friend  insisted  upon  the  visitor  staying 
at  his  house  instead  of  at  an  hotel,  and 
kept  him  there  for  a  month,  playing 
the  host  in  detail,  even  to  theatres 
and  other  amusements,  paying  all  the 
cab  fares,  and  the  rest.  When  the 
visitor  was  returning  to  Dunedin  the 
Irishman  saw  him  to  the  steamer, 
and  they  went  into  a  saloon  to  have 
a  parting  drink. 

'•  What'll  you  have  ?  '  asked  the  host, 
continuing  his  hospitality  to  the  very 
last, 

"  Now  look  here,"  said  the  man  from 
Dunedin,  "  I'll  hae  nae  mair  o'  this. 
Here  ye've  been  keeping  me  at  yer 
house  for  a  month,  an'  payin'  for  a'  the 
:  theatres  an'  cabs  an'  drinks  I  tell  ye 
I'll  Stan'  nae  mair  o' it  !  We'll  just  hae 
a  toss  for  this  one  !" — Scotsman. 


A  DEFINITION  OF"B.A." 

During  a  reading  lesson  taken  from 
Standard  III.  Historical  Reader,  the 
pupil  teacher  asked  what  the  letters 
;B.C.  represented.  On  receiving  the  an- 
swer, "  Before  Christ,"  she  ventured  to 
improve  the  opportunity  by  asking  for 
the  meaning  of  other  abbreviations, 
among  which  was  B.A.  A  Utile  girl  at 
once  said — "Before  Adam." 


The  gravedigger  rises  to  remark 
that  every  man  finds  himself  in  a  hole 
sooner  or  later. 


Mrs.  Jackson—"  Wal,  parson,  I 
knows  de  Bible  says  de  meek  shall 
inherit  de  earth  ;  an'  I  tries  to  be  meek 
as  I  kin  !" 

,  Parson  Polhemus— "  Dat's  right,  sis- 
tah  !     Dat's  right !  " 

Mrs.  Jackson  -  "  But  it'll  be  jest  mah 

Tuck,  when  it  comes  time  fo'  me  to 
inheiir  de  earth,  dat  dar'll  be  municipal 
ownership." — Puck. 


TOO   MANY    PRIESTS  IN  ROME. 

Rome,  Sept.  2  — The  Pope  is  about 
to  issue  a  set  of  very  strict  regulations 
dealing  with  the  clergy  of  Rome  which 
will  certainly  arouse  muf  h  indignation 
in  that  body  though  people  of  unbiased 
judgment  recognize  that  reform  is 
greatly  needed. 

The  impending  regulations  provide 
that  henceforth  no  p  iest  may  settle  in 
Rome  without  the  permission  of  the 
Pope  or  the  Cardinal-Vicar.  Such 
permission  will  only  be  given  to  those 
priests  who  can  show  that  they  have 
definite  fiixed  duties  to  peform  in 
Rome.  Even  then  the  permission 
will  only  be  temporary  ;  for  six  months 
when  the  priest  is  a  foreigner  and 
three  months  when  he  is  an  Italian. 
At  the  expiration  of  these  periods  the 
permission  will  only  be  renewed  when 
the  conduct  of  the  priest  has  been  sa- 
tisfactory and  his  presence  has  ])roved 
to  be  necessary.  This  j)ermission  must 
be  secured  from  the  Bishop  of  the  ap- 
plicant's diocese.  For  priests  who  are 
not  natives  of  Rome,  but  who  have 
been  there  more  than  ten  years,  the 
Pope  will  make  some  provision  when- 
ever he  considers  that  their  conduct 
deserves  it.  All  others  will  have  to 
depart  without  further  ado  under  pen- 
alty of  suspension.  Hundreds  of  priests 
will  come  under  this  category. 


Teacher — Evil  communications  cor- 
rupt good  manners  Now,  Johnny, 
can   you  understand  what  that  means  ? 

Johnny — Yes'm.  For  instance,  pa 
got  a  communication  from  ma's  dre'^s- 
maker  this  morning  that  made  him 
swear. 

Daddy,  asked  little  Danny  Grogan, 
what  is  this  new  woman  business,  any- 
how ?  It  means,  said  Mr  Grogan,  after 
a  moment's  thought,  thot  instid  av  a 
nr.an  an'  his  wife  being  wan  anymoore, 
now  he  is  wan  man  an'  she  is  another, 
bedad. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Xiberty. 

KY    THE    LATE   JOHN    HAY. 

:o: 

What  man  is  there  so  bold  that  he  should  say  : 

*'  Thus,  and  thus  only,  would  I  have  the  Sea  ?  " 

For  whether  lying  calm  and  beautiful, 

Clasping  the  earth  in  love,  and  throwing  back 

The  smile  of  Heaven  from  waves  of  amethyst  ; 

Or  whether,  freshened  by  the  busy  winds, 

It  bears  the  trade  and  navies  of  the  world 

To  ends  of  use  or  stern  activity  ; 

Or  whether,  lasted  by  tempests,  it  gives  way 

To  elemental  fury,  howls  and  roars 

At  all  its  rocky  barriers,  in  wild  lust 

Of  ruin  drinks  the  blood  of  living  things, 

And  strews  its  wrecks  o'er  leagues  of  desolate  shore — 

Always  it  is  the  Sea,  and  men  bow  down 

Before  its  vast  and  varied  majesty. 

So  all  in  vain  will  timorous  ones  essay 

To  set  the  metes  and  bounds  of  Liberty. 

For  Freedom  is  its  own  eternal  law  ; 

It  makes  its  own  conditions,  and  in  storm  ♦ 

Or  calm  alike  fulfils  the  unerring  Will. 

Let  us  not  then  despise  it  when  it  lies 

Still  as  a  sleeping  lion,  while  a  swarm 

Of  gnat-like  evils  hovers  round    its  head  ; 

Nor  doubt  it  when  in  mad,  disjointed  times 

It  shakes  the  torch  of  terror,  and  its  cry 

Shrills  o'er  the  quaking  earth,  and  in  the  flame 

Of  riot  and  war  we  see  its  awful  form 

Rise  by  the  scaffold,  where  the  crimson  ax 

Rings  down  its  grooves  the  knell  of  shuddering  kings. 

For  always  in  thine  eyes,  O  Liberty, 

Shines  that  high  light  whereby  the  woiM  is  saved 

And  though  thou  slay  us,  we  will  trust  in  thee  ! 


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SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


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:o:- 


When  a  religion  is  good,  I  conceive  it  will  support  itself ;  and 
when  it  cannot  support  itself,  and  God  does  not  care  to  support 
it,  so  that  its  professors  are  obliged  to  call  for  the  help  of  the 
civil  power,  it  is  a  sign,  I  apprehend,  of  it  being  a  bad  one. — 
Benjamin  Franklin  (in  letter  to  a  friend), 

EDITORIAL   NOTES^ 

The  evolution  of  Christianit}^  is  affording  men  a 
THE  NEW  GOD —  good  opportunity  for  prophesying  what  will  be 
A  GOD  OF  LOVE.       the  outcome  of   the  present  phase  of  religious 

metamorphosis.  A  writer  in  the  New  York /S«/?, 
J.  W.  Hoystadt,  takes  this  optimistic  view  : 

"  Some  day  a  new  house  of  worship  will  come — the  Church  of  the 
Common  People.  Through  its  portals  will  throng  all  those  who  believe 
in  the  higher  life,  and  from  its  pulpits  will  be  handed  down  the  message 
of  life  as  the  Great  Master  himself  uttered  it.  The  Almighty  will  not 
be  proclaimed  a  revengeful  deity,  ever  ready  to  send  forth  suffering  on 
his  children.  The  responsibility  of  man  to  his  Maker  will  be  empha- 
sized, but  the  pulpit  will  strongly  impress  on  the  minds  of  its  hearers 
the  responsibility  for  their  own  condition  and  the  great  need  of  righteous 
dealing  with  their  fellow-men..  .The Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  Man  will  be  constantly  proclaimed.  The  pathway  of  life  will  be 
flowerfringed  and  lightened  by  the  sunshine  of  a  great  hope.  .  .  Some 
day  out  of  this  theological  fog,  this  state  of  flux,  this  storm  of  *  higher 
criticism,*  will  be  laid  the  foundation  of  the  true  church,  so  broad  and 
catholic  that  Calvinist  and  Unitarian,  Jew  or  Gentile,  will  worship  at  the 
same  altar  of  the  God  of  Love." 

For  prosperous  people,  who  find  the  world  a  pleasant  place  to  live  in, 


460  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


and  who  are  above  the  dull  and  leaden  grind  of  the  masses  who  have  to 
struggle  for  the  means  of  earning  a  bare  subsistence,  this  sort  of  vision 
may  be  satisfactory.  "  God  "  has  been  good  to  them.  But  how  about 
the  victims  of  poverty  and  disease,  earthquake  and  hurricane  ?  It  is 
true — too  true — that  thousands  of  miserable  victims  of  adverse  fate  find 
a  sort  of  consolation  in  the  Christian  dogma  of  a  future  recompense  for 
miseries  on  earth  ;  and  that  even  men  dying  in  agony  from  cancer  and 
other  dreadful  maladies  can  sometimes  be  found  praising  their  "  maker" 
for  his  tender  mercies  and  his  infinite  love. 

But  how  can  an  intelligent  and  unbiassed  man  reconcile  such  miseries 
with  the  idea  of  the  existence  of  an  all-wise  afld  ''  loving  "  God  ?  How 
can  we  blink  the  fact  that  every  da}'  it  is  becoming  clear  to  an  increasing 
number  of  men,  inside  as  well  as  outside  the  church,  that  the  interfer- 
ence in  natural  events  of  any  Supreme  Being  or  Conscious  Ruler  is  an 
unthinkable  hypothesis  ;  that  the  good  and  evil  of  life  are  alike  results 
of  natural  laws  and  man's  own  actions;  and  that  the  only  "  god  "  that 
can  help  man  is  his  own  intellect,  carefully  cultivated  and  religiously 
obeyed  ? 

One  of  the  funniest  features  of  Mr.  Hoystadt's 
FOLLIES  AND  letter  is  the  innocence, he  displays  in  his  predic- 

INCONSISTENCIES  tions  regarding  the  new  religion.-  He  only 
OF  THEISM.  echoes  the  ideas  of  many  pious  Christians,  who 

imagine  that  some  wonderful  change  is  made  by 
simply  altering  their  own  mental  attitude  towards  their  deity.  They 
do  not  seem  to  understand  that,  to  a  Rationalist,  a  God  of  Love  is  no 
more  acceptable  than  a  God  of  Hate.  For  him,  the  only  possible  god 
would  be  a  perfectly  indifferent,  impartial  and  just  one;  and  a  god  of 
this  character  would  be  devoid  of  all  the  qualities  that  are  essential  to 
intelligent  consciousness. 

An  almighty  God  of  Love  could  permit  no  evil,  and  an  almighty  God 
of  Hate  could  permit  no  good.  The  Christians,  following  the  example 
of  other  religions,  have  tried  to  overcome  the  difficulty  by  inventing  a 
Devil  to  act  as  a  scapegoat  for  their  god  ;  but  it  is  clear  that,  supposing 
these  two  potentates  could  co-exist,  by  no  possibility  could  they  be  "  al- 
mighty gods,"  because  the  power  of  each  must  be  limited  by  the  power 
of  the  other. 

The  idea  that  the  "  Message  of  Life  "  could  be  handed  down  "  as  the 
Great  Mastet  himself  uttered  it,"  shows  how  imperfectly  the  ordinary 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  461 


Christian  reads  or  understands  either  his  New  Testament  or  the  litera- 
ture connected  with  it.  If  the  New  Church  is  to  give  its  followers  no 
more  consistent  and  ethical  utterances  than  those  alleged  to  have  been 
uttered  by  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels,  we  are  afraid  we  are  listening  to 
"  much  ado  about  nothing."  The  new  religion  will  need  just  as  much 
explanation,  vindication,  and  apology  as  the  old,  and  lead  to  just  as 
much  hypocrisy. 

And  if  the  "  responsibility  of  man  to  his  Maker"  is  to  be  emphasized, 
we  should  like  to  know  where  the  change  or  the  improvement  is  to  come 
in.  The  responsibility  of  man  to  *'  god  "  has  been  the  basis  of  all  the 
intolerance  and  persecution  of  the  Christian  ages.  The  priests  who  are 
the  custodians  of  the  ''  will  of  God  "  have  always  emphasized  this  re- 
sponsibility of  other  men. 

Nor  has  the  '*  sunshine  of  a  great  hope'*  ever  done  much  to  lighten 
the  pathway  of  life — except  for  those  who  have  preached  about  it.  On 
the  contrary,  it  has  often  been  used  as  an  elcuse  for  the  vilest  and  most 
callous  indifference  to  the  misfortunes  of  others. 

The  men  who  propound  these  new  religions  and 
NOT  A  NEW  GOD,  new  gods  totally  misapprehend  the  needs  of  the 
BUT  A  NEW  MAN,  hour.  They  seem  to  imagine  they  make  anew 
IS  NEEDED.  thing  by  giving  a  new   name  to   an   old  idea. 

Men  do  not  need  to  cultivate  either  new  or  old 
gods  ;  they  need  to  cultivate  themselves. 

This  new  god — the  God  of  Love — may  serve  a  temporary  purpose  for 
many  semi-RationalivSts,  like  Goldwin  Smith  and  others,  in  easing  the 
transition  from  Supernaturalism  to  Naturalism.  But  for  every  intelli- 
gent man  who  earnestly  seeks  the  light  and  determines  to  follow  the 
truth  wherever  it  may  lead,  the  time  will  inevitably  come  when  a  choice 
must  be  made  between  the  two  mutually  antagonistic  theories :  on  the 
one  side,  the  old  theology,  with  its  crude  superstitions  of  gods,  devils, 
angels,  heavens  and  hells,  and  its  reign  of  nescience  and  haphazard  ;  on 
the  other,  Law  and  Order,  with  an  utterly  indifferent,  impartial,  and 
uniform  Nature  as  the  fount  and  origin  of  all  things,  and  man's  culti- 
vated intelligence  as  his  sole  guide  and  hope  of  salvation. 

That  this  latter  theory  will  become  the  basis  of  a  new  and  popular 
religion  seems  certain,  if  by  **  religion  "  we  understand  a  system  of 
human  conduct  having  its  sanction  in  man's  constitution  and  the  needs 
of  society ;  for  this  is,  indeed,  the  basis  of  social  life  to-day  for  the  great 


462  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

mass  of  those  who  do  the  work  of  the  world,  however  imperfectly  it  is 
umderstood  or  formulated.     And  it  is  clearly  gaining  ground. 

Though  men  may  preach  the  old  religious  creeds  and  profess  to  be 
guided  by  them,  it  is  largely  only  a  sham  profession.  Were  it  a  reality, 
society  would  return  to  the  Dark  Ages. 

The  fact  is,  that  men  to-day  are  attempting,  as  they  have  never  done 
before,  to  inaugurate  an  era  of  greater  happiness  for  mankind  at  large 
than  the  world  has  yet  seen,  They  are  mistaken  in  a  great  many  of 
their  ideas  and  methods,  no  doubt ;  but  that  must  be  expected.  They 
are  but  men,  not  gods ;  and  it  seems  to  us  that  the  most  likely  rock  on 
which  they  msij  split  is  one  similar  to  that  of  the  godites — an  assnmp- 
tion  that  they  have  a  panacea  for  all  human  ills. 

What  is  abundantly  clear  is,  that  men  are  determined  to  make  this 
earth  as  heaven-like  as  possible,  whether  or  not  there  be  any  other 
heaven  or  hell.  And  most  of  them  seem  quite  satisfied  to  forego  their 
claims  on  any  future  heaven  if  they  can  secure  a  share  of  the  good 
things  of  life  on  this  earth. 

We  have  often  referred  to  the  rapid  spread  of 
RAPID  SPREAD  OF  Roman  Catholicism  among  the  eastern  town- 
CATHOLICISM  ships  of  Ontario,     The  fact  has  recently  been 

IN  ONTARIO.  brought  into  prominence  in  consequence  of   the 

occurrence  of  several  disputes  concerning  Public 
schools.  In  some  cases  the  Catholics  have  managed  to  secure  possession 
of  the  Public  schools  by  sharp  practices  ;  in  others  they  have  built  their 
Separate  schools  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Public  schools.  What 
seems  clear  is,  that  by  hook  or  by  crook  the  Catholics  are  very  rapidly 
securing  control  of  education  in  eastern  Ontario. 

One  of  the  latest  cases  has  occurred  at  Tweed,  a  village  that  marks 
the  Catholic  advance  as  having  reached  a  point  in  its  western  progress 
about  one-third  of  the  length  of  Ontario.  Here  two  Separate  schools 
have  been  built  within  a  mile  of  the  Public  schools ;  and,  though  some 
of  the  farmers  wished  to  keep  their  children  at  the  Public  school,  they 
were  compelled  by  priestly  pressure  to  send  them  to  the  new  schools. 

In  this  same  neighborhood,  a  large  number  of  Separate  schools  have 
thus  been  established,  and  it  is  probable  that  several  more  of  the  Public 
schools  will  be  closed,  in  which  case  the  Protestant  children  will  have 
to  tramp  four  or  five  miles  to  school. 

In  one  case,  that  of  the  Tufts  school,  the  managers  gave  up  the  use 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  463 

of  the  Bible  in  the  school,  with  the  idea  of  conciliating  the  Catholic 
priests,  but,  as  might  have  been  expected,  their  effort  was  in  vain. 

In  this  district,  also,  a  $45,000  church  was  but  recently  built,  and  this 
had  become  such  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  farmers  that  some  of  them 
had  sold  up  and  gone  elsewhere.  Here  again,  the  priestly  interdict  was 
used  to  stop  the  exodus,  and  some  who  had  made  arrangements  to  leave 
have  succumbed  to  clerical  pressure,  and  remain  to  bear  the  unwelcome 
burden. 

It  is  asserted  that  in  this  district  there  are  no  less  than  seven  Public 
schools  in  which  the  Catechism  is  regularly  taught  in  school  hours,  in 
defiance  of  the  Education  Act  and  the  regulations  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation ;  but  in  these  Catholic  districts  the  priests  openly  disregard  the 
law.  The  rest  of  the  education  naturally  suffers  ;  so  much  so,  indeed, 
that  in  some  cases  even  Catholic  parents  refuse  to  send  their  children  to 
the  priest-directed  schools. 

It  is  all  very  well  to  talk  boastfully  of  our  advancing  liberalism  and 
freedom,  but  there  is  serious  danger  for  us  in  the  near  future  if  the 
Catholic  priests  are  thus  allowed  to  control  and  misdirect  the  schools. 
It  cannot  be  helped  if  a  farmer  allows  himself  to  be  browbeaten  by  his 
priest,  and  stays  in  bondage  in  his  old  home,  instead  of  seeking  greater 
liberty  and  prosperity  elsewhere ;  but  surely  it  is  the  duty  of  all  free 
Canadians  to  prevent  the  education  of  the  children  being  neglected,  as 
is  invariably  the  case  in  Catholic  schools  in  Catholic  districts.  In  large 
towns,  such  as  Toronto,  the  Separate  schools  are  perforce  obliged  to 
maintain  some  sort  of  efficiency  ;  but  in  the  rural  districts,  in  most 
cases  the  education  given  in  the  Catholic  schools  is  practically  nil.  They 
are,  indeed,  a  menace  to  the  public  welfare. 

No  one  can  doubt,  we  think,  that  this  age  of 
SOCIALISTIC  millionaires  and  monopolists  is  one  that  renders 

PROGRESS.  the  life  of  working  men  particularly  hard  and 

discouraging  in  the  very  quarters  where  the 
greatest  advantages  are  reaped  from  the  improvements  of  modern  days. 
Whatever  may  be  the  immediate  cause,  it  is  certain  that  the  lowest 
classes  of  British  working  men  occupy  a  lower  plane  of  physical  well- 
being  than  the  workmen  of  many  other  industrial  communities.  His 
comparatively  high  wages  and  his  comparative  freedom,  in  the  almost 
total  absence  of  education,  have  apparently  given  free  play  to  the 
development  of  the  worst  elements  of  his  nature  ;  and  drunkenness  and 


464  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

brutality  are  the  common  characteristics  of  large  sections  of  the  laboring 
population  in  the  most  densely  inhabited  districts  of  both  England  and 
Scotland.  If  the  church  has  not  directly  aided  the  production  of  this 
state  of  things,  at  least  we  can  say  that  she  has  totally  failed  in  prevent- 
ing its  development. 

For  many  years  it  has  been  the  accepted  creed  of  large  numbers  of 
pro-Britons  that  the  British  workman  is  the  best-paid,  best-fed,  and 
happiest  of  all  workmen.  At  the  best,  this  was  not  saying  very  much 
for  them,  when  we  consider  that  the  great  bulk  of  laborers  outside 
Britain  were  little  else  than  serfs.  For  a  long  time  past,  how^ever,  the 
United  States  has  assumed  the  position  lately  claimed  by  Britons  ;  and 
it  would  seem  almost  as  if  she  had  gone  Britain  "  one  better  "  in  the 
other  directions  we  have  spoken  of. 

Slowly  and  surely,  however,  lessons  will  be  learnt  by  nations  as  well 
as  by  children  ;  and  it  is  encouraging  to  see  that  the  workmen  are  setting 
themselves  to  the  task  of  learning  how  to  ameliorate  their  condition  in  a 
rational  way.  One  of  the  signs  of  this  movement  may  be  seen  in  the 
report  of  a  delegation  of  Birmingham  brass-workers  who  recently  visited 
Berlin,  the  capital  of  Germany,  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  workmen 
there.  We  quote  this  notice  of  their  report  from  the  London  correspon- 
dent of  the  Toronto  Mail  : 

"Britons  are,  unfortunately,  accustomed  to  think  of  Continental 
social  conditions  as  inferior  to  those  enjoyed  in  this  happy  land.  But 
the  Birmingham  men  have  been  convinced  that  in  a  land  of  protection 
and  conscription  the  workman  is  better  cared  for  physically  and  in  every 
way  than  he  is  in  England.  One  example  is  typical.  In  Berlin,  with  a 
population  of  1,955,000,  there  are  36  official  school  doctors  watching  the 
health  and  physique  of  the  youngsters.  In  Birmingham,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  525,000,  there  is  one  official  doctor  with  a  young  lady  assistant 
for  all  the  schools.  The  poor  children  in  German  schools  receive  boots 
and  clothing  from  the  municipal  guardians,  when  required,  and  in  the 
Berlin  streets  the  healthy,  happy  condition  of  the  working  classes  con- 
trasted most  favorably  with  that  of  the  working  classes  of  our  English 

towns." 

^^^^^^ 

One  of  the  leading  features  here  noticeable  is 
SOCIALISM  ESSEN-  that  of  medical  inspection.  This  is  a  practice 
TIALLY  PATERNAL,  that  has  been  very  strongly  resented  by  large 

numbers  of  the  free-born  British  workmen,  and 
yet,  if  the  intelligence  and  experience  of  the  best  and  most  highly-quali- 
fied professional  men  are  to  be  employed  for  the  advancement  of  the 


.    SECULAR  THOUGHT.  465 

community,  there  seems  to  be  no  alternative  to  their  employment  in  the 
restriction  of  the  actions  of  the  more  ignorant  and  prejudiced  classes. 

How  far  such  restrictions  should  be  carried  may  fitly  be  discussed,  and 
must  be  dependent  on  the  "educational  condition  of  the  people  ;  but  to 
do  away  with  it  entirely  is  to  abandon  the  welfare  of  society  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  its  worst  elements. 

The  other  item,  that  of  providing  food  or  clothing  for  poor  children,  is 
also  violently  opposed  by  many  in  all  ranks  of  society ;  and*  yet,  if  any 
public  expense  for  immigration  or  sanitary  purposes  is  at  all  justifiable, 
such  an  item  should  be  the  first  on  the  list. 

Any  imaginable  state  of  practical  Socialism — except,  of  course,  that 
ideal  state  in  which  every  member  will  be  a  perfectly  developed  and 
perfectly  trained  self-governing  citizen — must  embody  these  two  prin- 
ciples of  control  by  the  best  elements  of  society  and  paternal  care  for  the 
weaker  members.  And  in  this  way  the  autocratic  or  bureaucratic 
governments  and  monopolistic  combinations  may  go  a  long  way  further 
on  the  road  towards  realizing  a  practical  socialism  than  the  more  liberal 
forms  of  government. 

Socialists,  like  most  other  cultivators  of  "  isms," 
PRACTICAL  may  be  divided  into  two  classes — those  who  talk 

SOCIALISM.  and  those  who  work.     Of  course,  each  class  has 

its  utility.  Education  must  be  conducted  by 
both  precept  and  example,  and  both  are  necessary.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  however,  that  practical  work  is  the  best  teacher  ;  and  in  this  view 
we  regard  the  great  co-operative  movement  in  Britain  as  the  most  im- 
portant movement  in  modern  days  in  the  line  of  social  emancipation. 
A  week  or  so  ago  an  exhibition  of  British  co-operators  was  held  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  London,  of  which  the  Mail's  correspondent  gives  this 
notice : 

**  This  has  been  a  notable  week  among  the  British  co-operators,  whose 
interesting  Industrial  Exhibition  was  opened  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on 
Wednesday  by  Mr.  Will  Crooks,  M.P.,  a  man  who  represents  all  that  is 
best  in  the  British  workingman,  and  whose  remarkable  career  devoted 
to  the  public  service  as  poor  law  guardian,  Mayor  of  Poplar,  county 
councillor  and  M.P.,  entitles  him  to  give  advice  to  his  fellow-workers. 
He  sees  that  in  the  industrial  world  the  private  employer  is  going  out, 
and  the  joint-stock  company  is  coming  in,  and  that  the  workers,  if  they 
would  hold  their  own  against  the  soulless  greed  of  the  great  companies, 
must  co-operate  and  form  industrial  partnerships.  Trade  unionists,  he 
remarked,  are  learning  that  it  is  better  to  start  workshops  of  their  own 


466  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

than  to  spend  their  money  on  strikes.  The  industrial  co-operative 
movement  in  Great  Britain  has  been  comparatively  slow,  but  its  pros- 
pects are  encouraging.  It  has  now  150  associations  for  the  manufacture 
of  goods,  valued  at  i^4,000,000  a  year,  and  in  which  there  is  a  capital  of 
iil, 700,000,  profitably  engaged.  Mr.  Crooks  warned  the  working  people 
of  this  country  that  they  could  only  prosper  on  their  own  account  when 
they  ceased  the  habit  of  thinking  that  everybody  was  seeking  to  exploit 
their  labor  and  to  take  advantage  of  them.  They  must  trust  one  another 
more,  and  they  must  give  up  the  notion  which  some  workers  and  em- 
ployers alike  had — that  the  workers  existed  for  what  other  people  could 
get  out  of  them.  Co-operators  can  only  succeed  when  they  combine  the 
skill  of  the  artisan  with  the  business  sagacity  of  the  professional  trader.'* 

Mr.  Crooks  touches  a  vital  point  when  he  advocates  greater  confi- 
dence among  workmen  engaged  in  these  co-operative  associations.  But 
confidence  is  an  article  of  great  delicacy,  and  how  to  encourage  it  is  a 
difficult  question.  So  far  as  we  can  judge  from  our  own  experience,  the 
only  way  to  develop  confidence  is  to  adopt  systems  that  will  practically 
eliminate  its  necessity.  That  is  to  say,  the  system  under  which  co-oper- 
ative business  must  be  carried  on  should  be  so  clear  and  open,  that  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  for  officials  to  abuse  the  confidence  of  their 
members.  Practically,  the  business  of  the  co-operative  stores  in  England 
is  carried  on  upon  such  a  system ;  which,  indeed  is  also  an  absolute 
necessity  in  the  large  departmental  stores  of  our  day. 

It  will,  of  course,  be  noted  that  this  Co-operative  Industrial  Exhibition 
represents  but  a  mere  fleabite  of  the  immense  trade  of  the  British  Isles ; 
but,  having  once  made  a  start  and  attained  a  position  of  permanent 
success,  it  is  bound  to  lead  to  momentous  results. 

It  seems  impossible  that  the  great  trade  unions  and  fraternal  societies 
should  be  much  longer  carried  on  without  forcing  the  masses  to  learn 
the  lessons  of  self-help  and  confidence  which  must  lie  at  the  roots  of  a 
true  democracy. 

How  far  away  we  are  from  an^hing  like  the  fraternity  of  the  Social- 
istic idea  may  be  seen  by  the  almost  universal  divisions  among  families. 
Multi-millionaires  with  poor  relatives  are  not  at  all  uncommon — pro- 
bably the  rule  ;  and  even  among  ordinary  well-to-do  citizens  it  seems  to 
be  the  rare  exception  to  find  the  prosperous  members  of  a  family  holding 
out  a  helping  hand  to  the  less  fortunate  ones. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  recent  days 
THE  CAPE  TO  was  the   opening  of   the  new  bridge   over  the 

CAIRO  RAILWAY.       Zambesi,  one  of   the  connecting   links   in   the 

'*  Cape  to  Cairo  "  Railway.      The  British  Asso- 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  467 

ciation  had  just  held  its  annual  meeting  in  Cape  Town,  and  many  of  its 

members   were   present.       The  opening   ceremony  was   performed    by 

Professor  Darwin,  the  President.     In  his  speech  Professor  Darwin  quoted 

the  forecast  made  by  his  great-grandfather,  Erasmus  Darwin,  in  1785  : 

"  Soon  shall  thy  arm,  unconquered  steam,  afar, 
Urge  the  slow  barge  and  draw  the  flying  car." 

And  reflected  that  "  little  could  the  writer  of  iKose  lines  have  fore- 
seen for  his  great-grandson  the  honor  of  opening  a  railway  bridge  in  the 
heart  of  equatorial  Africa." 

We  might,  indeed,  say  that  few  men  even  half  a  century  ago  could 
have  foreseen  such  a  definite  event,  for  it  may  be  said  that  in  that  half 
century  the  map  of  Africa  has  been  converted  from  an  almost  blank 
outline  to  a  well-filled-up  map.  The  great  Victoria  Falls,  near  which 
the  new  bridge  spans  the  Zambesi  at  a  height  of  400  feet,  was  only 
known  by  vague  rumor  fifty  years  ago,  and  yet  the  railway  line  is  now 
completed  130  miles  north  of  the  river,  and  is  being  extended  at  the 
rate  of  a  mile  per  day. 

If  building  railways  and  extending  facilities  for  communication 
between  distant  places,  and  opening  up  new  territories  for  commercial 
and  industrial  development,  are  means  towards  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  mankind,  then  we  must  say  that  the  British  people  are 
doing  a  good  work,  however  much  they  may  feel  compelled  to  build 
warships  and  train  soldiers. 


B  donvert. 

:o: 

I'm  ready  fur  the  simple  life,  I'm  waitin'  fur  the  day 

When  everything  is  pe.iceable,  without  a  sign  of  fray. 

I'm  tired  o'  fighiin'  snowstorms,  I'm  tired  o'  choppin'  wood — 

A  simple  life  is  somethin'  that   I  feel  would  do  me  good. 

I've  shivered  in  the  mornin'  when  the  dawn  was  gray  and  bleak, 

I've  took  quinine  and  bitters  till  my  stomach's  gettin'  weak, 

An'  I'm  waitin'  most  impatient  for  the  time  to  come  along 

When  the  sun  is  shinin'  lazy  and  the  world  is  all  a  song. 

Swingin'  in  the  hammock  underneath  the  spreadin*  tree, 
Listenin'  to  the  robin  an'  the  murmur  of  the  bee  ; 
Keepin'  jest  a  little  bit  awake,  so's  not  to  miss 
The  perfume  of  the  clover  mingled  with  the  zephyr's  kiss. 
I've  had  enough  of  battle  with  the  winter's  ruthless  power  ; 
I  yearn  for  peace  and  quiet.     I  can  stand  it  by  the  hour. 
It's  fine  to  be  a  hero  an'  to  conquer  in  the  strife, 
But  I'm  gettin'  good  an'  ready  to  adopt  a  simple  life. 

—  Washington  Star, 


468  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

IRevivaliet  Zoxvc^  ConbcmneD  \>^  M.  Z.  Stca&^ 

:o: — 

II.  {Cmiclnded.) 

THE  CASE    OF    COLONEL    INGERSOLL. 

Wiih  regard  to  Colonel  Ingersoll,  Dr.  Torrey  ins>isted  that  his  charge  was  true 
because  it  was  a  matter  of  Court  record.  On  referring  to  New  York  for  copy  of 
this  record,  it  was  discovered  that  the  case  had  never  been  tried  to  the  end,  as 
in  the  prehminary  stages  the  attempts  made  to  defend  the  hbel  were  either  dis- 
missed by  the  Court  as  immaterial  or  were  manifestly  inadequate  to  justify  the 
accusation.  Colonel  Ingersoll  having  proved  that  there  was  no  substance  in  the 
charge  against  him,  was  not  vindictive  enough  to  persist  in  the  action.  He  had 
cleared  his  chaiacter,  and  he  did  not  care  for  money  damages.  When  I  drew 
Dr.  Torrey's  attention  to  this  and  asked  him  to  say  simply  yes  or  no  to  the 
question  whether  he  was  prepared  to  make  the  necessary  amende  to  Colonel 
Ingersoll's  memory,  /  received  no  answer. 

METHODS    OF    BARBARISM    IN    RELIGION. 

I  have  no  wish  to  press  hardly  upon  Dr.  Torrey.  He  is  an  earnest  man  who 
has  done,  and  I  hope  will  continue  to  do,  much  good  work.  In  my  pamphlet 
on  the  Torrey-Alexander  Mission  I  have  gone  out  of  my  way  to  commend  his 
work,  to  excuse  his  narrowness,  and  to  secure  for  him  a  cordial  welcome  to 
London.  I  undertook  the  correspondence  with  the  friendiest  intentions,  hoping 
to  get  him  out  of  a  mess  into  which  he  had  blundered,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  in 
sheer  ignorance.  It  is  therefore  with  no  personal  animus  that  I  am  using  this 
correspondence  to  illustrate  the  necessity  for  a  little  more  of  Christian  charity,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  secular  virtues  of  justice  and  veracity,  in  our  dealing  with 
those  who  reject  the  Christian  faith.  Is  it  not  time  that  the  practice  of  slandering 
the  unbeliever  in  the  interests  of  the  true  religion  was  recognized  as  lying  outside 
the  frontiers  of  legitimate  warfare? 

PUT    OUR    LORD    IN    THE    FREETHINKER'S    PLACE. 

Let  us  see  how  we  should  like  it  if  some  Sadducee  were  to  deal  with  the 
character  of  Christ  as  Dr.  Torrey  has  dealt  with  the  characters  of  Paine  and 
Ingersoll.  A  Mohammedan  sent  me  a  book  some  time  ago  in  which  the 
character  of  our  Lord  was  mishandled  much  in  the  same  fashion,  and  a  very 
pretty  mess  he  made  of  it.  According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture  Christ 
was  a  man  tempted  in  all  points  even  as  we,  and  being  touched  with  a  feeling  of 
our  infirmities,  is  preeminently  capable  of  sympathizing  with  those  whose  trials 
and  temptations  he  shared.  If  so,  he  must  take  a  peculiar,  intense,  sympathetic 
interest  in  the  hard  measure  meted  out  to  pioneers,  heretics,  blasphemers  and 
atheists.  Long  before  Dr.  Torrey  put  Paine  and  Ingersoll  through  the  mill  of 
unjust  and  slanderous  aspersion,  the  Dr.  Torreys  of  the  Sanhedrim  put  the  man 
of  Nazareth  through  the  same  ordeal.  If  a  fellow-feeling  makes  one  wondrous 
kind,  our  Lord  must  feel  exceptionally  kindly  towards  these  victims  of  Pharisaic 
zeal.  For  Paine  and  Ingersoll  are  assailed  by  the  same  weapons,  subjected  to 
the  same  aspersions,  and  misrepresented  in  the  same  merciless  fashion  as  he  was 
assailed  by  the  orthodox  of  his  time,  and  in  their  case,  as  in  his,  it  was  all  done 
with  the  best  motives  from  zeal  for  the  truth  of  God.  It  was  to  "  get  right  with 
God,"  according  to  their  ideas  of  God  and  his  chosen  people,  that  the  High 
Priests  and  Pharisees  crucified  Jesus,  and  the  animus  of  their  successors  in  our 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  469 


time  against  the  blasphemers  of  to-day  is  still  as  keen.  As  the  body  of  the 
heretic  is  safe  from  their  attack,  they  take  it  out  of  his  reputation  with  all  the 
more  vehemence. 

DR.    TORREY's    method    APPLIED    TO   JESUS    CHRIST. 

"  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  me.'  Let  us  see,  then,  how  it  would  look  if  it  were  done 
unto  Christ  as  it  has  been  done  unto  Paine  and  Ingersoll.  If  a  heathen,  or 
Moslem,  or  Freethinking  controversialist  were  to  adopt  Dr.  Torrey's  method,  we 
should  have  a  result  somewhat  like  this : 

The  following  is  a  full  and  explicit  statement  of  the  charges  made  against 
j[esus  of  Nazareth,  which  in  his  time  were  believed  to  be  true.  I  make  these 
charges  with  great  reluctance,  for  I  cannot  do  it  without  showing  the  character 
of  Jesus  in  a  very  unenviable  light. 

The  number  of  charges  made  against  Jesus  of  Nazareth  by  those  who  have 
sought  to  expose  his  character  are  seven.  There  are  others,  but  I  think  it  will 
be  sufficient  to  state  these  seven. 

1.  That  Jesus  was  a  man  of  uncertain  parentage  brought  up  in  a  disreputable 
neighborhood,  who  was  without  honor  in  his  own  country,  and  who  wandered 
abroad  without  visible  means  of  subsistence,  or  even  a  place  in  which  to  lay  his 
head. 

2.  That  he  was  known  to  have  held  communications  with  the  Devil  in  the 
wilderness,  and  was  popularly  believed  to  have  cast  out  devils  by  his  intimacy 
with  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  devils. 

3.  That  he  was  a  winebibber  and  a  glutton  in  his  personal  habits  ;  that  he 
paid  little  regard  to  the  Sabbath  day,  or  to  the  washing  of  hands  ;  and  that  he 
publicly  avowed  a  preference  for  publicans  and  harlots  to  the  orthodox  and 
respectable  Pharisees  and  the  scribes  learned  in  the  Holy  Law  of  God. 

4.  That  he  was  constantly  in  the  company  of  publicans  and  sinners,  and  that 
he  did  not  refuse  the  affection  of  loose  women,  one  of  whom  made  a  public 
scene  by  a  shameless  demonstration  of  her  love. 

5.  That  his  affectionate  relations  with  these  women  gave  rise,  in  the  profane 
history  of  later  times,  to  profane  imputations  upon  his  character,  and  led  some 
of  his  followers  to  omit  from  the  Gospel  record  the  story  of  his  refusal  to  condemn 
a  woman  taken  in  the  vtry  act  of  adultery. 

6.  That  he  constantly  spoke  evil  of  the  constituted  authorities  in  the  Church  ; 
on  one  occasion  he  created  a  public  riot  by  attacking  vested  interests  in  the 
Temple,  and  made  himself  so  intolerable  a  nuisance  in  Jerusalem  that  the  con- 
stituted authorities  were  obliged  to  arrest  him  and  send  him  for  trial. 

7.  That  he  was  tried  three  times  :  (j)  before  the  Sanhedrim,  (2)  before  Herod, 
and  (3)  before  Pilate,  and,  by  their  judicial  verdict  confirmed  with  enthusiastic 
unanimity  by  the  populace,  he  was  executed  as  a  blasphemer  against  God's 
Holy  Law,  and  for  treason  against  the  Roman  Empire. 

•  These  are,  perhaps,  the  principal  charges  against  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  My 
opinion  about  these  charges  is  as  follows  : 

Charge  i.   Proved  and  undenied— a  matter  of  record. 

Charge  2.  I  do  not  think  this  is  proven.  The  charge  is  made,  and  it  was  no 
doubt  believed  at  the  time,  but  such  superstitions  need  not  soriously  occupy  our 
attention  at  this  tin  e  of  day. 

Chaige  3.     On  this  point   I  would  prefer  to  leave  my  judgment  in  suspense. 


470  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


But  I  must  admit  that  he  was  not  a  total  abstainer.  He  claimed  to  have  miracu- 
lously added  to  the  supply  of  wine  at  a  wedding  feast.  His  conduct  was  such 
that  it  was  popularly  said  of  him,  '•  He  hath  a  devil,  and  is  mad."  His  saying 
about  the  publicans  and  harlots  is  on  record. 

Charge  4  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  not  denied  by  anyone  who  has  ever  investigated 
the  matter  at  all  carefully.  It  is  sometimes  obscured,  or  not  mentioned  by  his 
defenders  ;  but  I  know  no  one  who  has  written  intelligently  on  the  subject  who 
has  denied  it — not  even  those  whose  defences  of  Jesus  have  most  distorted  the 
facts  to  give  them  a  coloring  favorable  to  Jesus.  The  incident  referred  to  is  on 
record.  The  woman  actually  washed  his  feet  with  her  tears  as  he  sat  at  table, 
and  dried  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head. 

Charge  5  I  don't  regard  as  proven.  No  such  imputation  was  ever  brought 
against  him  by  his  contemporaries  But  his  afiectionate  relations  with  such 
women  were  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  the  ethical  principle  which  later 
found  expression  in  the  apostolic  in  unction  to  avoid  the  very  appearance  of  evil. 
And  even  if  not  criminal,  it  was  open  to  misconception,  and  therefore  deserves 
our  severest  condemnation.  Neveiiheless,  although  I  have  blamed  his  intimacy 
with  a  woman  of  notoriously  immoral  character,  I  do  not  think  that  his  guilt  has 
been  actually  proven.  This  being  the  case,  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  a  blasphemer 
who  had  the  presumption  to  make  himself  equal  with  God  does  not  justify  us  in 
accusing  him  of  an  offence  the  proof  of  which  is  not  legally  complete. 

Charge  6.     True  and  not  denied.     It  is  a  matter  of  court  record. 

Charge  7.  Also  undisputed.  He  was  executed  by  the  Roman  authorities 
put  in  motion  by  the  highest  and  best  representatives  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and 
the  sentence  was  immensely  popular.  He  was  crucified  as  a  malefactor  between 
two  thieves.     All  this  is  on  official  record. 

Here,  then,  is  the  state  of  the  case  as  regards  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  I  under- 
stand it.  It  certainly  leaves  him  in  a  very  unattractive  light,  and  shows  him  as 
an  altogether  unlovely  man.  But  in  spite  of  his  erratic  thinking  and  his  utter 
unreliability  as  a  teacher,  and  his  very  reprehensible  conduct,  it  is  only  justice  to 
Jesus  to  admit  that  at  an  important  crisis  in  the  history  of  Israel  He  foretold 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  and  so  may  have  helped  to  bring  it  about.  If 
the  final  dispersion  of  the  Jews  and  the  extinction  of  their  nationality  was  a  good 
thing,  some  small  share  of  the  credit  should  be  put  to  his  account.  Furthermore, 
it  is  due  to  him  to  say  that  he  anticipated  many  of  the  so-called  results  of  what 
its  advocates  delight  to  call  the  new  views  of  the  Bible.  If  the  so-called  advanced 
thought  of  the  present  day  is  true  and  a  real  advance  in  Biblical  knowledge,  it  is 
not  more  than  fair  to  admit  that  on  this  point  Jesus  was  about  nineteen  centuries 
ahead  of  our  advanced  thinkers,  for  many  of  the  points  they  most  emphasize  are 
found  in  the  sayings  of  Jesus.  In  fact,  it  is  sometimes  difificult  to  distinguish 
some  of  the  utterances  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  from  the  latest  statements  of  the 
socialists,  rationalists,  and  advanced  thinkers  of  our  time.  Especially  in  his 
leniency  to  the  Sadducees,  and  his  harsh,  violent,  and  persistent  denunciation  of 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  he  could  hardly  be  outdone  by  the  most  advanced 
Freethinkers  of  our  day. 

"why  this  outrage?" 

Of  course,  this  grates  horribly  upon  every  devout  reader.  That  is  why  I  print 
it.  I  want  it  to  grate.  And  why  ?  Because  it  enables  us  to  feel  something  of 
the  pain  and  the  sorrow  which  Christ  must  feel  when  he  sees  how  Dr.  Torrey 
and  his  kind  deal   with  the  least  of  these  his  brethren.     If  it  is  right  to  treat 


SECULAB  THOUGHT.  471 


Paine  and  Ingersoll  in  the  harsh,  carping,  uncharitable,  malevolent  fashion 
illustrated  in  the  above  lett*er,  then  it  is  equally  right  to  apply  the  same  method 
to  the  character  of  the  Founder  of  our  Faith. 

I  do  not  need,  I  hope,  to  make  formal  protest  against  the  inevitable  slander 
that  I  am  placing  Paine  and  Ingersoll  on  the  same  level  with  our  Lord.  Every- 
one who  reads  this  homily  knows  that  I  do  no  such  thing.  I  only  claim  them 
as  the  least  of  his  brethren,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  same  just,  truthful,, 
charitable  treatment  that  Christ  himself  had  a  right  to  expect  when  he  manifested 
himself  to  us  as  a  man  among  men. 

INFIDELITY    AND    IMMORALITY. 

As  to  the  general  thesis  to  which  Dr.  Torrey  clings  with  such  pathetic  tenacity 
— the  alleged  connection  between  unbelief  and  immorality — it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  this  :  we  may  believe  most  firmly  that  the  loss  of  the  supernatural  sanction 
for  morality  will,  in  time,  tend  to  immorality.  But  that  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  suggesting,  as  is  so  often  done,  that  all  infidels  are  immoral  men,  and 
that  if  they  abandoned  their  vices  they  would  become  orthodox  Christians.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  men — and  women  also — who,  as  the  result  of  much  searching 
of  heart,  have  regretfully  come  to  believe  that  the  old  doctrine  taught  them  at 
their  mothers'  knees  is  no  longer  tenable,  are  often  found  to  be  more  punctiliousy 
moral  in  their  private  lives  than  multitudes  of  Christians. 

I  have  done.  If,  in  attempting  to  apply  what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  plain 
and  manifest  meaning  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  to  the  question  at  issue  between 
Dr.  Torrey  and  the  Freethinkers,  I  have  done  any  injustice  to  Dr.  1  orrey,  I 
stand  condemned  in  my  own  eyes  and  convicted  on  the  principles  which  I  have 
applied  to  him.  But  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  set  down  aught  in  malice, 
and  I  have  suppressed  much  that  others  have  urged  me  to  publish.  I  have  said 
enough  to  clear  myself  from  all  complicity  in  what  seems  to  me  an  un-Christlike 
way  of  preaching  Christ. 


^be  Zxocnt^^Bcvcn  Wav.  periob  of  fIDaonetic 
Disturbance* 

:o: 

BY    A.    ELVINS,    TORONTO. 

:o: 

{A  Paper  read  before  the  Toronto  Astronomical  Society.) 

II.  {Concluded). 

Very  small  solid  particl^  seldom  (if  ever)  reach  the  earth's  surface  ;  they  enter 

:.nd  rush  through  the  atmosphere  with  such  velocity,  that  they  are  burnt  up  by 

the  heat  caused  by  friction,  and  we  see  them  as  shooting  stars. 

Sometimes  such  particles  move  in  swarms  millions  of  miles  in  length,  but  they 
are  not  evenly  distributed  in  the  swarm  ;  we  pass  through  the  November  swarm 
three  or  four  years  in  succession,  every  33  years,  but  they  are  not  seen  all  the 
world  over  at  the  same  time  ;  like  rain  showers,  they  fall  on  some  places  and 
leave  others  dry.  Last  year  we  saw  none  at  Toronto,  but  the  meteors  were  well 
seen  in  California  (at  Mount  Lowe)  and  in  some  parts  of  the  North-west.     This 


472  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


fifteenth  of  November  shower  is  widely  known,  but  there  are  very  many  others 
known  to  students  of  astronomy,  and  all  are  adding  Iheir  matter  to  the  earth's 
mass. 

Now  there  is  another  phenomenon  which  (I  think)  owes  its  existence  to  the 
fall  of  matter  into  the  earth's  atmosphere  ;  that  is  the  Aurora  Borealis.  We 
need  not-  think  that  it  is  caused  by  solid  particles  ;  if  it  is,  they  must  be  extremely 
small,  and  almost  infinitely  numerous  ;  but  the  incoming  matter  may  be  gaseous, 
at  least  in  part.  If  swarms  of  extremely  small  particles,  containing  matter  which 
would  become  luminous  on  entering  and  descending  through  the  atmosphere, 
should  contain  an  element  which  would  disturb  the  needle ;  we  should  get  a 
magnetic  disturbance  whenever  we  get  an  aurora,  and  we  do. 

Now,  as  such  meteoric  or  cosmic  matter  exists  on  every  side  of  our  system, 
as  we  are  in  motion,  we  must  be  moving  through  it,  approaching  the  matter  in 
front  of  us,  and  drawing  it  toward  ourselves  ;  the  matter  within  the  sphere  of  the 
sun's  attraction  will  come  toward  it,  and  enter  the  system  on  every  side. 

Every  particle,  or  mass,  would  pass  through  our  system,  and  after  bending  its 
orbit  when  passing  round  the  sun,  would  pass  off  into  space  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  the  planets  intercept  some  of  them,  and  as  the  planets  move  in  nearly 
the  same  plane,  they  will  project  some  of  them  on  the  sun,  by  changing  their 
course  when  passing  the  great  planets  composing  the  solar  system  ;  and  we  notice, 
that  if  these  cause  the  sun-spots,  these  spots  will  not  be  far  from  the  sun's 
equator,  never  at  the  poles. 

The  earth,  then,  as  a  portion  of  the  solar  system,  is  moving  toward  the  point 
in  space  from  which  the  cosmic  matter  is  gathered,  and  when  it  meets  with  and 
passes  through  clouds  of  cosmic  matter,  the  needle  will  be  disturbed.  If  there 
is  more  matter  passing  us  at  periods  of  ten  or  twelve  years  than  at  other  times, 
we  shall  get  a  larger  number  of  magnetic  disturbances  than  at  other  times;  and 
this  is  the  case.  At  periods  of  about  eleven  or  twelve  years  we  get  a  plus  of 
magnetic  disturbance. 

This  eleven-year  period  is,  I  think,  caused  by  the  perturbations  produced  by 
Jupiter  ;  it  is  outside  the  earth,  its  attraction  changes  the  paths  of  matter  coming 
sunward,  and  collects  it  into  streams  which  converge  as  they  pass  around  or  by 
it  ;  and  then  pass  on  in  their  path  sunward  and  cause  the  eleven-year  solar  dis- 
turbances by  falling  (in  part)  into  it.  "% 

Now,  as  the  moon  moves  around  the  earth,  and  is  carried  through  space  with 
it  around  the  sun,  when  it  passes  through  a  meteoric  swarm  it  changes  slightly 
their  path  in  relation  to  the  earth  in  the  same  manner  as  Jupiter  does  in  relation 
to  the  sun,  and  causes  a  plus  of  matter  to  reach  the  earth  ;  and  thus  disturbs  the 
magnets  at  periods  of  27^^  days  apart. 

We  have  seen  that  meteoric  showers  are  not  evenly  distributed  in  their  orbits, 
and  are  not  seen  at  the  same  point  on  the  earth's  surface  in  some  years  when 
there  is  a  good  display  at  other  places  ;  and  some  years  we  do  not  get  an  expected 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  478 

display  at  all.  Their  path  changes  some  by  planetary  perturbation,  and  we  have 
missed  the  November  meteors  in  this  way  ;  and  from  a  similar  cause  we  some- 
times reach  the  point  in  the  moon's  orbit  which  had  meteoric  matter  passing 
when  we  last  left  it,  and  find  it  has  passed  on,  and  that  there  is  none  passing  the 
point  on  this  visit ;  at  such  times  we  pass  the  twenty-seven  day  period  and  get  no 
disturbance. 

There  is  another  important  thought  which  we  must  not  overlook.  Modern 
physical  research  has  made  it  almost  certain  that  the  atoms  of  the  chemical 
elements  are  not  the  smallest  particles  of  matter  which  exist ;  these  (the  chemics) 
seem  to  be  broken  up  in  cathode  rays,  and  are  known  as  ions,  each  of  which  is 
supposed  to  carry  an  electric  charge,  and  I  regard  it  as  most  probable  that  this 
is  the  form  of  matter  which  exists  in  space,  and  is  chiefly  the  cosmic  matter 
which  enters  our  system.  Such  electrically  charged  ions  coming  into  the  atmo- 
sphere would,  better  than  anything  I  can  think  of,  explain  the  origin  of  aurorae 
and  magnetic  disturbance ;  and  it  may  be  the  cause  of  what  I  have  often  felt,  an 
excessive  weakness  before  storms,  hours  before  they  reach  us  or  the  barometer 
begins  to  fall.  In  cosmic  streams,  matter  of  all  sizes  probably  exists,  from  the 
corpuscles  of  J.  J.  Thompson  to  meteorites  of  many  tons  in  weight ;  and  when 
this  question  is  fully  studied  I  thtnk  the  key  to  our  weather  conditions  will  have 
been  found. 

But  it  is  clear,  if  this  view  is  correct,  weather  forecasts  must  sometimes  fail ; 
the  absence  of  cosmic  matter  at  the  time  when  the  disturbing  body  reaches  the 
point  of  disturbance  will  always  be  a  difficulty  in  making  a  forecast  ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  a  large  majority  will  be  correct. 

This  view  seemed  to  be  sustained  by  Father  Sidgraves  and  Prof.  Shuster  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  in  January  1901. 

Such,  I  think,  is  the  cause  of  our  magnetic  storms,  aurorae,  and  sun-spots,  but 
it  is  also  a  fact  that  the  twenty-seven  day  period,  which  is  certainly  the  time  of 
the  moon's  period,  is  also  the  period  of  the  sun's  rotation,  and  should  any  large 
mass  fall  into  the  sun  and  sink  down,  which  it  would  doubtless  do,  the  matter 
would  soon  melt  and  volatilize,  it  would  rush  upward,  cause  the  prominences 
and  spots,  and  the  sun's  rotation  would  bring  them  round  again  in  twenty-seven 
days.  Mr.  Harvey  has  proved  that  magnetism  has  a  twenty-seven  day  period, 
he  thinks  the  sun's  rotation  produces  it.  There  are  strong  reasons  which  lead 
to  such  a  view,  but  all  things  considered,  I  think  it  likely  that  the  moon  is  the 
chief  cause  of  the  twenty-seven  day  period. 

The  coincidence  of  these  periods  of  sun  and  moon  is  very  remarkable,  and  it 
will  be  by  no  means  easy  to  feel  sure  which  is  the  cause  of  the  twenty-seven  day 
period  ;  but  it  must  be  expected  that  such  a  disturbance  will  e^ist  if  my  theory 
of  cosmical  evolution  be  true  ;  and  as  I  believe  it  to  be  such,  I  accept  the  moon's 
action  on  incoming  cosmic  matter  as  the  cause  of  the  disturbance  of  the  needle 
in  twenty-seven  day  periods. 


474  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 

IfreetbouQbt  an&  (tburcbmanabip* 

:o: 

BY   GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.    SUN. 

:o: 

To  the  Editor. 

Sir, — The  question  was  started  in  your  columns  the  other  day  whether  a 
Christian  of  my  way  of  thinking  could  be  a  member  of  the  Anglican  Church. 
A  professor  of  the  Anglican  creed  he  could  not  be,  though  he  might  sit  in  an 
Anglican  pew.  But  he  might  find  himself  in  other  respects  out  of  place.  I 
attend  a  church  where  I  am  safe  against  religious  recognition  of  war.  Till  ma- 
terialism has  thoroughly  proved  its  case,  a  man,  it  seems  to  me,  will  hardly  do 
well  in  cutting  himself  ofif  from  religious  life. 

Extreme  materialism  lays  it  down  that  the  three  great  obstacles  to  our  well 
being  are  the  belief  in  a  God,  the  belief  in  immortality  and  the  belief  in  the 
freedom  of  the  will.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  special  harm  pure  theism  has 
done.  Its  effects  might  be  thought  even  to  give  it  some  claim  to  consideration 
as  a  practical  key.  Immortality  in  the  strict  sense  is  unthinkable,  and  the  doc- 
trine has  been  presented  in  a  form  which  shocks.  But  without  that  belief  in 
accountability  which  is  the  support  of  conscience  the  world  would  hardly  have 
been  better  than  it  is. 

Nor,  apparently,  would  man  have  been  better  braced  for  improving  effort  by  the 
belief  that  he  was  an  automaton  and  that  responsibility  was  a  dream.  The  frank 
abandonment  of  that  which  reason,  our  only  guide,  as  Bishop  Potter  says,  has 
disproved  is  the  first  step  toward  the  attainment  of  truth.  Free  thought  does 
frankly  abandon,  although  it  may  be  with  a  sigh,  whatever  science  and  criticism 
have  disproved.  It  admits  the  difficulty  of  the  theistic  hypothesis  arising  from 
-the  conflict  in  the  universe  of  that  which  seems  to  us  disorder  and  evil  with  that 
which  seems  to  us  order  and  good.  It  lays  Paley's  *'  Evidences  "  and  the 
firidgewater. 

But  reason  surely  bids  us  to  be  on  our  guard,  not  only  against  the  influence 
of  tradition,  which  now,  among  the  educated,  lingers  chiefly  in  clerical  circles,  and 
even  there  is  tempered  by  "  Lux  Mundi,"  but  against  the  rush  of  physical  dis- 
covery and  the  immediate  assumption  that  the  germplasm  which  science,  over- 
turning our  infantine  creeds,  has  shown  to  be  the  beginning  of  human  develop- 
ment, aspiration  and  hope. 

We  may  also  have  to  be  on  our  guard  against  diversion  from  the  right  line  of 
inquiry.  Mysticism  is  a  fantom  apt  to  hover  over  the  grave  of  a  dead  religion. 
May  not  the  tendency  to  "  psychism,"  now  prevailing,  be  a  case  of  this  kind  ? 
There  are  no  doubt  deep  mysteries  still  to  be  explored  in  the  nervous  frame  of 
man;  the  storage  of  a  life's  events  by  memory  being  perhaps  the  profoundest  of 
all.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  telepathist  may  succeed  in  discovering  his  medium 
.of  transmission.     But  all  this  is  corporeal  and  touches  not  the  moral  or  the 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  475 

spiritual  man.  That  memory  is  corporeal  old  age  knows  too  well.  "  Psychism  " 
is,  in  fact,  a  misnomer.  Neither  telepathy,  spiritualism  nor  anything  of  that  kind 
seems  yet  to  have  touched  or  pretended  to  have  touched  the  soul.  That  surely 
is  a  critical  moment  in  the  history  of  man  in  which  he  still  confronts  the  enigma 
of  the  universe  and  of  his  own  being  and  destiny  with  reason  unclouded  by  tra- 
dition. Single  thinkers  may  have  done  this  before.  But  they  were  still  in  the 
penumbra  of  tradition  and  had  comparatively  little  of  the  light  of  science.  Tra- 
dition could  still  tender  as  evidence  of  the  Noachic  deluge  the  finding  of  fossil 
shells  at  high  elevations,  and  philosophy  could  reply  that  the  shells  were  cockles 
dropped  by  palmers  from  their  hats  in  crossing  the  mountains.  A  new  epoch  of 
inquiry  seems  at  hand. 

Can  these  inquiries  be  deemed  profitless  ?  Does  it  matter  nothing  to  a  man 
whether  his  death  may  be  change  of  being  or  annihilation  ?  Does  it  matter 
nothing  to  society  whether  the  witness  of  conscience  is  true  ?  Dr.  Osier  makes 
light — and  thinks  that  people  in  general  make  light — of  the  question  of  im- 
mortality of  the  soul.  Perhaps,  as  was  hinted  before,  the  form  in  which  the  doc- 
trine was  presented,  repelling  belief,  has  had  something  to  do  with  the  levity. 
However,  Dr.  Osier  is  happy  in  this  life.  But  if  happiness  is  the  object,  and  this 
life  is  the  end,  of  all  studies  the  saddest  is  histary. 

P.  S. — "  M.  C.  G.  ''  arraigns  me  as  a  destroyer  of  the  supernatural,  without 
which  he  deems  we  should  be  lost.  This  seems  to  imply  that  God  is  not  in 
nature.  But  the  theist  believes  that  God  is  in  nature  and  is  manifested  through 
it. 


Z\)c  2)elai2  of  ®Ib  Hge^ 


In  the  August  issue  of  the  Buffalo  Medical  jfournal,  Dr.  Charles  G.  Stockton 
deliberates  on  a  topic  that  is  of  interest  to  all  mankind,  namely,  the  considera- 
tion of  what  may  be  done  to  postpone  age  and  to  render  it  more  tolerable  when 
it  no  longer  is  avoidable.  One  of  the  aspects  of  the  subject  that  deserves  espe- 
cial consideration,  says  the  author,  is  the  improvement  in  the  nutrition  of  the  aged 
as  the  result  of  good  teeth.  Iii  his  opinion  it  is  doubtful  if  we  fully  appreciate  how 
much  the  dentists  have  contributed  to  good  health  and  longevity.  Thereupon 
he  pays  his  compliments  to  the  oculists  and  observes  :  *'  Who  can  estimate  the 
additional  resources  both  of  usefulness  and  happiness  secured  through  the  dis- 
covery of  speciacles  and  the  operation  for  cataract  ?  Useful  eyesight  contributes 
much  toward  good  health  and  long  life,  for  the  reason  that  it  permits  of  a  contin- 
ued interest  in  living  which  otherwise  would  be  lost.  .  .  Perhaps  no  one 
factor  is  so  important  in  mainiaming  courage  and  health  in  old  people  as  the 
creation  and  the  continuance  of  some  keen  interest  in  life."  With  reference  to 
the  time-worn  but  neglected  subject  of  arterial  disease,   Dr.  Stockton  states  that 


476  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

much  may  be  done  in  the  earlier  steps  of  arteriosclerosis  (a  hardening  of  the 
arteries)  if  intelligent  study  be  given  to  the  individual,  to  his  habits  of  life,  to 
his  excesses,  and  to  his  deficiencies.  Emphasizing  the  importance  of  judging 
and  correcting  the  disturbed  balance  between  assimilation  and  waste,  the  docter 
observes  that  there  are  successful  methods  of  lessening  the  extent  of  auto-intoxi- 
cation and  of  widening  the  field  for  the  play  of  nutritional  process.  He  points 
to  the  fact  that  middle  age  often  brings  luxury,  and  at  the  same  period  the  con- 
tracting arteries  narrow  the  field  of  physiologic  activities. 

In  considering  the  question  of  what  may  be  done  to  make  old  age  more  toler- 
able, the  author  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  most  of  the  derangements  from  which 
the  aged  suffer  can  be  classified  as  belonging  distinctly  to  pathology.  He  fears 
there  exists  a  tendency  among  physicians  to  dismiss  these  matters  as  necessary 
corollaries  of  senilty  without  giving  them  careful  consideration  which  similar  pro- 
cesses receive  in  younger  patients.  Those  who  make  a  specialty  of  senile  diseases 
seem  to  agree  that  complaints  of  the  aged  arise  for  the  most  part  from  toxic 
causes,  and  there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  this  toxic  state  which  under- 
lies the  decadence  of  senility  takes  its  origin  for  the  most  part  in  the  colon. 
This  organ  harbors  an  immense  number  of  bacteria,  leading  to  fermentations, 
putrefactions,  and  the  production  of  alkaloids,  fatty  acids  and  toxins  which  man 
has  to  combat  for  the  length  of  his  mortal  days. 

In  concluding  his  very  interesting  paper,  the  authot  says:  "The  indicaions 
are  obvious.  In  addition  to  the  usual  measures  for  improving  the  general  circu- 
lation, old  people  are  benefited  by  systematic  colonic  lavage,  stimulating  baths 
with  superficial  massage,  prescribed  pulmonary  gymnastics,  and  an  abundant 
drinking  of  pure  water. — Scientific  American. 


lRu06(a  and  3apan  Contraeted. 

:o: 


In  one  short  year  the  world  has  witnessed  the  crash  of  Russia's  vaulting  ambi- 
tions in  the  Far  East.  These  were  made  manifest  in  the  possession  of  Port 
Arthur  and  Dalny — the  model  fortress  and  model  port  of  commerce.  The  rail- 
way ran  thither,  all  the  way  from  Moscow,  the  shining  rails  standing  for  millions 
of  treasure,  thousands  of  lives,  and  the  eventual  domination  of  East  Asia  The 
dream  has  vanished,  the  great  ideal — and  there  was  an  ideal,  despite  the  mon- 
strous superstructure  and  chicanery — has  left  nothing  but  disillusionment  be- 
hind. Japan  is  now  where  Russia  was  a  year  ago ;  but  securely  based  on  sea 
power,  and  in  a  position  which  looks — and  we  believe  is— absolutely  unassailable- 
Nor  is  that  all.  Just  as  remarkable  as  the  overthrow  of  Russia's  pride  on 
land  and  sea,  and  the  glory  of  Japan's  naval  and  military  achievements,  is  the 
contrast  between  the  political  conditition  of  the  two  nations  as  resulting  from 
•the  war.     In  Japan  this  mighty  struggle,  recognized  by  statesmen  and  people 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  477 


alike  to  be  a  struggle  for  national  existence,  has  drawn  all  classes  together,  weld- 
ing them  into  one  compact  whole,  and  raising  their  loyalty  to  Mikado  and  coun- 
try to  the  white  heat  of  enthusiastic  devotion.  There  is  now  no  opposition  in 
Japan.  War  taxes  are  voted  without  debate  by  unanimous  Houses.  The  man- 
hood of  the  nation  steps  forward  at  the  call  of  duty.  Not  vicariously,  but  in 
person — without  a  murmur.  There  is  no  wailing  over  losses,  no  carping  criti- 
cism of  generals  or  admirals.  Japan's  proud,  self-reliant  attitude  during  this  pro- 
longed crisis  may  well  serve  as  a  model  for  the  Western  world. 

It  seems  almost  brutal  to  draw  the  companion  picture,  for  it  is  one  in  which 
all  the  colors  are  sombre  and  dismal.  The  war  was  detested  in  Russia  from  the 
outset  ;  it  is  detested  the  more  now  that  nothing  but  disaster  is  its  outcome. 
The  soldiers  go  East  reluctantly,  without  enthusiasm,  and  almost  without  hope. 
The  Reservist  regards  his  summons  as  a  call  to  certain  death  or  disablement. 
All  the  seething  discontent — partly  social,  partly  industrial,  partly  political — 
which  has  been  simmering  underground  in  Russia,  has  broken  out  under  the 
disintegrating  influence  of  national  humiliation.  And  the  crowning  calamity  of 
all  was  reached  when  the  Czar's  soldiers  were  bidden  to  fire,  and  fired,  upon  an 
unarmed  crowd  of  strikers  in  the  capital.  While  Japan  is  the  shining  exemplar 
of  national  unity,  Russia  is  the  embodiment  of  national  chaos,  a  pitiful  welter  of 
blind  elemental  forces,  with  a  Government  which  cannot  wage  successful  war, 
and  yet  dare  not  make  peace.  The  best  we  can  hope  for  is  that  the  utter  hope- 
lessness of  contending  successfully  in  the  face  of  such  stupendous  physical  diffi- 
culties, with  an  enemy  like  Japan,  may  be  borne  in  upon  the  rulers  of  Russia 
while  no  worse  evil  befalls  them  at  home,  and  that  they  may  school  themselves 
to  accept  a  situation  which  they  cannot  relieve. — Daily  Telegraph, 


Evolution  ant)  Hrcbebiosis. 

:o: 

BY    G.    A.    A,    IN    "agnostic   JOURNAL." 

:o: 

The  natural  impetus  given  by  the  recent  researches  made  by  Mr.  John  Butler 
Burke  into  the  origin  of  life,  at  the  famous  Cavendish  Laboratory,  Cambridge,  to 
the  conviction  which  was  slowly  but  surely  gaining  ground  among  scientists  con- 
cerning the  natural  evolution  of  living  from  non-living  matter,  would  seem  to 
justify  a  brief  account  of  the  remarkable  influence  which  the  publication  of  Dar- 
win's "  Origin  of  Species,"  and  Spencer's  all-comprehensive  "Evolution  Philoso- 
phy, "  have  exercised  upon  modern  thought.  Before  proceeding  to  do  so,  how- 
ever, it  is  necessary  to  remind  my  readers  that  I  am  writing  this  on  the  morning 
of  2ist  June. 

It  was  Huxley  who,  after  a  careful  consideration  of  what  such  an  assertion 
involved,  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  in  his  inaugural  address  before  the  British 


478  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 

Association  in  1870,  that,  whilst  in  the  admitted  sense  of  evidence  he  could  have 
no  belief,  he  expected  that,  were  it  given  to  him  to  look  beyond  the  abyss  of 
geologically-recorded  time,  he  would  be  a  witness  of  living  protoplasm  from  not 
living  matter.  In  an  article  contributed  to  the  pages  of  the  February  number 
of  the  Fortnightly  Review  of  the  preceding  year,  he  had  urged  the  improbability 
of  there  being  any  real  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  molecular  forces,  which 
compelled  the  carbonate  of  lime  to  assume  and  retain  the  crystalline  form,  and 
those  which  caused  the  albumoid  matter  to  move  and  grow,  select  and  form, 
and  maintain  its  particles  in  a  state  of  incessant  motion.  What  the  property  of 
crystallizing  was  to  crystallizable  matter,  that,  in  Huxley's  opinion,  was  what  the 
property  of  vitality  was  to  albumoid  matter,  or  protoplastn.  Just  as  the  crystal- 
Ime  form  corresponded  to  the  organic  form,  so  did  its  internal  structure  to  tissue 
structure.  In  other  words,  crystalline  force  being  but  a  property  of  matter,  vital 
force  was  nothing  more  ;  and  the  matter  which  exhibited  this  latter  force  was  the 
result  of  three  lifeless  compounds  being  chemically  united,  their  names  being 
ammonia,  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  water,  each  of  which  was  composed  of  ele- 
ments with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  Such  were  the  confessions  of  Professor 
Huxley  upon  this  subject,  although  they  were  always  accompanied  with  the  qual- 
ification that  he  did  not  consider  it  possible,  or  at  any  rate  probable,  that  the 
laboratory  creation  of  life  would  be  a  discovery  of  the  future. 

It  was  now  that  Pasteur,  the  great  French  chemist,  established  the  existence  of 
microbes,  ubiquitous  creatures  of  great  fecundity,  to  whom  Pasteur  had  given 
their  name  on  account  of  their  smallness,  the  substantive  (microbes)  being  de- 
rived from  the  Greek  micros  (small)  and  bios  (life).  This  discovery  gave  rise  to 
a  great  deal  of  speculation  as  to  their  origin,  and  it  was  suggested  that,  instead 
of  having  been  the  offspring  of  living  parents,  they  were  spontaneously  generated 
from  non-living  matter.  Pasteur  at  once  set  to  work  to  destroy  the  "  myth  "  of 
spontaneous  generation,  and  in  this,  according  to  the  general  consensus  of  scien- 
tific opinion,  he  succeeded.  Even  H';xley,  who  declared  that  it  was  the  height 
of  presumption  to  assert  that  spontaneous  generation  did  not  take  place,  did  his 
best  to  prove  that  the  theory  was  opposed  to  the  facts  of  science. 

There  was,  however,  one  critic  who  remained  unsatisfied— to  wit,  Dr.  Charlton 
Bastian,  who  observed,  in  his  "  Beginnings  of  Life  "  (vol.  ii.,  p.  77),  published  in 
1872,  that  living  matter,  like  crystalline  matter,  was  only  formable  by  a  synthe- 
sis of  its  elements.  Where,  however,  Pasteur  and  Huxley  had  fallen  into  error, 
was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that,  whilst  crystals  had  not  the  power  of  self-multipli- 
cation, and  could  only,  therefore,  have  had  one  mode  of  origin,  the  obviousness 
of  the  modes  of  increase  resulting  from  the  reproductive  powers  of  organisms  had 
sufficed  to  cast  doubt  upon  the  reality  of  the  independent  origin  of  living  units. 

Yet,  it  will  be  obvious  to  the  reader  that  a  belief  in  the  continuity  of  natural 
phenomena  demands  the  acceptance  of  the  theory  of  spontaneous  generation. 
This  logical  outcome  of  the  evolutionary  theory  was  further  substantiated  by  Pro- 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  479 

fessors  Sanderson,  Huizana,  and  others,  who  discovered  that  forms  of  bacteria 
will  appear  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  within  sealed  experimental  flasks,  whose 
fluids  have  been  previously  boiled,  the  briefest  exposure  in  boiling  water  being 
fatal  to  all  living  matter ;  so  that  these  pioneers  may  be  said  to  have  successfully 
demonstrated   the  truth  of  their  hypothesis. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  researches  of  Mr.  John  Butler  Burke  with  radium 
and  sterilized  bouillon.  Of  course,  we  must  at  i)resent  be  very  reserved  in  our 
comment  upon  Mr.  Burke's  experiments.  The  great  difficulty,  in  the  first  place, 
will  be  to  prove  that  the  bouillon  was  thoroughly  sterilized.  And,  even  if  this 
can  be  done,  then  there  is  a  possibility  of  Mr.  Burke's  discoveries  resolving  them- 
selves into  highly-developed  forms  of  crystalline  matter,  some  of  which  bear  a 
close  resemblance  to  micro-organisms.  Once,  however,  let  him  demonstrate  the 
thorough  sterility  of  his  bouillon,  and  it  at  once  follows  that,  even  if  he  has  not 
produced  a  living  organism,  he  has  considerably  reduced  the  gulf  between  the 
crystalline  and  the  vital.  This  is,  indeed,  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  for  it  vin- 
dicates a  belief  in  the  natural  continuity  of  natural  phenomena,  and  thus  makes 
probable  the  discovey  of  such  a  body  as  it  will  be  difficult  to  describe  as  being 
either  crystalline  or  vital.  Thus  will  the  mineral  be  linked  to  the  vegetable  and 
animal,  and  Genesis,  despite  Mr.  Burke's  futile  attempt  at  compromise,  still  fur- 
ther discredited — if  that  be  possible. 


IRcUgion  ae  a  flDone^^^mafter* 

:o: 

BY    A.    CORN,    SR.,    STRATFORD. 

:o: 

Of  all  the  various  religious  organizations  in  this  country,  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion has  shown  the  most  broadmindedness,  tolerance  of  other  people's  ideas, 
and  (in  Toronto,  at  all  events)  readiness  to  pay  their  just  proportion  of  taxation 
on  their  church  property. 

My  experience  has  been,  that  the  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  is,  generally 
speaking,  a  pretty  liberal  man,  not  given  to  self  adulation,  and  certainly  not  a 
party  to  any  infringement  on  advanced  thought. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,  preaching  in  the  Jarvis  St.  Baptist  Church,  Toronto, 
recently  said  that  "  there  was  too  much  of  professing  Christianity  in  these 
modern  times.  And  with  all  these  pretences  the  reality  is  lacking.  Men  are  too 
often  religious  because  of  what  they  can  get  out  of  it.  Much  that  passes  as 
religion  is  a  miserable  caricature  of  the  glorious  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  true 
Christianity.     There  is  a  religion  of  cant  and  hypocrisy." 

This  is  pretty  harsh  language,  coming  as  it  does  from  the  representative  of  a 
religious  body  that  has  none  of  the  elements  of  sensationalism  in  its  make-up. 
But  then  Dr.  Thomas's  opinion  is  that  of  every  thinking  man  and  woman  in  the 


480  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

world  to-day.  "Cant  and  hypocrisy,"  that  is  about  the  truest  description  that 
was  ever  uttered  from  any  pulpit.  There  is  the  fashionable  church,  which  is 
closed  for  three  months  in  the  summer  time,  and  whose  pastor  goes  to  the  sea- 
side. Is  what  Dr.  Thomas  said  not  true  of  this  church  ? — a  religion  of  cant  and 
hypocrisy  ?  There  are  the  other  churches  which  have  two  services  each  Sunday 
and  prayer-meetings  twice  a  week  ;  is  it  not  true  of  these  as  well  ?  When  a  man 
of  Dr.  Thomas's  even  temper  and  possessing  his  keenness  of  observation,  makes 
a  strong  statement  of  this  kind,  it  must  naturally  have  a  tendency  to  create  a 
feeling  of  distrust  in  the  old  forms  and  ceremonies  among  the  younger  generation. 
Dr.  Thomas,  if  he  had  chosen  to  do  so,  could  have  gone  on  still  further  and 
shown  how,  with  the  clergy,  too,  it  is  a  case  of  •'  religion  for  the  money  that  there 
is  in  it."  That  there  are  many  good  men  in  the  ministry  to-day  no  one  for  a 
moment  doubts— some  men  who  are  self-sacrificing  and  who  honestly  believe  the 
faith  that  they  preach.  These  men  are  too  often  pushed  to  the  back,  while  some 
cool,  calculating  fakirs  reap  what  has  been  sown  for  them.  All  of  which  goes 
to  show  that  educated  people  are  thinking  more  than  they  used  to,  and  that 
once  this  class  of  thinkers  is  out  of  the  Church  there  is  nothing  left  in  it  "  but 
pretence  while  the  reality  is  lacking,"  to  employ  Dr.  Thomas's  own  language. 


tn  XiQbter  \t)ein. 

:o: 

BY    ERNEST    PACK,    IN    "  AGNOSTIC   JOURNAL." 

:o: 

PARSON,  PUBLICAN,  AND  POLICE. 

John  Hudson  is  a  clerk  in  holy  orders,  possibly  a  D.D.,  which  letters  do  not 
stand  for  "  drunk  and  disorderly"  except  in  a  Police  Court;  and  that  is  where 
his  Reverence  found  himself  not  long  since.  When  ordered  away  from  Totten- 
ham Court  Road  he  refused  to  deparr,  and  declared  "  he  would  have  another 
drop  of  brandy,  although  it  was  found  that,  at  the  time,  he  then  had  a  bottle  of 
that  cordial  [  "the  Comforter  "  ]  stowed  away  in  his  pocket.  Howbeit,  the  said 
bottle  was  not  wrapped  in  a  copy  of  the  A.  jf.  In  the  court,  Hudson  said  he 
was  "very  sorry  that  this  had  happened  ;"  and  I,  for  one,  am  not  mean  enough 
to  doubt  the  statement.  At  present,  Hudson  places  his  Heavenly  hope  in  bran- 
dy ;  but  we  all  know  that  Hudson's  hope  should  be  in  water. 


'^SOLOMON   AND   SON." 

A  little  boy,  bearing  the  venerable  name  of  Solomon,  and  who  displayed  great 
ability  in  conducting  a  case  against  one  of  his  father's  debtors,  recentiy  described 
himself  as  a  "  wholesale  grocer."  The  case  was  appropriately  tried  by  Judge 
Bacon,  who  remarked,  "  You  are  an  infant ;  you  cannot  trade.  "  "  But,"  said 
.Solomon  secundus,  "  I  am  trading  !  "  Then  answered  Judge  Bacon,  and  said, 
-*'  But  you  cannot.  How  can  you  make  a  contract  ?  You  are  not  one-and- 
twenty  ?  "     But  the  son  of  Solomon  contracted  his   brow,  and  with  much  confi- 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  481 


dence  replied,  "  No,  Sir ;  but  I  am  Hyman  Solomon  and  Son,"  which,  as  the 
firstborn  of  his  father,  he  might  very  well  be.  I  look  upon  this  as  another  divine 
revelation  of  the  wisdom  of  God  and  Son  speaking  through  the  medium  of 
Hyman  Solomon  and  Son. 


WASHED  IN  THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  LAMB. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  a  converted  sweep,  who  was  called  upon  to  give  his 
testimony  at  a  revivalist  meeting.  "  Ah  !  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,"  he  said, 
"  afore  a'  wis  convertit,  a'  wis  an  awfy  lud  to  sweeir ;  an'  when  ma  broom  stuck 
i'  tha  lum,  ah  !  I  use  tae  sweeir,  an'  swee-ir,  an'  swee-ir,  but  noo  when  ma  broom 
sticks  i'  tha  lum,  1  cries  *  Glory,  Glory,  Hallelujah,  '  an'  doon  tha  damn  thing 
comes  !  " 

Well,  and  why  should  not  the  sweep  "  swee-ir,  an'  swee-ir  an'  swee-ir  "  ?  Christ 
did,  according  to  the  account  in  the  New  Testament,  and  as  a  result  of  that 
•'  swee-ir,"  '*  doon  "  came  the  "damn  "  fig  tree,  which  was  so  horrified  at  the 
awful  expletives  used  that  it  withered  up  by  the  roots.  And,  to-day,  in  our 
courts  of  law,  the  very  first  thing  a  witness  must  do  is  to  "  sweeir,  an'  swee-ir, 
an'  swee-ir, "  by  the  very  book  that  says,  "  Swear  not  at  all.  " 


THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  SCAFFOLD. 
An  Algerian,  named  Benali,  was  executed  at  Maidstone  Gaol  last  week  for 
the  murder  of  a  compatriot  at  Tenterden,  in  June.  Upon  taking  his  stand  on 
the  drop,  Benali  *'  chanted  a  prayer  in  a  loud  voice."  Most  murderers  do  repent 
in  this  way,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  and  are  then  jerked  into  the  arms  of  Jesus. 
In  this  country,  such  a  man  is  granted  three  weeks  in  which  to  repent  and  make 
his  peace  with  God,  and  the  priest  or  parson  assures  him  that  the  black  cap  he 
now  wears  will  soon  be  changed  for  a  golden  crown  containing  stones  which 
would  cause  Haiion  Garden  to  go  emerald  green  with  envy.  But  the  criminal 
is  given  to  understand  clearly  that  though  he  be  fit  for  Heaven,  he  is  unfit  for 
earth.  And,  so  it  comes  about,  that  he  who  is  hanged  on  a  scaffold  goes  straight 
to  his  Saviour  who  was  nailed  to  a  tree. 


DESIGN. 

The  Lord  is  wise  in  all  his  works.  For  wrecks,  for  every  sunken  ship. 

And  wonderful  are  they,  For  plague,  for  death  by  fire. 

For  every  place  where  danger  lurks.  For  spotted  fever's  fearful  grip. 

Upon  our  life's  highway,  For  earthquakes,  thunders  dire, . 

And  every  microbe  in  the  air  For  lightning's  flashing,  fateful  thrust. 

That  injures  thee  and  thine,  That  severs  thee  from  thine. 

Is  put  for  some  wise  purpose  there  We'll   t  hank    thee,  Lord,  in    whom    we 

And  pointeth  to  design.  And  praise  thee  for  design         [trust. 

Consumption,  yea,  and  ca«cer,  too,  Divine  design  !  dear  Lord,  benign, 

That  surgeons  cannot  cure.  We  press  our  loving  lips 

Are  sent  to  comfort  me  and  you.  Upon  this  holy  hand  of  thine, 

So  bear  up,  and  endure  ;  And  kiss  thy  finger  tips. 
For  who  art  thou  to  make  complaint  ?     We  beg  of  thee,  O  Lord,  to  see 

And  why  dost  thou  repine?  That  wicked  hearts  incline 

Oh,  heart  of  little  faith,  and  faint.  To  meekly  tender  thanks  to  thee 

It  is  the  Lord's  design.  For  all  thy  blest  design. 


482  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

H  flDinieter  on  fiDinietere  an&  tbe  Cburcb, 

:o: 

The  following  are  some  extracts  from  a  sermon  recently  preached  by  Rev.  H. 
M.  Brooks,  of  Paris,  111.  :  "  First,  I  wish  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  ministry, 
because  I  belong  to  that  class.  And  I  wish  it  understood  that  I  am  a  friend  to 
the  preacher.  If  there  is  a  set  of  men  on  earth  who  are  in  need  of  friends  it  is 
the  ministry,  for  they,  as  a  class,  are  the  biggest  cowards  on  earth.  My  brethren 
-blame  me  for  telling  tales  out  of  school,  but  I  cannot  help  it.  We  are  cringing, 
cowering,  timid  slaves  who  are  compelled  to  surrender  our  manhood  and  be 
directed  by  men  and  women  who  belong  to  the  church  because  it  is  fashionable 
and  would  belong  to  an  infidel  club  just  as  willingly  if  it  were  equally  fashionable. 
We  are  paid  so  much  a  year,  not  for  telling  the  truth,  but  for  telling  what  the 
people  want  to  hear.  It  takes  us  four  or  five  days  of  each  week  hard  study,  not 
how  to  present  the  truth,  but  how  to  dodge  it.  We  fully  understand  that  if  we 
should  happen  to  tell  the  truth  it  is  our  business  to  apologize  for  having  done  so. 
We  fully  understand  that  no  man  can  preach  for  a  rich,  fashionable  congregation 
and  tell  the  whole  truth  and  hold  his  job.  We  know  that  greed  has  commercial- 
ized business  men,  mammonized  the-  church  and  hypnotized  the  clergy,  but  we 
dare  not  tell  it.  We  know  that  every  time  we  preach  a  discourse,  we  ought  to 
take  for  a  text,  '  I  am  thine  ass,'  and  there  would  be  no  one  to  dispute  our 
premises.  We  know  that  we  are  run  by  rich  men,  many  of  whom  have  acquired 
their  wealth  by  the  most  questionable  methods,  and  fashionable  fools  who  have 
neither  religious  conception  nor  conviction,  but  we  dare  not  open  our  heads. 
Sorjie  time  ago  I  saw  in  the  daily  papers  that  a  preacher  in  Cincinnati  had  come 
to  the  defence  of  foot-ball,  and  I  thought  to  myself  that  if  nine-tents  of  all  the 
preachers  should  quit  preaching  and  go  to  playing  football,  the  country  would  be 
better  off.  In  the  presence  of  the  church  we  are  as  truckling  as  ever  a  scullion 
was  in  the  presence  of  a  king.  A  preacher  with  a  good  place  and  a  good  salary 
was  never  known  to  have  sn  original  idea  or  enter  a  protest  against  the  oppressor 
of  the  weak.  We  know  that  almost  all  crimes  in  the  whole  catalogue  are  com- 
mitted by  church  members,  but  we  dare  not  speak  with  authority.  Think  of 
such  men  and  women  passing  on  the  fitness  of  a  man  to  preach  !  Here  is  a 
cast  of  a  committee  before  whom  I  once  appeared  to  have  them  determine  my 
fitness  to  fill  the  pulpit  :  The  chairman's  income  was  over  thirty  dollars  a  day 
from  buildings  that  he  owned  and  rented  for  the  use  of  gamblers,  saloon-keepers 
and  prostitutes.  Another  had  an  illegitimate  child  that  was  over  twenty  years 
old,  but  he  had  reformed  and  was  a  very  nice  appearing  man  at  that  time. 
Another  had  been  in  a  mix-up  with  a  woman  that  was  enough  to  make  angels 
hide  their  faces  and  devils  blush  for  shame.  Another  had  just  lost  all  his 
money  on  the  election,  and  was  about  to  be  turned  out  of  the  church,  not  for 
betting,  but  because  he  had  lost  all  his  money.  Another  one  of  the  committee 
jwas  half  a  fool  and  he  was  the  best  one  of  the  bunch." — Truthseeker. 


SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


483 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


AT  THE  SUBWAY  TAVERN. 

"  Will  you  walk  into  my  parlor  ?  " 
Said  the  Bishop  to  the  man  ; 

"  It's  the  prettiest  little  parlor 
On  the  Scandinavian  plan. 

"  Our  liquor  is  the  soundest 
Which  can  possibly  be  made, 

And  our  potmen  are  the  noblest  men 
To  be  found  in  all  the  trade. 

"  You'll  see  nothing  here  unpleasant 

After  searching  all  about, 
For  the  place  is  kept  in  order 

By  our  surpliced  '  chuckers  out.' 

'*  The  business  is  carried  on 

With  the  very  best  intent. 
For  in  propagating  Temperance 

The  profits  all  are  spent. 

"  So  take  a  glass  of  liquor 

And  pay  up  like  a  man 
To  promote   the   Temperance    Move- 
ment 

On  the  Scandinavian  plan  !  " 

— From  "  Cartoons  in  Rhyme  and 
Lime,"  by  Sir  IV.  Laivson  and  F.  C. 
Gould. 


THE  CHINAMAN  ENLIGHTENS 
THE  CURATE  ON  CONVERT- 
ING THE  HEATHEN. 
— :o: — 

"  I  used  to  think,  when  I  was  a 
student,"  said  the  curate,  *'  that  I  felt 
the  call  to  go  East  and  convert  the 
Celestials.  My  fad  even  then  was 
comparative  religion,  and  I  got  the 
idea  that  a  people  who  developed 
Confucianism  and  Taoism  were  worth 
saving.  That  was  the  way  I  put  it 
then. 

*•  Naturally,  as  I  passed  a  Chinaman 
in  the  street  or  noticed  a  Chinese 
laundry,  I  wondered  what  the  creed 
of  the  ordinary   Chinaman,    the    poor 


coolie,  might  be.  One  day  an  inspi- 
ration struck  me  ;  I  said  to  myself : 

"  '  Why  don't  you  ask  one  of  our 
laundrymen  ?  They're  just  the  class 
that  the  multi-millions  in  China  are 
made  up  of,  and  he'll  be  just  as  likely 
to  know  as  any  one  would.' 

"There  was  a  Chinese  laundry  just 
around  the  corner  from  my  boarding 
house,  so  I  resolved  to  take  my  collars 
there  a  few  times  and  pave  the  way  to 
an  acquaintance. 

"  At  first  we  only  exchanged  a  few 
words  about  the  weather,  and  prices, 
and  dates  of  doneness.  At  last  I 
thought  we  were  on  good  enough  terms, 
and  I  plunged  into  the  great  subject. 
First  I  used  my  best  English  and  tried 
a  few  general  questions  about  religious 
convictions  in  China. 

"The  only  answer  I  got  was  broad 
grins  in  Chinese. 

"Then  I  fell  into  that  queer  idea 
that  the  more  asinine  my  English  the 
more  nearly  it  approached  Mongolian. 
When  I  tried  a  sort  of  pigeon  dialect 
on  him,  the  laundryman  looked  foolish 
in  reply,  but  stuck  to  looks  or  to  the 
easy  answer,  *  No  undlestan' ! '  Prob- 
ably he  didn't ;  no  one  could. 

"Then  I  thought  my  opening  lay 
in  the  proper  names.  I  knew,  or 
thought  I  knew,  the  names  of  all 
the  founders  of  Chinese  sects.  These, 
I  argued,  must  be  about  the  same  in 
both  languages,  so  with  proper  impres- 
siveness  I  uttered  solemnly  : 

"  *  Kung-fu  tse  !  ' 

"•Buddha!' 

"  "1  he  Chinaman  only  stared. 

'Then,  pointing  my  finger  straight 
at   him,   I  went  through  them  all. 

"  '  Buddha  ! ' 

"  '  Confucius  ! ' 

"  '  Mencius  ! ' 

"  '  Lao-tse  ! ' 

"  Ah  Sin  began  to  look  scared  about 
this    stage   of  the   conversation.     He 


484 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


kept  a  hot  iron  firmly  grasped  in  his 
right  hand  and  backed  around  the 
ironing   board. 

"  Then  I  remembered,  fool  that 
I  was,  that  I  was  giving  the  names  as 
adapted  to  European  tongues  by  the 
Jesuit  missionaries.  I  mentally  rebuked 
myself  and  tried  again  with  the  origi- 
nal Chinese  monosyllables,  as  I  con- 
ceived them.  I  stood  in  front  of  the 
Chinaman  and  jerked  out  : 

"  '  Meng-tse  ! ' 

"  '  Lao-tse  ! ' 

"  The  Chinaman  now  evidently  be- 
gan to  think  of  police  protection.  He 
looked  anxiously  at  the  door,  but  when 
I  ejaculated  again,  '  Kung-fu  '  he  tap- 
ped his  forehead  and  muttered  :  '  Ah, 
yes,  Kung-foos.  I  see  ;  Kung  foos  ! ' 
— clearly  indicating  that  he  had  a 
mistaken  notion  as  to  my  mental  con- 
dition. 

"  At  last  I  cried  in  despair  : 

"  *  But  have  you  no  religion  at  all  ? 
No  church?     No  Sunday  school  ?' 

"  Then  a  light  broke  upon  him.  At 
the  word  Sunday  school  Ah  Sin's  face 
became  irradiated.      He  gurgled  softly  : 

"  '  Slun  skul.  New  Yawk  ;  Seng  Ba- 
Flomeo  ;  pletty  gal  tleacha  Slun  skul, 
pletty  gal  ;  me  come  ! ' 

"  At  last  T  had  discovered  the 
Celestial  religion,  which,  like  that  of 
the  rest  of  the  world,  is  apt,  sure 
enough,  to  have  too  much  pretty  girl 
in  it. 

'*  Every  time  Ah  Sin  saw  me  for 
many  months  after  he  always  pointed 
to  his  forehead  and  muttered  '  Kung- 
foos.'"— /V.  7.  Sun. 


ger  in  Melbourne.'  '  No,'  replied  the 
clergyman  severely,'  '  this  is  the  Presby- 
terian Assembly.'  The  young  man  did 
not  seem  able  to  grasp  the  significance 
of  the  reply,  and  continued,  '  What  are 
they  doing  inside?'  Summoning  up 
his  most  judicial  manner,  the  clergy 
man  explained,  'They  are  setting  apart 
the  deaconesses.'  '  Ah,'  mused  the 
jaunty  young  man,  setting  his  hat  at  a 
more  fascinating  angle.  *  I'll  be  back 
at  four.  Set  one  apart  for  me.'  " — 
Bangkok   Times. 

After  a  church  conference  held  a 
few  days  ago,  two  brothers  ministers 
had  a  friendly  tilt  regarding  the  mean- 
ing of  a  certain  passage  in  one  of 
Shakespeare's  plays.  They  could  not 
come  to  an  understanding,  and  one  of 
them  remarked,  jokingly,  "  Oh,  well, 
brother,  I  will  ask  Shakespeare  when 
I  meet. him  in  heaven  !  "  "  But  suppos- 
ing Shakespeare  did  not  go  to  heaven  ?  " 
retorted  the  other.  "  Then  you  can 
ask  him  about  it,"  was  ihe  reply. 


The  Australasian  is  responsible  for 
the  following :  "  Last  week  the  Pres- 
byterian Assembly  was  carrying  out  the 
solemn  duty  of  'setting  apart  '  the 
deaconesses,  and  just  as  the  function 
was  in  its  most  impressive  part,  a 
jaunty-looking  young  man  ascended 
the  steps  of  the  Assembly  hall,  and  ask- 
ed a  clergyman  who  stood  in  the  porch, 
'  is  this  Tattersall's  Club  ?    I'm  a  stran- 


Little  Bertie  had  been  taught  not 
to  ask  for  anything  at  meals.  One  day 
poor  Bertie  had  been  forgotten,  when 
he  pathetically  inquired,  "  Do  little 
boys  get  to  heaven  when  they  are 
starved  to  death  ?" 

Teacher — You  have  named  all  the 
domestic  animals  save  one.  It  has 
bristly  hair,  likes  dirt,  and  is  fond  of 
mud.     Well,  Tom  ? 

Tom  (shamefacedly)— That's  me, 
mis%  -Sydney  Town  and  Country 
Journal. 

Mr.  Ennicott— There's  a  lot  of 
steamer  trunks  piled  out  conspicuously 
in  front  of  Mrs.  Slimpocket's  house 
waiting  for  the  expressman.  VVhat 
does  that  mean  ? 

Mrs.  Ennicott  (with  scorn)  —  It 
means  that  she's  gomg  down  to  her 
uncle's  to  spend  the  summer. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion, 

J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS.  Bus,  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  i8.  TORONTO,  OCT.   14,    1905.  loc;  $2.per  ann. 

jfor  ifree&om  of  Speecb* 

:o: 

Here's  freedom  for  him  that  wad  read  ; 
Here's  freedom  for  him  that  wad  write  ; 
There's  nane  ever  feared  that  the  truth  should  be  heard 
Save  them  that  the  truth  wad  indict. — Burns. 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


The  union  of  Christendom  is  a  favorite 
CHRISTIAN  theme    with    religious    enthusiasts,     but^ 

CHURCH  UNION.        though  Anglican  Synods  and  Methodist 

Conferences  may  occasionally  exchange 
compliments  and  pass  resolutions  in  favor  of  Christian  unity^ 
the  longed-for  union  seems  about  as  far  off  as  ever.  In  our 
blessed  and  pious  city  of  Toronto  we  have  many  phases  both 
of  the  integrating  and  of  the  disintegrating  processes  of  reli- 
gious evolution  going  on  at  the  present  time. 

The  Wycliffe  Collegeites  are  of  those  who  hanker  much — 
professedly  at  least — after  '*  Christian  union/'  and  the  worthy 
Principal,  Dr.  Sheraton,  is  the  gentleman  who  a  few  years  ago 
got  into  a  spring  of  very  hot  water  in  the  effort  to  fraternize 
with  his  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  fellow-Christians.  It  was 
only  natural,  therefore,  that  at  its  Alumni  Association  meeting 
a  paper  should  be  read  on  **  Church  Unity,"  and  the  Rev.  H. 
Symonds  came  all  the  way  from  Montreal  to  read  it.  In  part 
he  said  : 

"  We  should  aim  at  unity,  not  uniformity.  Christ  gave  no  definite  creed  or 
constitution,  formally  drawn  up  for  the  Christian  Church.  The  church  is  the 
divine  complement  in  the  universal  society  of  the  family  and  the  home.     It  is 


486  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

much  more  important,  to  have  unity  in  spirit  tlian  in  machinery.  The  vivsion 
of  the  prophet,  the  ideal  of  the  apostle,  and  the  prayer  of  the  Master  are  that 
we  may  be  one  in  him  who  is  our  Father  and  our  God." 

All  very  good,  no  doubt,  to  one  of  the  faithful.  A  glorious 
vision  that  of  a  united  Christendom  !  And  more  especially  a 
Christendorn  united  in  spirit.  That  is  just  the  difficulty.  It 
is  easy  enough  to  get  Christians  to  unite  for  certain  purposes 
— say,  to  vilify  the  ^Mnfidel  "  or  ridicule  the  scientist,  to  grab 
privileges  or  escape  taxation  ;  but  as  soon  as  a  real  union  is 
called  for,  involving  any  sacrifice  that  would  show  the  true 
spirit  of  toleration,  fairmindedness,  or  concession — well,  the 
Christians  are  simply  ^^not  there."  They  can  preach  to  any 
extent,  but  when  it  comes  to  practice  it  is  a  different  story. 

The  notion  that  the  church  is  a  ^*  divine  complement"  of 
the  family  and  the  home  is  a  neat  one  for  a  preacher.  Might 
not  the  politician,  with  equal  logic,  claim  that  the  party  ma- 
chine is  a  similar  divine  complement  ?  Could  not  the  clubman 
or  the  fraternal  society  man  make  as  good  a  claim  for  his  pet 
institution?  Must  not  all  institutions  be  divinely-ordained 
complements  of  the  others  ?     If  not,  who  ordained  them  ? 

^'  Christ  "  may  not  have  given  any  creed  or  constitution,  but 
Wycliffe  College  takes  good  care  to  present  both  to  all  appli- 
cants. The  Apostles'  Creed,  we  suppose,  and  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  are  parts  of  its  machinery,  and  have  little  to  do  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Christian  Church.  If  so,  the  church  is  being 
slowly  civilized. 

Blind  as  bats,  however,  these  Wycliffe  priests,  while  talking 
unity,  decided  to  do  the  very  thing  that  must  certainly  lead  to 
the  most  decided  disunion.  They  deliberately  pledged  them- 
selves to  do  their  utmost  to  cause  Bible  study  and  religious 
instruction  to  be  introduced  into  the  Public  schools  ;  and  if  it 
were  not  for  other  considerations,  it  might  be  a  good  thing  to 
let  them  have  their  way  and  bear  the  consequences. 

The  chief  effort  of  Christian  propagandists  has  always  been 
towards  unity.  Each  sect  has  had  the  one  grand  object  of 
unifying  Christendom — by  converting  all  the  other  sects  to  its 
own  beliefs.  And  this  is  the  only  sort  of  Christian  unity  that 
is  possible.  When  the  Anglicans  are  willing  to  give  up  their 
Episcopacy,  the  Presbyterians  their  Election  and  Foreordina- 
tion,  the  Baptists  their  Immersion,  etc. — then,  and  only  then, 
may  we  expect  to  see  a  united  Christendom  ;  but  it  will  be  a 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  487 


Christendom  united  on  some  dogma  equally  as  ludicrous  as 
the  old  ones,  and  equally  as  certain  to  lead  to  new  disunions, 
or  it  will  be  something  very  different  from  anything  we  know 
in  the  religious  world  to-day. 

How  little  may  be  expected  in  the  way 
UNREASON  THE  either  of  unity  or  of  rational  progress 
ESSENCE  OF  from   the  Wycliffe  College    men  may  be 

CHRISTIANITY.  gauged  from  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  Osborne 

Troop,  who  also  came  from  Montreal  to 
his  alma  mater  to  prove  that  his  faith  had  not  broadened  or 
his  intellect  developed  with  the  process  of  the  suns.  He  read 
a  paper  the  text  of  which  was  Philippians  3  :  8-12  : 

"  Yea  doubtless,  and  I  count  ail  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord,  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all 
things,  and  do  count  them  but  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in 
him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which 
is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith  ;  that 
I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his 
sufferings,  being  made  conformable  unto  his  death  ;  if  by  any  means  I  might 
attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained, 
either  were  already  perfect ;  but  I  follow  after,  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that 
for  which  also  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus." 

This  is  one  of  those  passages  that  lend  themselves  readily 
to  the  cant  and  hypocrisy  that  are  such  marked  characteristics 
of  many  pious  Christians.  Fancy  comfortably-fixed  preachers 
like  Troop  and  Symonds  talking  about  **  giving  up  all  "  to 
follow  Christ !  When  they  become  canons,  deans  or  bishops, 
how  much  greater  will  be  their  loss — for  Christ's  sake. 

Nor  does  their  sacrifice  entail  the  hard  work  of  educational 
training,  such  as  other  professions  require,  for  knowledge  and 
logic  have  nothing  in  common  with  faith,  and,  as  the  text  tells 
us,  faith  alone  is  needed.      To  doubt  or  reason  is  to  be  lost. 

Mr.  Troop  is  right  when  he  says  that  miracles  should  be 
accepted  without  trying  to  reason  about  them.  Fancy,  in  this 
day,  a  sane  man  attempting  to  reason  about  miracles  !  Our 
asylums   are  full  already  ;  we  should  soon  need  larger  ones. 

The  truths  of  the  Bible,  says  Mr.  Troop,  should  be  accepted 
without  question  !  As  if  anybody  wanted  to  dispute  the  truths 
of  the  Bible,  or  those  of  any  other  book.  No,  we  won't  reject 
the  truths  of  the  Bible,  but  what  are  the  truths,  Mr.  Troop  ? 


488  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

Our  difificulty  is,  that  we  regard  you  as  an  incompetent,  pre- 
judiced, and  interested  witness,  and  cannot  agree  with  you. 
What  you  call  **  truths  "  are  the  very  things  in  dispute,  and 
all  our  real  knowledge  convinces  us  that  they  are  not  truths 
at  all,  and  that  the  men  who  accept  them  without  examina- 
tion are  either  moral  cowards,  fakers,  or  lunatics. 

And  then,  indeed,  we  find  that  you  yourself  cannot  get  along 
without  using  what  reasoning  power  you  possess,  for  you  tell 
us  that  *^  Sanctified  common  sense  teaches  me  that  this  is 
God's  word,  because  of  its  revelation  !''  This  is  certainly 
reasoning — of  a  sort.  Mr.  Troop  does  not  appear  to  see  that 
his  reasoning  differs  from  that  of  a  sane  man  only  because 
his  conclusion  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  the  evidence  would 
justify.  He  estimates  the  value  of  his  evidence  by  the  verdict 
he  wishes  to  reach.  He  is  guilty  of  the  grossest  sort  of  a 
petitio.  He  assumes  knowledge  of  what  a  ^^  revelation  "  is, 
and  then  decides  that  the  evidence  offered  to  prove  the  revela- 
tion is  valid,  because  the  revelation  given  agrees  with  his  pre- 
conceived idea. 

But  Mr.  Troop  places  his  argumentation  above  criticism. 
Like  many  other  preachers,  he  possesses  *^  sanctified  common 
sense,"  a  brand  of  the  commodity  which,  we  presume,  is  the 
cause  of  so  many  clerical  misdeeds.  **  Sanctified  common 
humbug"  would  be  a  more  correct  definition.  He  certainly 
tries  to  reason,  or  he  would  not  have  attempted  to  preach  at 
all  ;  but  his  reasoning  is  that  of  a  child. 


^3 


The  Gerrard  Street  and  Parliament  Street, 
CHRISTIAN  Toronto,  Methodist  Churches  are  giving 

CHURCH  DISUNION,  us  an  example  of  another  sort  of  union. 

Built  at  a  time  when  party  feelings  ran 
pretty  high,  the  two  churches  are  to-day  found  to  be  both  too 
near  together  and  too  expensive  to  maintain,  and  it  is  proposed 
to  economise  by  building  a  more  convenient  new  church  and 
by  employing  one  preacher  instead  of  two. 

But,  while  these  two  churches  are  giving  us  a  practical  il- 
lustration of  the  truth  that,  in  financial  matters  at  least,  *^  the 
prayers  of  the  righteous  avail  "  not,  some  Baptist  churches 
are  illustrating  a  very  different  state  of  affairs.  The  Royce 
Avenue  Baptist  Church  may  be  exemplifying  the  principle  of 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  489 

propagation  by  fission,  though  it  would  seem  to  be  exhibiting 
a  rather  common  phase  of  Christian  **  charity,"  or  fraternal 
love.  The  pastor  of  this  young  church,  it  would  seem,  was  a 
pleasing  bachelor  when  a  twelvemonth  ago  he  took  charge  of 
the  church,  and  met  with  such  success  that  his  ^Svork"  grew 
too  heavy  for  one  pair  of  hands,  and  he  felt  justified  in  taking 
unto  himself  a  helpmeet  from  among  the  marriageable  ladies 
of  the  congregation.  The  honeymoon  was  entered  on  without 
a  cloud  to  mar  the  prospect  of  returning  to  a  smiling  welcome 
home  from  the  congregation,  with  perhaps  a  well-filled  purse 
to  start  housekeeping  and  an  increased  stipend. 

But  a  ^*  change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of  the  dream,"  as  they 
say  in  the  old-time  epic.  The  return  came  off  all  right,  but 
the  faces  that  greeted  the  pastor  and  his  bride  did  not  all  bear 
the  marks  of  sincere  pleasure,  and  soon  a  decidedly  antago- 
nistic feeling  against  the  pastor  began  to  be  developed  among 
the  deacons  and  their  friends.  Scon  this  feeling  resulted  in 
the  pastor  and  his  friends  holding  service  in  the  morning,  the 
deacons  with  a  clerical  ^*  supply"  monopolizing  the  church  in 
the  evening.  Finally,  the  deacons  locked  out  the  parson  and 
his  followers,  and  at  present  they  are  holding  services  at  pri- 
vate houses.  There  is  one  feature  in  this  case  that  is  rather 
unique  and  significant — the  parties  are  very  *'  shy"  of  talking 
about  the  affair  ;  but  an  explosion  may  occur  at  any  moment. 

Another  case  illustrating  the  soothing 
"HOUSE  OF  GOD"  and  peace-making  influence  of  Christian 
OR  SLAUGHTER-  preaching  has  just  occurred  at  the  village 
HOUSE?  of  Otterville,  near  St.  Thomas,  Ont.   On 

Sunday,  Sept.  24,  the  evening  service  at 
the  McCurdy  Baptist  Church  closed  with  a  free  fight,  in  which 
not  a  little  blood  was  shed — real  blood,  not  the  sort  which  is 
poured  out  oi  a  bottle  at  the  communion  service. 

0\\  Thursday,  Sept.  29,  T.  McCurdy,  H.  McCurdy,  B. 
Grandson,  and  C.  Harvey,  charged  with  taking  the  lead  in 
the  sacreligious  fight,  appeared  with  about  fifty  of  their  friends 
in  the  police-court  of  Port  Burwell,  when  the  magistrate  ad- 
journed the  case.  In  the  meantime,  a  church  trial  had  ended 
without  a  decision  being  reached.  The  affair  is  said  to  be  the 
climax  of  a  long-standing  quarrel   between   the  pastor,  Rev. 


490  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


Webber,  and  some  of  the  congregation.  Reports  say  that 
after  the  fight  the  church  was  so  splashed  with  blood  that  it 
**  looked  like  a  slaughter-house." 

^^^^^^ 

Did  Jonah  spend  a  three-days'  holiday  in  the 
DID  BALAAM'S  belly  of  a  whale?     Did  Jesus  see  all  the  king- 

ASS  SPEAK?  doms  of  the  world  from  a  pinnacle  of  a  temple? 

Did  Samson  carry  the  gates  of  Gaza,  and  kill  a 
thousand  Philistines  with  one  ass's  jaw-bone?  These,  and  a  multitude 
of  other  miraculous  problems  which  are  suggested  by  the  Biblical  story 
were  answered  with  an  emphatic  ''  No  !  "  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyle,  of  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church,  Hamilton,  Ont.,  on  Sunday,  Oct.  1.  The 
preacher  had  chosen  for  his  text  the  story  of  Balaam's  talking  ass. 

Dr.  Lyle  said  it  was  absurd  to  think  that  God  literally  spoke  through 
the  mouth  of  a  quadruped,  like  a  pilot  speaking  through  a  megaphone. 
Of  course,  looked  at  from  a  common-sense  point  of  view,  the  story  is 
unbelievable  ;  but  what  has  common  sense  to  do  with  religious  belief  ? 
And  if  Dr.  Lyle  dismisses  this  absurd  old  myth  on  account  of  its  folly, 
what  becomes  of  all  the  other  miracles  recorded  in  the  Bible  ?  What 
becomes  of  the  Bible  itself?     And  Christianity? 

Dr.  Lyle  appears  to  have  enough  'cuteness  to  be  a  preacher,  and  if 
he  has,  he  surely  must  know  that  the  same  reasoning  that  disposes  of 
one  miracle  will  dispose  of  all  the  rest — inspiration  itself  included. 

Charles  Wesley  was  comparatively  rational  when  he  asserted  that 
witchcraft  was  essential  to  Christianity  ;  for  witchcraft  is  prominent  in 
both  Old  and  New  Testaments,  from  the  story  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  to 
the  story  of  the  Gadarene  Swine,  and  if  the  Bible  is  essential  to  Chris- 
tianity, so  is  witchcraft. 

Why,  too,  should  Dr.  Lyle  think  it  unbelievable  that  God  should  have 
spoken  through  the  mouth  of  one  four-legged  ass,  when,  if  his  own 
religion  be  accepted,  he  has  spoken  through  the  mouths  of  many  two- 
legged  asses  ?  For  was  not  Christianity  hidden  from  the  wise  and  sent 
to  the  foolish  ? 

If  we  are  to  dismiss  a  story  as  unhistorical  because  it  is  absurd,  or 
contrary  to  experience,  then  every  miracle  and  every  religion  founded 
upon  so-called  divine  revelation  must  be  abandoned,  for  there  is  nothing 
in  the  world  more  absurd  and  irrational  than  the  stories  connected  with 
all  theologies.  The  story  of  Balaam's  ass  is  no  more  absurd  than  the 
stories  connected  with  all  theologies. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  491 


Why,  too,  should  we  not  believe  that  God  spoke  through  the  mouth  of 
a  useful,  honest,  industrious,  and  presumably  clean  beast  like  Balaam's 
ass,  when,  as  most  pious  Christians  believe,  he  finds  it  convenient  to 
speak  through  the  mouths  of  such  lying  and  libellous  ranters  as  Torrey 
and  Jones,  or  even  through  the  mouth  of  a  somewhat  asinine  apologist 
like  Dr.  Lyle  himself. 

Christians  now-a-days  are  making  altogether  too  much  fuss  over  a  few 
petty  details  of  miracles.  There  is  no  more  inherent  absurdity  in  the 
story  of  a  speaking  ass  than  there  is  in  the  stories  of  speaking  gods  or 
speaking  devils  or  divine  revelations. 

Among  the  many  foolish  things  said  and  done 
THE  TAX-EATE  by  the  members  of  the  Toronto  Board  of  Control 

AND  EDUCATION  in  order  to  justify  their  taking  the  $2,500  salary 
IN  TORONTO.  they  have  grabbed,  their  effort  to  keep  down  the 

tax-rate  to  nineteen  mills  by  cutting  off  certain 
necessary  expenditures — that  is  to  say,  expenditures  that  are  absolutely 
essential  if  the  public  health  and  well-being  are  to  be  maintained — is 
perhaps  the  most  foolish.  M.'iintaining  the  hbuses  and  streets  of  the  city 
in  a  sanitary  condition,  and  putting  the  public  school  system  upon  a 
thoroughly  efficient  basis,  are  two  matters  upon  which  there  should  be 
no  compromise  ;  and  any  ''economy  "  that  is  practised  to  keep  down  the 
tax-rate  which  injuriously  affects  either  of  these  services  will  have,  we 
believe,  in  the  long  run,  the  most  disastrous  effects  upon  the  welfare  of 
the  community. 

The  attempts  recently  made  by  the  Toronto  Board  of  Education  to 
modify  the  present  system  under  which  the  Public  and  High  Schools 
are  managed  deserve  support,  though  they  have  been  made  in  a  some- 
what piecemeal  fashion,  which  might  have  been  expected,  and  which  has 
given  the  Controllers  some  ground  for  opposing  them. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Controllers  can  in  no  sense  be  looked 
upon  as  educationists,  and  it  seems  absuVd  to  permit  such  men  to  have 
any  power  to  interfere  with  the  decisions  of  a  Board  specially  elected  to 
control  the  Public  and  High  school  education  of  the  city.  Yet,  as  they 
are  appointed  to  control  the  public  expenditure  as  a  whole,  and  have  to 
supervise  the  means  by  which  the  revenue  is  to  be  raised,  it  seems  im- 
possible to  evade  the  exercise  of  their  authority  in  determining  the  sum 
to  be  expended  by  each  department. 

That,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  Board  of  Education  should  be  em- 


492  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


powered  to  fix  the  amount  to  be  expended  by  them  without  reference  to 
the  Board  of  Control  or  the  City  Council,  would  soon  bring  about  an 
intolerable  state  of  affairs. 

What  seems  to  us  to  be  the  proper  method  of  dealing  with  this  ques- 
tion is,  that  the  ordinary  expenditure  of  the  Education  Board  should  be 
put  upon  a  permanent  basis  by  an  agreement  between  the  Board  and 
the  City  Council,  and  that  any  extraordinary  expenditure,  such  as  that 
required  for  new  schools  or  re-arrangements  of  schools  or  for  other 
purposes  should  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 

In  our  view,  the  whole  of  the  education  systems 
THE  EDUCATION  of  the  Province— all  of  them,  that  is,  that  in  any 
SYSTEMS  OF  way  receive  aid  from   public  funds — should  be 

ONTARIO.  organized  into  one  system,  from  the  kindergarten 

to  the  university,  made  equally  available  to  all 
persons  in  the  country.  Unless  this  is  done,  the  public  funds  are  being 
unfairly  used  to  support  sectarian  or  class  institutions.  As  a  part  of 
such  a  scheme,  the  present  propositions  of  the  Education  Board  seem 
not  only  practical,  but  economical,  and  would  doubtless  have  met  public 
approval  had  they  been  put  forward  originally  in  a  more  comprehensive 
and  lucid  shape.  In  effect,  the  Board  proposes  to  unite  the  Public  and 
High  schools  in  one  system,  so  that,  as  there  is  ample  accommodation 
in  the  buildings  at  present  available  under  the  double  system,  it  would 
not  be  necessary  to  build  any  of  the  proposed  new  High  schools. 

What  is  needed  is,  that  the  kindergarten,  the  Public  and  High  schools 
and  the  Universities — all  institutions  supported  by  public  cash  or  lands 
— should  be  formed  into  one  complete  and  regularly  graded  system,  open 
to  the  children  of  all  citizens  on  passing  the  required  examinations  and 
paying  the  prescribed  fees.  Whatever  expense  was  incurred  would,  we 
believe,  be  willingly  paid  by  the  taxpayers,  if  only  they  had  confidence 
that  it  was  being  effectively  and  impartially  managed. 

The  **  Twenty  Mill  Rate  "  is  only  a  bugaboo  used  by  ignorant  men  to 
frighten  others  still  more  ignorant.  As  a  writer  in  the  Kington  Whig 
points  out : 

"  The  tax  rate  is  not  clearly  indicative  of  the  burden  it  imposes.  A  few 
facts  will  illustrate  this.  Of  the  cities  in  1902  Hamilton  stood  lowest  as  to 
rate,  19.9  mills,  Chatham  being  the  highest  with  30.  But  Hamilton's  19.9  mill 
rate,  local  improvements  and  other  charges  omitted,  took  from  the  people  taxes 
to  the  amount  of  $10.18  a  head  of  population  ;  Kingston's  20  mill  rate  took 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  493 


from  her  people  only  $8.45  a  head;  Guelph's  23  mill  rate  only  $7.80;  and  Strat- 
ford's 26.1  mill  rate  $9.80.  Even  Chatham's  30  mill  rate  taxed  the  people  only 
$12.32  a  head.  Therefore,  the  lowness  of  the  rate  is  not  the  only  considera- 
tion.    Other  things  have  to  be  regarded." 

Toronto's  tax-rate  at  20  mills  would  not  press  more  heavily  upon  the 
people  than  does  Hamilton's  at  19.9  mills. 

A  catechism  necessarily  takes  on  the  character 
MONTEIL'S  of  a  series  of  definitions,  and,  in  this  view,  any 

"  FREETHINKER'S  possible  catechism — and  more  especially  one 
CATECHISM  "  dealing  with  all  the  subjects  embraced    in  Free- 

thought  propagandism — must  offer  many  targets 
for  advocates  of  the  endless  theories  that  have  taken  rank  in  the  ver}^ 
free  thinking  of  our  day.  That  no  one  can  be  expected  to  agree  with 
all  of  M.  Monteil's  answers  to  the  questions  he  propounds  is,  therefore, 
no  legitimate  objection  to  his  work.  What  we  feel  justified  in  saying  of 
it — and  we  believe  every  reader  of  it  will  agree  with  us — is,  that  it  is  a 
very  useful  and  suggestive  work.  The  opening  question  and  answer — 
— "  Q.  What  is  God?  A.  God  is  an  expression  " — furnish  an  example 
of  the  author's  style  and  a  key  to  his  method,  and  were  the  cause  of  the 
original  priestly  condemnation  of  the  work.  Like  Mr.  Mangasarian's 
later  effort  in  the  same  line,  the  present  work  is  a  laudable  attempt  to 
put  into  a  short  and  clear  form  a  mass  of  information  on  the  leading 
subjects  of  radical  thought,  and  we  should  like  to  know  that  both  of 
them  had  secured  a  very  large  circulation.  The  translator  (Mr.  F.  W. 
Mitchell)  says  i\  the  pjefaie: 

"This  work  was  first  published  in  Antwerp,  Belgium,  in  1877.  The  author 
states,  in  a  letter  to  the  translator,  that  it  had  to  appear  in  that  country  for 
the  excellent  reason  that  in  those  days  there  was  no  publisher  in  France  who 
dared  to  undertake  such  a  work.  Since  then  there  has  been  a  wonderful  change. 
The  French  Government  no  longer  cringes  to  the  church.  Monteil,  who  was 
imprisoned  in  his  younger  days  for  his  book,  '  The  History  of  an  Ignorantin 
Brother,' to-day  occupies  an  honored  position  under  that  very  government,  being 
Prefect  of  the  Haute-Vienne  at  Limoges.  The  Catechism  created  a  sensation 
at  the  time  of  its  appearance  :  the  clergy  were  particularly  infuriated  at  the 
lK)ld  opening  declaration  that  'God  is  an  expression,'  and  we  can  imagine  their 
pious  horror  on  meeting  in  another  place  the  statement  that  Christ's  mother 
was  reputed  to  be  a  woman  of  enny  virtue.  Attempts  were  made  to  introduce 
the  work  into  some  lay  schools,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  this  caused  in- 
tense excitement  among  the  Catholics. 

"The  author  states  :  'Our  own  merit  really  lies  in  our  work  of  editing.  The 
knowledge  that  our  catechism  contains  is  simply  the  fruit  of  hard  work — it  is 
a  compilation.  The  form  alone  is  ours,  and  we  venture  to  say  that  it  would  have 
certainly  cost  us  far  less  time  and  far  less  work  to  write  out  ten  volumes  than 
to  put  them  into  these  two  hundred  pages  of  compact  questions  and  answers.'  " 

The  work  is  published  by  the  Truth  Seeker  Company,  price  35c. 


494  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


ZTerreetrial  flDaQnetiem* 

:o: 

BY   A.    ELVINS,    TORONTO. 

:o: 

The  views  advanced  as  to  the  cause  of  sun-spots,  aurora,  and  magnetic  disturb- 
ance are  not  those  usually  received  by  astronomers  of  to-day.  The  general 
thought  in  relation  to  the  phenomena  seem  to  me  incomplete  and  contradictory. 
It  is  generally  thought  that  the  sun-spots  are  the  result  of  the  sun's  cooling,  but 
how  or  why  this  should  produce  them  is  not  explained,  especially  the  fact  of  the 
periods  of  much  spottedness  and  the  reverse.  A  period  of  between  eleven  and 
twelve  years,  one  of  thirty-six,  and  others  still  longer,  have  been  shown  to  exist ; 
but  why,  or  what  produces  these  periods,  is  not  accounted  for.  It  was  attributed 
by  some  to  planetary  attraction,  until  it  was  shown  that  the  force  of  planetary 
attraction  was  loo  insignificant  to  produce  such  effects ;  in  fact,  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  planetary  attraction  could  produce  spots  at  all,  and  the  cause  of  periodicity 
is  seldom  referred  to  in  modern  papers  on  this  subject. 

My  former  letters  give  a  reason  for  spot  formation  and  periods  also  ;  large 
meteors  occasionally  fall  into  and  are  volatilized  by  the  sun's  heat,  and  billions 
of  cosmic  falls  of  smaller  bodies  carry  heat  by  impact  to  the  sun  ;  this,  and  not 
shrinkage  by  cooling,  is  the  cause  of  solar  heat,  light,  magnetism  and  all  other 
solar  radiations.  The  attraction  of  the  planets  precipitates  them  in  larger 
numbers,  in  periods  of  the  same  length  as  that  of  the  periods  of  the  planets' 
revolutions,  and  they  disturb  each  other,  thus  causing  the  periods  to  be  lengthened 
or  shortened.  Jupiter's  twelve-year  spot  period  is  disturbed  by  the  action  of 
Saturn,  and  thus  the  spot  period  is  not  regular.  All  the  outer  planets  disturb 
the  periods  of  the  inner  ones. 

I  have  said  much,  perhaps  too  much,  on  this  subject  ;  but  it  is  because  I 
think  the  question  has  not  received  the  attention  which  it  merits,  and  I  hope 
someone  will  follow  it  up  ;  and  because,  though  the  sun's  disturbance  may  disturb 
the  magnets,  we  should  know  what  disturbs  the  sun  itself.  We  will  look  again 
at  the 

MAGNETIC    DISTURBANCES. 

It  seems  as  if  gravitation  acts  on  the  magnets,  for  there  are  daily  disturbances 
of  the  needle.  The  needle  always  turns  one  of  its  poles  northwards,  but  not 
true  north  ;  it  points  a  little  different  at  different  places  at  the  same  time,  and 
even  this  is  changing  slowly.  But  there  is  a  small  fluctuation  from  the  average 
or  main  point.  "  Now  this  position  is  subject  to  a  small  daily  fluctuation, 
attaining  its  maximum  toward  the  east  about  8  a.m.,  and  its  maximum  toward 
the  west  shortly  before  2  p.m  " 

We  must  not  forget,  however,  that  other  forces  will  and;  in  fact,  do  produce  a 
similar  result.  A  vane  on  a  pivot  turns  one  of  its  ends  in  the  direction  of  the 
point  from  which  the  wind  comes.     Possibly  this  fact  may  help  us  in  our  study 


SECULAE  THOUGHT.  495 

of  magnetism  ;  it  is  a  shift  in  the  direction  of  the  wind  that  changes  the  vane's 
direction.  May  not  currents  of  early  aggregations  of  cosmic  matter  be  the 
cause  of  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  needle? 

I  often  ask  mystif  the  question,  May  not  the  first  aggregations  of  primitive 
atoms,  before  they  have  been  formed  into  chemics  or  chemical  atoms,  be 
Magnetism  ?     I  cannot  answer,  because  I  don't  know. 

THE    MOON. 

Our  satellite  also  causes  magnetic  disturbance.  "  It  has  been  ascertained  that 
each  lunar  day,  or  the  interval  of  24  hours  and  about  54  minutes  between  two 
successive  meridian  passages  of  the  moon,  is  marked  by  a  double  vacillation  of 
the  needle,  two  progressive  movements  from  east  to  west,  and  two  returns  from 
west  to  east." 

ANNUAL    MOVEMENTS. 

It  is  also  found  that  there  is  a  greater  number  of  disturbances  about  the  time 
of  the  equinoxes,  and  a  lesser  at  the  solstices  than  the  main  of  the  year.  This 
is  clearly  shown  by  Prof.  Ellis,  of  Greenwich  Observacory,  and  Prof.  Maunder 
has  shown  it  to  exist  at  Toronto  also. 

MAGNETISM    AND    AURORA. 

The  aurora  is  also  connected  with  magnetism.  It  is  found  that  whenever  an 
aurora  is  visible  at  any  place  the  magnets  at  that  place  are  always  disturbed. 

These  magnetic  storms  are  sometimes  worl  wide,  at  other  times  more  local  in 
extent.  The  magnetic  observatories  are  few,  and  the  publication  of  their  records 
is  not  so  easily  found  as  the  meteorological  ones.  It  is  plainly  seen,  however, 
from  the  record  of  the  aurora  published  monthly  in  the  Uuited  States  Weather 
Review  that  this  is  often  quite  local,  although  it  is  sometimes  very  extensive. 

The  conclusion  of  many  investigators  of  kindred  subjects  is  that  magnetic 
storms  are  simultaneous  at  all  points  of  the  earth's  surface.  I  think,  however, 
that  the  late  observations  of  the  Canadian  Eclipse  Expedition  at  Labrador  has 
proved  that  a  magnetic  storm  existed  there  on  the  30th  of  August,  and  the 
photographic  record  taken  here  shows  that  we  had  no  disturbance  of  the  magnet. 

This  is  a  point  which,  if  confirmed,  will  be  of  great  value  in  this  investigation  ; 
it  will  aid  in  the  question  of  celestial  evolution,  and  will  be  of  greater  value  than 
if  they  had  had  a  clear  sky  and  many  photographs. 

{To  he  continued.) 


He  came  home  tipsy  on  one  occasion  and  explained  to  his  wife  that  his 
condition  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  mixed  his  drinks.  **  John,"  his  wife 
advised,  "  when  you  have  drunk  all  the  whisky  you  want  you  ought  to  ask  for 
sarsaparilla  "  "Yes,"  retorted  her  husband,  "  but  when  I  had  drunk  all  the 
whisky  I  wanted  I  couldn't  say  'sarsaparilla.'" 


496  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Zbc  QviQin  of  Xife, 

:o: 

BY    GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.    SUN. 

To  the  Editor. 

Sir, — We  are  told  that  the  origin  of  life  has  at  last  been  discovered.  This,  if 
it  is  true,  might  seem  to  make  the  case  of  Materialism  complete.  But  is  it  the 
origin  of  life  that  has  been  discovered  or  only  the  beginning  of  life  on  this 
planet  ?  That  sooner  or  later  ihe  beginning  of  life  on  this  planet  would  be  dis- 
covered by  science  was  almost  certain  But  the  beginning  of  life  on  this  planet 
is  not  its  origin.  Something  there  must  apparently  have  been  in  that  particular 
particle  in  which  life  commenced  distinguishing  it  from  other  particles  and  from 
matter  in  general.  If  the  source  of  this  has  been  found,  the  origin  of  life  has 
been  discovered  ;  otherwise  what  has  been  discovered  is  not  the  source,  but  only 
the  beginning.  The  proof  of  physical  evolution  is  heartily  accepted.  But,  as  at 
present  advised,  we  challenge  the  assumption  that  physical  development  out  of  a 
germ  plasm  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  all. 

We  must  be  patient  and  make  it  our  great  aim  at  prese.it  to  keep  on  the  right 
path  to  truth.  It  is  said  that  we  need  not  fear  the  ascendancy  of  Materialism, 
since  at  present  "  Psychism  "  is  coming  on  us  in  a  flood.  Yet  Spiritualism, 
wrongly  so-called,  since  the  apparitions  have  to  material  ze  in  order  that  their 
presence  may  be  felt,  seems  to  have  been  pretty  well  exploded,  with  all  its 
accessories,  table  turning,  clairvoyance,  and  planchette.  Prof.  Hyslop  gently 
rebuked  me  the  other  day  for  requiring  that  the  communications  of  the  spirit 
should  be  dignified.  The  showmen  of  the  spirits,  however,  deem  it  necessary 
to  maintain  that  they  are. 

Telepathy  still  claims  recognition  ;  but  no  attempt  has  yet  been  made  on 
behalf  of  this  wireless  telegriphy  of  the;  soul  to  suggest  a  possible  medium  of 
transition. 

Undoubtedly  there  are  mysteries  still  to  be  explored  in  our  physical  nature. 
The  mystery  of  memory,  Un  example,  and  that  of  the  creative  imagination  in 
dreams.  But  no  discoveries  in  this  direction  apparently  can  confirm  the  authority 
of  conscience  or  establish  the  foundations  of  religion. 

An  eminent  Canadian  journal  contends  that  what  appears  to  be  the  disturb- 
ance of  religious  belief  is  in  fact  merely  the  progress  of  theological  science, 
analogous  to  the  progress  of  other  sciences.  It  asks  whether,  when  all  the  other 
sciences  are  a Jvancing,  we  can  expect  the  ''queen  of  the  sciences"  to  stand 
still.  The  term  "  queen  of  the  sciences  "  applied  to  theology  is  medieval,  and 
what  the  queen  of  medieval  science  was  the  perusal  of  a  few  pages  of  Tho  nas 
Aquinas  will  show.  Medieval  theology  assumed  as  postulates  the  very  things 
which  are  now  in  question,  and  spun  out  from  them  an  immense  web  of  deduc- 
tions which  were  taken  for  supreme  truth.  The  medieval  queen  of  the  sciences 
is  to-day  as  dead  as  alchemy. 


,      SECULAR   THOUGHT.  497 

llnficteKt?  anJ)  llmmoraUti?^ 

AN  OPEN  LETTER  TO  MR.  W.  T.  STEAD. 


-:o:- 


BY    G.    W.    FOOTE,     IN    LONDON    "  FREETHINKER. 

:o: 

Dear  Mr.  Stead, — I  am  writing  you  this  Open  Letter  in  the  friendliest  spirit. 
It  would  pain  me  if  I  knew  thit  I  had  given  you  any  offence.  You  have  played 
a  very  manly  part  in  following  up  (in  your  own  way,  and  before  your  own  public) 
my  protest  against  Dr.  Torrey's  policy  of  defamation.  You  have  openly  dis- 
sociated yourself  from  the  idea  that  calumniating  its  opponents  is  a  legitimate 
method  of  defending  Christianity.  You  have  compared  it  to  the  use  of  poisoned 
weapons  and  explosive  bullets  in  military  warfare.  You  have  called  for  its  con 
demnation  and  suppression  by  the  leaders  of  the  Christian  cause.  And  in  so 
doing  you  have  earned  the  profound  respect  of  Freethinkers — not  as  Free- 
thinkers, but  as  men  and  women  ;  for  it  is  not  this  or  that  opinion  which  is  at 
stake,  but  the  honor  of  human  nature  itself.  We  are  grateful  for  your  generous 
intention  ;  we  are  full  of  admiration  for  your  courage  ;  and  the  conspiracy  of 
silence  in  the  Christian  press  only  gives  a  bolder  relief  to  your  gallantry.  For 
these  reasons,  I  should  hesitate  to  pen  a  word  that  might  wound  your  feelings. 
But  I  am  sure  you  will  not  feel  hurt  if  1  speak  plainly  and  firmly  on  a  matter  of 
the  gravest  importance.  Perhaps  truth,  after  all,  is  the  highest  politeness.  I  do 
you  the  honor  of  believing  that  you  desire  the  truth  to  prevail  ;  and  if  at  the  end 
you  do  me  the  honor  of  believing  the  same  of  me,  we  may  dismiss  everything  else 
as  of  minor  importance. 

What  I  want  to  address  you  about  is  this.  At  the  end  of  your  splendid  article 
in  the  July  number  of  the  Review  of  Rev  tews  ^  den  uncing  Dr.  Torrey's  libels 
on  Thomas  Paine  and  Colonel  Ingersoll,  you  paused  to  say  a  few  words  on  your 
own  account  as  to  a  certain  principle  which  that  gentleman  enunciated.  Now  I 
differ  most  seriously  from  your  own  view  of  the  matter,  and  I  shall  proceed  to 
tell  you  why.  But  in  order  that  I  may  not  misrepresent  you  in  the  slightest  degree 
[  will  reproduce  what  you  said  in  extenso.  Thus  my  readers  will  have  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.     What  you  said  was  as  follows  : 

"  INFIDELITY  AND  IMMORALITY. 

*'  As  to  the  general  thesis  to  which  Dr.  Torrey  clings  with  such  pathetic 
tenacity— the  alleged  connection  between  unbelief  and  immorality —  it  is  only 
necessary  to  say  this  :  we  may  believe  most  firmly  that  the  loss  of  the  super- 
natural sanction  for  morality  will,  in  time,  tend  to  immorality.  But  that  is  a 
very  different  thing  from  suggesting,  as  is  so  often  done,  that  all  infidels  are 
immoral  men,  and  that  if  they  abandoned  their  vices  they  would  become  orthodox 
Christians.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  men — and  women  also — who,  as  the  result  of 
much  searching  of  heart,  have  regretfully  come  to  believe  that  the  old  doctrine 
taught  them  at  their  mothers'  knees  is  no  longer  tenable,  are  often  found  to  be 
more  punctiliously   moral  in  their  private    lives    than   multitudes  of  Christians. 


498  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


They  have  lost  all  else,  and  they  cling  the  more  passionately  to  the  ethical  rem- 
nant of  their  early  faith.  It  is,  indeed,  so  marked,  this  lofty  morality  of  many 
Freethinkers,  that  Mr.  Kegan  Paul,  writing  in  the  interest  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  did  not  deny  it  He  admitted  it,  and  sought  to  explain  it.  The  Free- 
thinker of  to-day,  he  said,  is  like  a  rosebud  severed  from  its  parent  stem  and 
taken  indoors.  It  blossoms  sooner,  and  is  a  beautiful  rose  in  the  vase  while  its 
fellow  rosebuds  left  on  the  bush  have  not  ventured  to  reveal  their  beauty  to  the 
outside  air.  But,  said  Mr.  Kegan  Paul,  the  rosebud  that  is  severed  from  the 
parent  bush  bears  no  seed.  The  Freethinker  may  be  morally  faultless,  but  he  is 
too  often  the  mule  of  ethics  that  engenders  nothing.  He  seldom  has,  and  his 
children  still  more  rarely  have,  the  propagandist  fervour,  the  zeal  for  souls,  the 
instinct  of  conversion  that  enable  the  Christian  Church  to  survive  as  a  power 
for  righteouness  for  century  after  century.  " 

Now,  the  first  remark  I  have  to  make  is  that  the  whole  of  your  argument  is 
obviously  a  prophecy.  You  admit  in  the  most  handsome  terms  that  Freethinkers 
are  at  present  as  moral  as  Christians.  But  you  fear  that  they  will  not  be  so  in 
the  long  run,  when  their  principles  have  time  to  produce  their  full  effect ;  or,  as 
you  put  it,  when  •'  the  supernatural  sanction  for  morality  "  is  entirely  lost. 

It  would,  I  conceive,  be  a  sufficient  reply  to  adopt  Mr.  John  Morley*s  view 
that  the  best  way  to  answer  a  prophet  is  to  prophesy  the  opposite.  But  I  wish 
to  do  something  more  than  that ;  something  more  courteous  as  well  as  more 
effective. 

Your  view,  if  I  understand  it  rightly,  is  this.  Vice  does  not  make  men 
unbelievers,  but  unbelief  make  men  vicious.  This  is  a  different  view  from  Dr. 
Torrey's,  but  I  hold  it  to  be  just  as  erroneous. 

Why  should  unbelief  make  men  vicious  ?  The  only  answer  I  can  find  in 
your  argument  is  that  the  "  supernatural  sanction  "  is  essential  to  morality.  Let 
us  look  at  this. 

What  do  you  mean  by  the  "supernatural  sanction  "?  Will  any  "  supernatural 
sanction  "  do?  Is  a  belief  in  Mumbo  Ju  nbo  sufficient  ?  I  presume  yon  would 
reply  in  the  negative.  Let  me  ask  you,  then,  whether  you  include  the  fear  of 
God  and  the  dread  of  hell.  This  is  what  most  people  mean  by  the  "  super- 
natural sanction."  Is  this  what  you  mean  ?  I  cannot  believe  that  it  is.  I 
suspect  that  you  mean  something  very  different ;  not  the  fear  of  God,  but  the 
love  of  God  ;  not  the  dread  of  his  anger,  but  a  cooperation  in  his  benevolence. 
Such  an  ideal  is  not  to  bj  despised,  although  it  is  incompatible  with  my  own 
intellectual  conclusions;  but  I  deny  that  it  has  anything  to  do  with  morality. 
I  hold  that  it  is  a  part  of  religion.  And  I  also  hold  that  religion  and  morality 
are  quite  distinct  from  each  other,  both  in  their  origin  and  in  their  contents. 
Religion  has  often  been  opposed  to  morality,  and  the  opposition  of  morality  to 
religion  has  been  a  vital  element  in  every  progressive  movement  of  mankind. 

Before  I  elaborate  this  view  I  had  better  try  to  make  some  impression  upon 
you  by  appealing  to  a  distinguished  Christian,  who  was  a  man  of  genius,  and 
one  from  whom  I  understand  you  have  professed  to  derive  a  good  deal  of  your 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  499 

own  philosophy  of  hfe.  I  refer  to  John  Ruskin.  In  his  Lectures  on  Art,  that 
great  writer,  who  could  not  help  being  didactic,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word, 
pointed  out  the  importance  of  always  distinguishing  the  idea  of  religion  from  the 
idea  of  morality  ;  the  former  signifying  "the  feelings  of  love,  reverence,  or  dread 
with  which  the  human  mind  is  affected  by  its  conceptions  of  spiritual  being,"" 
while  the  latter  is  '*  the  law  of  rightness-in  human  conduct."  Then  he  makes 
this  emphatic  declaration  : 

•'  For  there  are  many  religious,  but  there  is  only  one  morality.  There  are 
moral  and  immoral  religions,  which  differ  as  much  in  precept  as  in  emotion  ; 
but  there  is  only  one  morality,  which  has  been,  is,  and  must  be  for  ever,  an 
instinct  in  the  hearts  of  all  civilized  men,  as  certain  and  unalterable  as  their 
outward  bodily  form,  and  which  receives  from  religion  neither  law,  nor  peace  ; 
but  only  hope,  and  felicity.  " 

In  the  next  Lecture  on  *'  The  Relation  of  Art  to  Morals  "  Ruskin  takes  the 
supposition  of  a  man  who  accepted  his  physician's  word  that  he  had  only  seven 
days  to  live ;  and  who  was  also  assured  that,  as  far  as  he  himself  was  concerned, 
the  end  of  the  seven  days  would  be  an  everlasting  blank.  The  manner  in 
which  the  man  would  spend  those  seven  days  would  be  an  exact  measure  of  the 
morality  of  his  nature.  That  is  to  say,  the  morality  of  our  nature  is,  in  itself, 
quite  independent  of  our  belief  as  to  the  hereafter. 

Ruskm  devotes  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  magnificent  passages  he  ever 
penned  to  the  same  subject  in  his  Aratra  Pentelici.  Perhaps,  as  a  busy  man, 
you  will  thank  me  for  giving  you  the  opportunity  of  reading  this  splendid  piece 
again  : 

*'  Meanwhile,  as  I  have  just  said,  the  leading  minds  in  literature  and  science 
become  continually  more  logical  and  investigative  ;  and  once  they  are  estab- 
lished in  the  habit  of  testing  facts  accurately,  a  very  few  years  are  enough  to 
convince  all  the  strongest  thinkers  that  the  old  imaginative  religion  is  untenable, 
and  cannot  any  longer  be  honestly  taught  in  its  fixed  traditional  form,  excepf  by 
ignorant  persous.  And  at  this  point  the  fate  of  the  people  absolutely  depends 
on  the  degree  of  moral  strength  into  which  their  hearts  have  been  already  trained.. 
If  it  be  a  strong,  industrious,  chaste,  and  honest  race,  the  taking  its  old  gods,, 
or  at  least  the  old  forms  of  them,  away  from  it,  will  indeed  make  it  deeply 
sorrowful  and  amazed  ;  but  will  in  no  whit  shake  its  will,  nor  alter  its  practice. 
Exceptional  persons,  naturally  dtsposed  to  become  drunkards,  harlots,  and* 
cheats,  but  who  had  been  previously  restrained  from  indulging  these  dispositions 
by  their  fear  of  God,  will,  of  course,  break  out  into  open  vice,  when  that  fear  is 
removed.  But  the  heads  of  the  families  of  the  people,  instructed  in  the  pure 
habits  and  perfect  delights  of  an  honest  life,  and  to  whom  the  thought  of  a 
Father  in  heaven  had  been  a  comfort,  not  a  restraint,  will  assuredly  not  seek 
relief  from  the  discomfort  of  their  orphanage  by  becoming  uncharitable  and 
vile.  Also  the  high  leaders  of  their  thought  gather  their  whole  strength  together 
in  the  gloom  ;  and  at  the  first  entrance  to  this  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death, 
look  their  new  enemy  full  in  the  eyeless  face  of  him,  and  subdue  him,  and  his 
terror,  under  their  feet.  " 

That  is  what   has  happened   in  Japan.     The  leaders  of  its  thought,  who  are 


500  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

Tchiefly  Agnostics  (which  is  a  euphemism  for  Atheists),  have  trodden  the  fear  of 
death  underfoot  for  them,  and  they  pass  over  it  in  glad  self-sacrifice  for  the  honor 
and  welfare  of  their  nation.  Indeed,  if  you  will  only  think  of  it,  the  conduct  of 
the  Japanese  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  Russians,  appears  to  be  a  most  piactical 
and  convincing  reply  to  the  whole  of  your  argument. 

I  will  now  ask  you  to  consider  a  vital  question  raised  in  the  last  extract  from 
Ruskin.  If  men  can  be  moral  without  the  fear  of  hell,  why  cannot  they  be 
moral  without  the  hope  of  heaven  ?  If  the  Devil  is  not  necessary  to  morality, 
why  is  God  ?  Why  should  a  man  ill-treat  his  own  children  because  he  has  lost 
his  belief  in  a  celestial  father?  Why  should  he  go  home  and  cry  "There  is 
no  God,"  and  knock  his  wife  down  to  prove  that  he  believes  it  ?  Is  there 
really  any  connection  between  such  opinions  and  such  actions  ?  And  why 
should  a  man  be  cold  and  callous  because  he  has  no  belief  in  a  future  life  ? 
Will  he  not  rather  cling  all  the  more  tenderly  to  those  he  loves  and  may  lose  ? 
Is  it  not  the  dark  background  of  death  that  gives  the  subtlest  beauty  to  the 
foreground  of  life  ?  Is  it  not  true,  as  IngersoU  said,  that  love  is  a  flower  which 
grows  on  the  edge  of  the  grave  ?  And  was  it  not  the  wisest  of  all  men  who  said 
that  "  Conscience  is  born  of  love"?  It  is  in  our  human  relationships  that 
morality  is  born,  because  love  resides  there.  Take  away  sex,  take  away  parent- 
age, take  away  the  prolonged  helplessness  of  infants,  take  away  sociality  with  all 
its  material  advantages  and  ideal  inspirations,  and  what  morality  would  remain 
for  religion  to  boast  of?  We  are  necessarily  human  beings  first,  and  religionists 
afterwards ;  and  morality  belongs  to  the  first  stage  instead  of  to  the  second. 

But  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  go  further  than  this.  Your  "  supernatural  sanc- 
tion "  of  morality  must  surely  be  the  Christian  sanction.  When  the  great 
Cardinal  Newman  was  asked  to  sign  the  petition  against  Charles  Bradlaugh's 
admission  to  the  House  of  Commons,  he  replied,  he  could  not  do  so ;  for  he 
was  not  a  Deist,  but  a  Christian,  and  the  Christian  oath  was  abolished  when  Jews 
were  admitted  to  parliament.  You  also  are  not  a  Deist,  but  a  Christian  ;  and 
it  must  be  the  Christian  '*  sanction  "  that  you  are  maintaining.  What  you  mean, 
then,  I  take  it,  is  that  Christianity,  at  least  as  you  understand  it,  is  the  only 
adequate  guarantee  of  the  world's  morality. 

Now,  it  devolves  upon  you  to  explain  how  morality,  even  the  very  highest 
morality,  existed  in  the  world  before  Christianity  appeared.  It  also  devolves 
upon  you  to  explain  the  existence  of  morality,  and  even  the  highest  morality,  in 
heathen  countries  where  Christianity  has  no  power.  I  do  not  believe  for  a 
moment  that  you  think  that  the  average  Englishman  is  a  more  moral  being  than 
the  average  Chinaman  or  the  average  Japanese. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  when  a  young  man  goes  to  college,  with  a  view  to  be- 
coming a  Christian  minister,  they  teach  him  what  is  called  "  the  humanities  " 
from  the  classic  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome  ?  The  Bible  is  used  to  teach 
him  religion,  and  Pagan  masterpieces  are  employed  to  teach  him  humanity. 

(To  he  concluded.) 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  501 


IF0  IRa&lum  tbe  Cause  of  tbe  Qnne  Xigbt  ant)  Ibeat  ? 

:o: 

BY    PROF.    G.    H.    DARWIN. 

From  an  Address  before  the  British  Association  at  Johannesburg^  South' Africa, 

Aug.  30,  1905. 

If,  as  has  been  argued,  tidal  friction  has  played  so  important  a  part  in  the  history 
of  the  earth  and  moon,  it  might  be  expected  that  the  like  should  be  true  of  the 
other  planets  and  satellites,  and  of  the  planets  themselves  in  their  relationship  to 
the  sun.  But  numerical  examination  of  the  several  cases  proves  conclusively 
that  this  cannot  have  been  the  case.  The  relationship  of  the  moon  to  the  earth, 
is,  in  fact,  quite  exceptional  in  the  solar  system,  and  we  have  still  to  rely  on  such^ 
theories  as  that  of  Laplace  for  the  explanation  of  the  main  outlines  of  the  solar 
system. 

I  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  time  occupied  by  the  sequence  of  events  sketched 
out  in  the  various  schemes  of  cosmogony,  and  the  question  of  cosmical  time  is 
a  thorny  and  controversial  one.  Our  ideas  axe  absolutely  blank  as  to  tbe  time 
requisite  for  the  evolution,  either  according  to  Laplace's  nebular  hypothesis  or 
the  meteoric  theory.  All  we  can  assert  is,  that  they  demand  enormous  intervals 
of  time  as  estimated  in  years. 

The  theory  of  tidal  friction  stands  alone  among  these  evolutionary  specula- 
tions in  that  we  can  establish  an  exact,  but  merely  relative,  time-scale  for  every 
stage  of  the  process.  Although  it  is  true  that  the  value  in  years  of  the  unit  of 
time  remains  unknown,  yet  it  is  possible  to  determine  a  period  in  years  which, 
must  be  shorter  than  that  in  which  the  whole  history  is  comprised.  If  at  every 
moment  since  the  birth  of  the  moon  tidal  friction  had  always  been  at  work  [n- 
such  a  way  as  to  produce  the  greatest  possible  effect,  then  we  should  find  that 
60,000,000  years  would  be  consumed  irv  this  portion  of  evolutionary  history.. 
The  triie  period  must  be  much  greater,  and  it  does  not  seem  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  500,000,000  to  1,000,000^000  years  may  have  elapsed  since  the 
birth  of  the  moon.  Such  an  estimate  would  not  seem  extravagant  to  geologists 
who  have,  in  various  ways,  made  exceedingly  rough  determinations  of  geological 
periods. 

As  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  I  should  say  that  pure  geology  points  to  souTe 
period  intermediate  between  50,000,000  and  1,000,000,000  years,  the  upper 
limit  being  more  doubtful  than  the  lower.  Thus  far,  we  do  not  find  anything 
which  renders  the  tidal  theory  of  evolution  untenable. 

But  the  physicists  have  formed  estimates  in  other  ways  which,  until  recently, 
seemed  to  demand  in  the  most  imperative  manner  a  far  lower  scale  of  time. 
According  to  all  theories  of  cosmogony,  the  sun  is  a  star  which  became  heated 
in  the  process  of  its  condensation  from  a  condition  of  wide  dispersion.  When 
a  meteoric  stone  falls  into  the  sun,  the  arrest  of  its  previous  motion  gives  rise  to 


502  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

heat,  just  as  the  blow  of  a  horse's  shoe  on  a  stone  makes  a  spark.  The  fall  of 
countless  meteoric  stones,  or  the  condensation  of  a  rarefied  gas,  was  supposed 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  sun's  high  temperature. 

Since  the  mass  of  the  sun  is  known,  the  total  amount  of  the  heat  generated  in 
it,  in  whatever  mode  it  was  formed,  can  be  estimated  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  precision.  The  heat  received  at  the  earth  from  the  sun  can  also  be  measured 
'with  some  accuracy,  and  hence  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  calculation  to  determine 
Vhow  much  heat  the  sun  sends  out  in  a  year.  The  total  heat  which  can  have 
been  generated  in  the  sun  divided  by  the  annual  output  gives  a  quotient  of  about 
20,000,000.  Hence  it  seemed  to  be  imperatively  necessary  that  the  whole  history 
of  the  solar  system  should  be  comprised  within  some  20,000,000  years. 

This  argument,  which  is  due  to  Helmholtz,  appeared  to  be  absolutely  crush- 
ing, and  for  the  last  forty  years  the  physicists  have  been  accustomed  to  tell  the 
geologists  that  they  must  moderate  their  claims.  But,  for  myself,  I  have  always 
believed  that  the  geologists  were  more  nearly  correct  than  the  physicists,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  appearances  were  so  strongly  against  them. 

And  now,  at  length,  relief  has  come  to  the  strained  relations  between  the  two 
parties,  for  the  recent  marvellous  discoveries  in  physics  show  that  concentration 
of  matter  is  not  the  only  source  from  which  the  sun  may  draw  its  heat. 

Radium  is  a  substance  which  is  perhaps  millions  of  times  more  powerful  than 
dynamite.  Thus  it  is  estimated  that  an  ounce  of  radium  would  contain  enough 
power  to  raise  10,000  tons  a  mile  above  the  earth's  surface.  Another  way  of 
stating  the  same  estimate  is  that  the  energy  needed  to  tow  a  ship  of  12,000  tons 
a  distance  of  6,000  sea  miles  at  15  knots  is  contained  in  22  ounces  of  radium. 
The  "  Saxon  "  probably  burns  5,000  or  6,000  tons  of  coal  on  a  voyage  of  ap- 
proximately the  same  length.  Other  lines  of  argument  tend  in  the  same  direction. 

Now,  we  know  that  the  earth  contains  radio-active  materials,  and  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  it  forms  in  some  degree  a  sample  of  the  materiils  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem ;  hence  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  sun  is  radio-active  also.  "  . 

This  branch  of  science  is  but  yet  in  its  infancy,  but  we  already  see  how  unsafe 
it  is  to  dogmatize  on  the  potentialities  of  matter.  It  appears,  then,  that  the 
physical  argument  is  not  susceptible  of  a  greater  degree  of  certainty  than  that 
of  the  geologists,  and  the  scale  of  geological  time  remains  in  great  measure 
unknown. 


Tommy— Say,  mamma  ! 
Mamma— Well,  what  is  it,  Tommy  ? 

Tommy — How  does  a  deaf  and  dumb   boy  say  his   prayers  when  he  happens 
to  have  a  sore  finger  ? 


Doctor— What  !    have  you  not  heard  of  Mr.  Blank's  death  ? 
Friend — No.     Are  you  sure  he's  dead  ? 
Doctor — Positive.     I  treated   him  myself. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  503 


Mbat  1F9  •KcKgion  ? 


:o:- 


BY    T.    B.    S.,    IN    "  LITERARY    GUIDE." 

:o: 

In  the  Supplement  to  the  Literary  Guide  for  July  it  is  mentioned  that  the  ques- 
tion, "  What  is  religion  ?  "  was  put  to  the  late  Dr.  Momerie  by  Mr.  Hy.  Dobney. 
Dr.  Momerie's  remark  upon  this  is,  that  the  simple'question  made  him  think ; 
and  he  adds  :  "  We  neither  of  us  gave  our  definitions  ;  but,  had  we  done  so, 
mine  would  have  been  that  religion  consisted  in  saving  the  soul,  his  that  it  was 
devotion  to  goodness." 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  "religion."  Some- 
times the  derivation  of  a  word  will  assist  us  to  understand  its  meaning  ;  but,  in 
the  present  case,  we  have  not  that  assistance,  as  the  derivation  is  unknown  and 
is  a  matter  of  controversy.  For,  though  religio  is  an  old  Latin  word,  even  Latin 
authors  themselves  dispute  as  to  its  derivation.  Cicero  tells  us  that  it  is  derived 
from  the  word  relegere — to  go  through,  or  over  again,  in  reading,  speech,  or 
thought.  Other  authors,  including  St.  Augustine,  maintain  that  it  came  from 
the  verb  religare — to  bind  back,  to  bind  fast,  as  if  religious  rites  were  an 
obligation  bound  upon  us. 

The  Century  Dictionary,  from  which  the  above  information  is  taken,  defines 
religion  as  *'  recognition  of,  and  allegiance  in  manner  of  life  to,  a  superhuman 
power  or  superhuman  powers^  to  whom  allegiance  and  service  are  regarded  as 
justly  due  ";  or,  more  widely,  "  any  system  of  faith  in  and  worship  of  the  divine 
being  or  beings."  According  to  these  definitions,  religion  includes  both  belief 
and  conduct  ;  and  several  quotations  from  different  authors  are  given,  of  which 
the  following  may  serve  as  specimens  : 

J.  Martineau  :  "  By  religion  1  understand  the  belief  and  worship  of  supreme 
mind  and  will,  directing  the  universe  and  holdmg  moral  relations  with  human 
life."  This  appears  to  me  objectionable,  inasmuch  as  it  assumes  that  there  is  a 
supreme  mind  and  will,  that  directs  the  universe  and  holds  moral  relations  with 
man. 

|.  H.  Newman,  in  his  "Grammar  of  Assent  ":  "  By  religion  I  mean  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  of  his  will,  and  of  our  duties  towards  him."  This  definition  is 
clearly  insufficient,  as  it  simply  deals  with  belief  (incorrectly  here  called  know- 
ledge), and  says  nothing  about  conduct. 

Matthew  Arnold  :  "  Religion  is  ethics,  heightened,  enkindled,  lit  up  by  feeling." 
This  is  really  too  vague  to  be  of  any  assistance  to  us,  and,  apart  from  other  ob- 
jections, it  assumes  that  we  are  agreed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  ethics," 
which,  on  the  contrary,  seems  to  require  explanation  as  much  as  religion. 

To  these  we  may  add  the  definition  of  St.  James  :  "  Pure  religion  and  unde- 


504  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 

filed  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  trieir 
affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world."  This  says  nothing 
explicitly  about  belief,  but  implies  a  belief  that  the  religious  duties  mentiontd 
are  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God. 

We  must,  of  course,  not  confine  religion,  as  some  authors  would  do,  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  but  even  those  who,  in  common  with  most  people,  hold  the  opinion  that 
there  is  one  and  only  one  true  religion,  must  admit  that  there  are  also  several 
f-ilse  religions  ;  and  our  definition  of  the  word  must  be  sufficiently  wide  to  include 
both  the  true  religion  and  the  false  ones.  Nor  should  we  use  the  word  in  the 
vague  sense  indicated  in  the  last  meaning  given  to  the  word  by  the  Century  Dic- 
tionary, which  is  :  "Sense  of  obligation,  conscientiousness,  sense  of  duty."  Thus 
it  would  not  be  right  to  say  that  a  man  is  religious  because  he  acts  conscien- 
tiously from  a  sense  of  duty. 

We  have  been  led  to  make  the  preceding  remarks  by  reading  a  document 
which  we  have  received  from  a  member  of  the  Rationalist  Press  Association, 
and  which  may  fairly  be  described  as  an  Agnostic's  confession  of  his  faith,  or 
perhaps  (more  correctly)  of  his  lack  of  faith.  In  this  document  the  writer  says 
that  he  came  to  the  conclusions'— (i)  that  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  any 
of  the  miraculous  events  narrated  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ever  occurred  ; 
(2)  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  there  is  any  providential  government  of  the 
world,  such  as  is  taught  in  the  Bible  ;  but,  on  the  contiary,  things  happen  in 
accordance  with  fixed  and  unalterable  law;  (3)  that  there  is  no  sufficient  reason 
for  considering  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  anything  more  than 
human  compositions  ;  (4)  that  their  moral  precepts  are,  therefore,  to  be  consi- 
dered, and  accepted  or  rejected,  on  their  own  merits.  He  adds  :  "  This  leaves 
nothing  to  which  the  name  of  religion  can  be  properly  attached ; "  and  winds  up 
by  declaring  himself  a  thoroughgoing  Agnostic. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  above  extract  that  the  writer  bases  his  objections  to  the 
generally  accepted  betiefs  simply  on  the  lack  of  evidence  in  proof  of  the  alleged 
facts  on  which  those  beliefs  are  based,  and  leaves  on  one  side  the  more  difficult 
questions  that  have  been  ably  urged  by  Huxley  and  others,  that  many  things 
contained  in  the  Bible  are  repugnant  to  our  moral  sense,  and  inconsistent  with 
any  idea  we  can  form  of  a  moral  governor  of  the  world. 

In  this  matter,  as  in  so  many  others,  it  is  vitally  important  to  have  a  clear  idea 
in  our  minds  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  various  technical  words  which  we  employ 
in  argument  ;  and  I  hope  that  the  above  remarks  may  help  to  clear  up  and  define 
the  views  of  any  persons  who  speak  of  religion,  without  having  very  clear  ideas 
of  what  they  exactly  include  under  the  word.  It  will  probably  be  a  shock  to 
many  Agnostics  to  be  told  that  they  have  no  religion,  or  are  irreligious  people  ; 
but  in  this,  as  in  other  matters,  it  is  best  that  the  truth  should  be  told  ;  and  the 
Agnostic  may  console  himself  with  the  reflection  that  a  man  may  be  as  virtuous 
^  man,  and  in  every  way  as  good  a  citizen,  without  religion  as  with  it. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  505 


IRature  mi>  ZbcoloQ^- 

:o: 

BY    EDGAR    L.    LARKIN,    OF    LOWE    OBSERVATORY,    ECHO    MOUNTAIN,    CAL. 

:o: 

We  live  on  a  world  93,000,000  miles  from  a  little  star — the  sun,  and  the  nearest 
neighbor  it  has  is  a  similar  star  25,000,000,000.000  miles  away.  Our  sun  is  but 
one  of  actual  billions.  If  there  is  a  book  on  your  table,  raise  it  an  inch  and  re- 
place it.  In  so  doing  you  disturb  at  least  2,000,000  particles  of  dust.  Each 
piece  is  larger  in  proportion  to  the  cubic  dimensions  of  the  room  than  the  earth 
is  to  the  space  known  to  astronomers ;  and  also  to  the  quantity  of  matter  known 
to  be  in  existence  in  countless  suns,  planets,  moons,  nebulae,  and  other  cosmicaJ 
bodies.  Raise  and  lower  the  book  fifty  times,  and  100,000,000  dust  particles 
will  be  disturbed,  and  without  effect  on  the  billions  in  the  apartment.  Therefore, 
100,000,000  worlds  like  the  earth,  with  all  their  inhabitants,  could  all  be  anni- 
hilated at  once,  and  with  no  more  effect  on  the  universe  than  the  destruction 
of  dust  in  the  reader's  library. 

And  these  brain-stupefying  facts  stand  graven  on  the  front  of  science :  First, 
the  universe  would  never  hear  of  the  total  destruction  of  the  100,000,000 
inhabited  worlds ;  and,  second,  would  not  care  if  it  did.  And  the  terrible  fact 
looms  up  that,  if  every  member  of  the  human  race  had  been  standing  at  the 
base  of  Pelee,  they  would  have  been  as  completely  annihilated,  without  a  twinge 
of  Nature's  conscience,  or  pity,  as  were  the  33,000  in  St.  Pierre. 

The  writer  is  unable  to  find  a  trace  of  solicitude  for  man  anywhere  in  Nature. 
We  are  mere  creatures  of  temperature  :  a  breath  can  wipe  us  out ;  for  let  the  sun 
increase  or  decrease  its  heat  a  few  degrees,  and  we  expire.  Let  each  piece  o^ 
dust  disturbed  by  the  book  be  inhabited  by  1,600,000,000  animals,  each  endowed 
with  a  mind.  Let  skilled  mentalists  examine  all  those  minds.  In  each  million 
they  would  find  one,  or  at  most  two,  animals  having  minds  of  such  prodigious 
power  that  the  mentalists  would  place  them  in  a  class  entirely  by  themselves. 
These  amazing  beings  could  tell  the  distances  from  their  own  to  many  of  the 
other  dust  particles,  weigh  them,  measure  their  velocities  and  paths  in  space,  and 
could  make  a  book  telling  where  they  would  be  for  years  to  come.  The  name 
selected  for  these  wonderful  creatures  would  be  Mathematicians.  Now,  if  nature 
cares  for  man,  she  certainly  would  be  solicitous  about  these  two  in  eacb  million 
able  to  form  any  conception  of  her  own  marvellous  and  splendid  laws.  But  no ; 
these  would  all  have  been  burned  to  a  cinder  at  Pelee.  A  ship  in  mid-ocean  is 
no  more  lonesome  than  the  sun  wandering  in  terrific  solitudes,  in  frigid  and 
apj)alling  wastes,  at  absf)hye  zero,  and  twenty-five  trillions  of  miles  from  the 
nearest  sister  star.      Humanity  is  absolutely  isolated. 

NO    INFORMATION    FROM    OUTSIDE. 

No  trace  of  knowledge  has  ever  been  received  on  this  planet  from  without. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  '*  inspiration."     Not  one  of  the  forty  or  more  "Bibles  " 


506  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


contains  a  fragment  of  wisdom  from  any  external  source.  Yet  vast  hierarchies, 
for  a  hundred  centuries,  have  all  been  based  on  this— the  most  colossal  swindle 
ever  perpetrated.  They  have  been  as  cancers,  and  have  often  taxed  millions  into 
slavery.  Precious  scoundrels — priests  from  the  magnificent  temples,  whose 
cement  was  human  blood,  of  Ellora,  Elephanta,  Delhi,  Benares,  Ecbatana,  Susa, 
Persepolis,  Babylon,  Ninevah,  Jerusalem,  Meroe,  Thebes,  Denderah,  HeliopoHs, 
Tyre,  Sidon,  Antioch,  Athens,  Eleusis,  Dodona,  Corinth  and  Rome — ancient  as 
well  as  modern  Rome — have  ground  out  far  more  than  the  traditional  tenth  of 
the  earnings  of  the  people.  The  priests  of  Egypt,  and  their  exact  copyists,  those 
of  Jerusalem,  had  no  mercy.  The  priests  of  Egypt  actually  robbed  the  people 
of  nearly  all  their  land  by  the  awful  and  unutterable  horrors  of  the  confessional, 
and  every  woman  was  a  slave.  The  hideous  Hindoo  hypnotism,  magic,  and 
legerdemain,  together  with  hydrostatic  and  pneumatic  manipulations,  magnetism, 
necromancy,  and  ventriloquism,  were  used  in  their  temples  for  centuries  to 
frighten  and  deceive  the  people  to  surrender  land  and  floods  of  fruit  and  wine  to 
the  drunken  priests.  The  habit  of  speaking,  nodding,  and  winking,  also 
weeping  gods,  still  lingers  in  that  awful  sink  of  superstition,  Russia,  in  icons, 
holy  images  with  movable  eye-balls — a  direct  descent  from  Thebes — an  acre  of 
paper  could  be  covered  with  descriptions  of  the  nameless  horrors  of  all  the  great 
temples  of  antiquity.  Prof.  Volter,  over  in  Germany,  has  stirred  up  the  most 
remarkable  excitement  upon  the  Rhine  by  proving  that  the  writer  of  the  Old 
Testament  simply  copied  the  ancient  sagas  and  myths  of  Egypt,  altering  them 
but  little  to  adapt  them  to  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  Hebrew  mind.  Thus, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Esau,  Joseph,  and  Moses  are  purely  Egyptian,  and  all 
astrological.  The  copying  has  been  faithful.  Abraham  at  Mamre,  the  de- 
struction of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  etc.,  are  exact  copies  of  Egyptian  temple 
astrology.  Abraham  is  the  sun-god  Nun,  whose  wife  Nunet,  like  Sarah,  had  her 
first  child  in  her  old  age.  Both  were  "children  of  promise,"  through  whose 
descendants  the  earth  would  be  blessed.  The  Virgin  carrying  a  child  is  not  only 
early  Egyptian,  but  of  vast  antiquity  in  the  far  distant  East,  and  both  are  pure 
astrology.  All  these  things  were  known  to  scholars  before  Volter,  whose  full 
name  is  Daniel  Volter,  Professor  of  Divinity.  The  title  of  this  invaluable  book 
is  "  Egypt  and  the  Bible."     But  he  has  presented  the  subject  in  admirable  form. 

The  priests  of  Egypt  had  an  enormous  capacity  for  land,  gold,  young  women 
and  wine  They  secured  these  in  unlimited  supply  by  means  of  mechanical 
miracles,  magic,  hypnotism,  and  by  a  terrific  power,  deadlier  than  all — the 
infernal  power  of  the  confessional.  The  Hebrew  people  were  no  better,  and 
carried  all  the  black  arts  to  Jerusalem.  Just  look  at  Solomon  with  his  debauched 
temple  service  and  "court"  of  reeking  sensuality.  Every  creed  in  Europe  is 
rooted  and  grounded   in  Egyptian  astrological  myths*  and  ought  to  be  overthrown. 

A   plea   for   even  ordinary  rules  of  honesty  is  here   extended   to   the  clergy. 

What  harm  will  truth  do? Upon  my  word,  there  is  a  huge  rattlesnake 

slipping  out  of  his  skin.  I  am  watching  the  process  with  intense  interest,  to 
learn  every  detail,  for  1  will  have  to  go  through  with  it  myself  if  the  hierarchs 
get  after  me,  like  they  used  to  do  in  olden  times. — English  Mechanic. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  507 


flDa&  flDur&ocft'6  Hnimal  Storiea* 

:o: 

THE  ANT. 

We  are  the  first  of  the  antediluvians.  Before  that  time  our  forefathers  had 
dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  subdued  them.  In  the  beginning 
before  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  there  was  not  anything  or  any- 
where, and  then  he  made  things  and  then  he  made  the  Ants.  It  was  his  last 
and  greatest  work  and  made  him  tired.  He  took  a  rest  and  has  been  resting 
ever  since.  Anikind  is  the  most  highly  developed  and  the  most  intelligent  of 
the  animal  kingdom.  In  tho^e  days  after  creation  ants  lived  very  wickedly,  that 
is,  very  naturally,  and  God  regretted  his  hasty  action  in  making  ants,  and,  to 
relieve  his  feelings,  he  decided  to  destroy  them.  He  might  have  hanged  them 
or  burned  them,  but  in  his  infinite  mercy  he  decided  to  drown  them.  So  he 
made  it  rain  so  long  and  so  hard  that  the  water  was  three  inches  deep  all  over 
the  yard,  and  every  living  thing  that  was  on  the  face  of  the  earth  that  was  all 
over  the  yard  was  drowned. 

But  one  old  fellow,  Old  Fudge  they  called  him,  believed  in  God  though  he 
didn't  know  who  he  was,  and  it  stood  him  so  many  marks  that  he  was  always  at 
the  head  of  his  class.  And  God  said,  "  Fudge  is  all  right,  voted  like  a  man  and 
a  brother ;  give  him  a  chance;  when  the  independents  wanted  to  throw  me 
down  Old  Fudge  was  the  only  Antediluvian  who  stood  by  me."  So  he  told 
Fudge  to  get  on  board  an  egg  shell  for  he  was  going  to  soak  the  rest.  And  it 
rained  so  hard  that  the  tops  of  the  potato  hills  were  covered,  but  Fudge  and  his 
family  were  all  snug  in  their  shell.  The  rain  lasted  for  nearly  two  days,  but  the 
third  day  the  egg  shell  stuck  on  a  potato  hill  and  Old  Fudge  and  his  family  were 
safe.  He  caught  some  aphides  and  made  a  burnt  offering  to  his  god,  and  took 
a  drink  offering  himself. 

As  is  well  known  to  students,  we  are  the  only  animals  who  have  a  language 
and  can  reason.  We  alone  understand  cooperation  and  political  econ Jtny. 
Among  the  lower  animals  who  only  act  by  instinct  the  gigantic  biped  Humana 
has  been  closely  studied  by  Prof.  Gown,  of  White  Ant  College,  in  an  attempt  to 
prove  that  the  lower  animals  do  possess  the  power  of  communicating  their 
thoughts  to  each  other.  While  the  professor's  researches  have  been  minute  and 
his  standing  as  a  scientist  is  worthy  of  respect,  yet  we  think  that  his  arduous 
labors  in  the  field  of  science  have  been  such  a  drain  upon  his  vitality  that  he 
should  go  to  the  seashore  for  a  whole  season  and  abandon  work  or  his  case  may 
develop  into  paresis.  Some  of  Prof.  Gown's  experiments  and  observations  will 
show  his  failing  powers  and  inability  to  reason  from  deduction. 

To  study  the  biped  Humana  he  had  a  glass  constructed  of  such  diminishing 
powers  that  he  could  observe  all  the  animal  at  once  and  note  its  actions.  They 
appear  to  possess   the  art  or  instinct  of  imitation  in  a  high  degree,  but,  as  they 


508  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


only  imitate  one  another,  there  is  no  progress.  They  make  certain  sounds,  so 
the  professor  says,  which  he  was  able  to  detect  by  means  of  a  condensing  horn. 
Some  of  these  words  he  quotes  as  proof  of  intelligence.  "  O-hell;"  "  Hot-as-hell," 
"  Cold-as-hell,"  "  Quick-as-hell,"  "  Slow-as-hell,"  also  "Dammit,"  "  Dammit- 
all,"  "  Dam-thick,"  "  Dam-thin,"  "  Dam-pretty,"  "  Dam-ugly,"  "  Dam-fast," 
•*  Dam-fine,"  and  many  other  sounds  having  a  comn.on  first  syllable.  The 
professor  thinks  the  variety  of  sounds  indicates  the  ability  of  the  biped  to  convey 
a  variety  of  thoughts.  We  think  the  professor  has  no  basis  for  his  theory  because 
the  word  "Dammit,"  for  instance,  which  the  professor  thinks  to  be  some  sort  of 
a  short  prayer,  thus  indicating  a  spiritual  and  therefore  a  reflective  faculty,  is 
used  when  by  their  gestures  they  indicate  joy,  grief,  triumph,  fear,  hope  and 
despair.  VVe  must  therefore  conclude  that  their  cries  are  remarks  of  a  general 
nature  indicating  that  they  are  alive.  That  they  are  void  of  the  reflective 
faculty,  while  instinct  is  but  partially  developed,  is  conclusively  proven  if  we  but 
observe  their  manner  of  life.  Instead  of  their  cells  being  better  than  in  the  past 
they  are  in  many  cases  worse,  nor  do  they  co-operate  heartily  so  that  none  of  the 
conmiunity  could  be  left  to  starve,  burn  or  freeze.  These  matters  are  left  to 
chance  so  that  no  co-operation  is  possible.  A  number  of  them  combine  to  pre- 
vent others  from  getting  any  of  the  sugar,  honey,  wheat,  or  other  thing  that  these 
bipeds  require  for  food,  by  holding  for  a  fee  the  land  required  to  make  these 
things.  While  we  cannot  hear  them  because  our  antennae  are  not  long  enough, 
yet  we  know  by  their  actions  that  this  is  what  they  do.  Those  so  denied  the  right 
to  gather  honey  without  paying  toll  are  called  the  working  bipeds,  and  care  is 
taken  to  increase  their  numbers,  as  the  more  workers  there  are,  the  more  honey 
and  sugar  are  available.  Sometimes  we  see  a  working  biped  get  restive  under 
restraint,  and  seeing  how  the  bosses  have  their  cell.-^  stored  with  all  manner  of 
rare  and  curious  things,  while  his  cell  is  scant  of  everything  and  needs  repairs 
that  he  finds  no  time  to  do,  he  appears  to  resolve  thus  : 

"  Lo,  these  men  rob  me,  in  that  I  must  pay  toll  ;  their  law  shall  be  mine.  I 
know  of  a  window  in  the  rear  ;  one  hour's  work  among  their  treasure  were  worth 
a  thousand  with  this  shovel  ;   I  will  don  my  armor  and  visit  them  this  night." 

VVe  see  him  later  in  the  house  of  one  of  them  with  a  black  band  over  his  eyes, 
and  he  gathereth  more  spoil  in  a  few  minutes  than  his  efforts  with  a  hoe  had 
yielded  in  a  hundred  years.  As  he  is  about  to  depurt  cometh  the  prince  of  the 
house  and  saith,  "  Yield  thee,  villain,"  and  they  strive  together,  and  the  son  of  toil 
smiteth  his  fellow  and  leaveth  him  dead  and  dei)artcth  with  the  swag.  But  he 
leaveth  the  print  of  one  of  his  front  feet  on  the  wall,  and  the  hired  slaves  of  the 
bosses  follow  up  the  clue  and  the  man  is  caught.  A  court  sits  on  the  case  and  ap- 
points a  hired  slave  of  the  system,  and  wearing  a  gown,  to  prove  that  the  man  is 
guilty,  and  as  the  accused  hath  no  money  another  fellow  with  a  gown  is  ap- 
pointed to  prove  that  he  is  innocent,  and  it  is  called  a  court  of  justice.  They  of 
the  gowns  enjoy  it  very  much  and  call  what  they  do  "  practising."  And  the  victim 


SECULAE    THOUGHT.  509 

is  asked  if  he  have  anything  to  say  before  sentence  is  pronounced.  He  saith^ 
"  If  I  hadn't  killed  the  prince  I  wouldn't  have  gotten  away  with  the  jewels, 
some  of  which  were  bought  with  my  earnings." 

The  Court  saith,  "The  law  does  not  recognize  your  right  to  take  anything  by 
violence,  not  even  life,  which  is  nearly  as  sacred  as  property.  You  must  not  do 
either  unless  it  is  legalized.  Our  laws  permit  you  to  obtain  property  in  any  way 
that  you  can,  so  long  as  you  do  not  violate  the  law.  It  is  your  right  to  take 
whatever  you  can  lay  hands  on,  if  in  so  doing  you  do  not  get  in  jail.  You 
have  taken  life  and  property  contrary  to  law  ;  the  law  says  that,  for  the  protection 
of  society,  you  shall  be  hanged  till  you  are — " 

"  Hold  on,  judge  I      If  I  robbed  them,  they  had  robbed  me  and  others." 

"Silence,  prisoner  !  I  said  *  robbed  contrary  to  law.'  You  shall  be  hanged  till 
you  are  quite  dead,  and  may  God  have  mercy  on  your  soul  !" 

"  My  children  and  their  mother  will  die  of  want  and  shame,  and  the  robbing  will 
still  go  on,  and  you  want  God  to  save  my  soul ;  will  you  hobnob  with  me  in 
heaven  if  I  become  a  saint  ?  " 

"We  will  give  your  wife  washing,  and  your  children  will  be  placed  with  kind 
farmers.  As  for  you,  if  you  repent  and  prosper  in  the  world  to  come  as  we  by 
our  industry  have  [)rospered  in  this,  we  shall  be  most  happy  to  take  you  into 
Society."  And  they  lead  him  away  to  be  hanged,  and  one  with  a  long  black  coat 
and  a  white  stock  prayeth  Jesus  to  "  take  this  brother  in  thy  loving  arms,"  and 
they  hang  him  and  next  day  there  is  another. 

And  some  say,"  This  monopoly  should  cease  ere  more  murder  be  done."  But 
the  rulers  say, 

"The  parsons  pray  not  enough  and  preach  too  mildly  ;  give  'em  Hell,  parson, 
give  'em  HELL;  never  mind  the  cost,  parson  ;  damn  the  expense  ;  your  carpets 
shall  be  soft  and  your  wine  shall  be  of  a  very  old  vintage,  but  give  'em  hell, 
parson,  or  Progress  and  the  Sacred  Rights  of  Property  are  gone  forever. 
And,  parson,  promise  them  anything  that  you  can  invent  in  the  way  of  golden 
delights,  but  let  it  be  in  a  world  to  come." 

And  the  parsons  give  them  "  hell "  for  disobedience,  and  promise  great  rewards 
for  obedience,  and  wink  one  at  the  other  and  walk  delicately  with  ivory  headed 
cane  aswing,  while  robbery  and  murder  go  on  apace. 

We  did  not  hear  these  words,  but  take  Prof.  Gown^s  word  for  it.  Now, 
on  his  own  showing,  these  bipeds  cannot  possess  the  power  of  reason  beyond 
that  of  a  dog  who  will  watch  a  bone  that  he  is  too  full  to  feed  on  and 
keep  other  dogs  away.  Not  even  as  much  ;  for  while  one  dog  keeps  others 
from  a  bone  that  he  does  not  want  sometimes,  dogs  do  not  know  little  enough 
to  combine  to  keep  other  curs  poor,  hungry  and  savage.  A  myihical  old 
blackguard  among  the  bipeds,  whose  court  followers  called  wise  because  he  was 
rich,  is  credited  with  saying  on  one  occasion  when  he  was  tired  of  his  harem  : 
"Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard."     The  average  Moneybags  nowadays  when  ap- 


510  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


proached  by  a  tramp,  unless  the  way  be  dark  and  lonely,  is  apt  to  reply  in  much 
the  same  spirit  as  did  the  Old  Hebrew  Rockefeller  and  say,  "  Go  to  the  devil  ! 
if  you  worked  and  saved  as  I  have  you  would  have  ten  cents  of  your  own." 

Not  only  is  Antkind  the  most  highly  developed  mentally  of  the  creation,  but 
we  have  the  only  system  of  political  economy.  This  is  not  a  big  book  written 
by  some  fool  who  shovelled  a  lot  of  b'g  words  together  and  did  not  know  how  to 
use  small  ones.  It  is  a  system  of  work  in  which  each  is  taught  when  young  to 
do  its  work  and  not  worry  about  the  job  of  another.  The  result  is  that  we  have 
no  poor,  rich,  jails,  private  yachts,  bonds,  bailiffs,  mortgages  or  mad  houses.  Of 
course  we  have  our  race  and  color  differences,  but  we  avoid  trouble  in  that  line 
by  discouraging  immigration  and  have  no  politicians  who  n)ight  take  an  interest 
in  swelling  the  voters'  list.  Of  course  we  are  religious  and  are  agreed  that  there 
is  one  true  god,  but  as  none  of  us  would  believe  the  ant  who  said  that  it  had 
seen  or  heard  him,  and  as  there  are  hundreds  of  theories,  and  all  purely  specula- 
tive, as  to  who  he  is,  what  he  can  do,  where  he  is,  and  who  was  his  father,  we 
don't  fight  about  him. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

REMARKABLE    CASE    OF   BRAIN    SURGERY. 
Swathed  in  bandages,  so  that  only  her  eyes  and  a  small  portion  of  her  face  can 
be  sein,  twjlve-year-old   Mary  Gaffney  is  recovering  at  her  ho  ne,  No.  95  Sutton 
street,  New  York,  from  one  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  brain  injury  in  the 
history  of  surgery. 

As  the  result  of  a  fall  down  an  elevator  shaft,  not  only  was  a  very  severe 
trephining  operation  successfully  performed  on  the  little  girl,  but  a  large  portion 
of  her  brain  that  protruded  had  to  be  cut  into  and  cleansed  before  the  doctors  at 
the  Flower  Hospital  dared  to  push  it  back  into  the  skull  and  close  the  opening 
that  had  been  made  in  the  side  of  the  child's  head. 

She  has  not  only  come  out  of  the  ordeal  with  her  life,  but  has  retained  all  her 
faculties,  some  of  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  injury  she  sustained,  were 
deemed  almost  certain  to  be  destroyed. 

There  are  few  authentic  cases  known  to  medical  history  where  extensive 
injuries  to  the  brain,  such  as  Mary  Gaffney  sustained,  have  not  resulted  in  death, 
and  these  almost  invariably  caused  the  destruction  of  some  sense  or  paralysis  of 
some  part  of  the  body.  Indeed,  much  of  the  knovvledge  of  the  brain  that  med- 
ical men  possess  has  been  gained  in  observing  the  few  non-fatal  cases  of  brain 
injury  where  the  loss  of  certain  functions  and  senses  lias  followed. 

The  case  of  Mary  Gaffney  appears  to  be  in  distinct  contradiction  to  many  of 
the  theories  that  have  come  to  be  accepted  as  establish>id  facts.  More  than  two 
inches  of  the  girl's  skull  was  crushed  and  the  brain  beneath  it  was  torn  and 
lacerated  and  protruded  from  her  head. 


LARGE  FAMILIES. 

Little  improvement  can  be  expected  in  morality  until  the   production  of  large 
families  is  regarded  with   the  same  feeling  as  drunkenness,  or  any  other  physical 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  511 


excess.  When  persons  are  once  married,  the  idea,  in  this  country,  never  seems 
to  enter  anyone's  mind  that  having  or  not  having  a  family,  or  the  number  of 
which  it  shall  consist,  is  amenable  to  their  own  control.  One  would  imagine 
that  children  were  rained  down  upon  married  people  direct  from  heaven,  without 
their  having  act  or  pirt  in  thi  matter;  thit  it  was  reiUy,  as  the  conmon  phrases 
have  it,  God's  will,  and  not  their  own,  which  decided  the  number  of  their 
offspring. — John  Stuart  Mill. 


She  was  a  widow  for  the  third  tmie.  "  Which  of  your  husbands  do  you 
intend  to  associate  with  when  you  do  go  to  heaven  ?  "  asked  the  inquisitive 
spinster.  "  On  the  level,"  answered  the  widow,  ''  I  don't  expect  to  find  any  of 
them  there." 


ETIQUETTE. 

I  used  to  live  down  east  myself,  before  I  left  my  home, 
An'  I  was  taught  to  do  as  Romans  do,  when  you're  at  Rome  ; 
Which  theory,  if  analyzed,  will  show  you  should  not  fret 
'Bout  a  mere  matter  of  opinion — such  as  etiquette. 

When  Buff'lo  Bill  slew  Chief  Tall  Bull,  he  scalped  him  in  fine  style, 
Which  caused  the  chapl  \\x\  of  our  regiment  some  little  bile  : 
But  Pony  Bob  explained  that,  though  the  thmg  Bill  might  regret, 
Not  to  have  did  it  would  have  been  a  breach  of  etiquette. 

—  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 


Landlady  (to  new  Lodger)— "I  hope  you  slept  well  last  night?"  Lodger — 
*'  No,  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  never  slept  at  all.  I  was  terribly  bothered  with  insom- 
nia." Landlady — '*  Young  man,  I  will  give  you  a  sovereign  for  every  one  you 
get  in  that. bed." 

An  English  lord  was  travelling  through  America  with  a  small  party  of  friends. 
At  a  farmhouse  the  owner  invited  the  party  in  to  supper.  The  good  housewife, 
whi'e  preparing  the  table,  discovering  she  was  entertaining  the  nobility,  was 
nearly  overcome  with  surprise  and  elation.  All  seated  at  the  table,  scarcely  a 
moment's  peace  did  she  grant  her  distinguished  guest  in  her  endeavour  to  serve 
and  please  him.  It  was  "My  lord,  will  you  have  some  of  this?"  and  "My 
lord,  do  try  that."  "Take  a  piece  of  this,  my  lord,"  until  the  meal  was  nearly 
finished.  .The  little  four-year-old  son  of  the  family,  heretofore  unnoticed,  during 
a  moment  of  supreme  quiet,  saw  his  lordship  trying  to  reach  the  pickle  dish, 
which  was  just  out  of  his  reach,  and,  turning  to  his  mother,  said  :  "  Say,  ma, 
(iod  wants  a  pick'e." 


A  minister  went  from  Kansas  City  down  into  the  country  to  preach.  Before 
going  into  the  pulpit  he  asked  if  any  one  interrupted  with  "amens"  and  other 
ejaculations,  as  he  could  not  stand  such  interjections.  He  was  told  of  one  old 
woman  who  always  made  herself  heard  at  all  good  points.  She  was  asked  on 
this  occasion  to  desist,  and  she  obliged  for  once.  At  the  end  of  the  sermon  the 
mwister  met  her  and  warmly  thanked  her  for  holding  her  tongue 

"  No  need  to  thank  me,  no  need  to  thank  me  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  You  said 
nothing  whatever  to  make  me  shout !  " 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


The  Best 


Why  Not  Save  *50  a  Year 

by  learning  how  to  "  take  care  ot  yourself?" 
You  waste  time,  health,  and  wealth,  because 
by  ignorance  you  suffer  disease  and  debility, 
and  then  you  waste  money  on  misfit  cure- 
alls,  belts,  chains,  and  "  hypnotic  science"  or 
"  absent  treatment  "  fakers. 

Don't  be  foolish  any  more  Read  up  and 
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steer  a  safe  course,  and  save  cost  of  repairs. 
KNO'W  I  r  ALL. 

A  f\  A  I  1^1  you  hitch  up  to  the  wrong 
/\\j|nll^i  girl,  or  you  mate  right 
and  don't  pull  well  together.  Then  you  want 
divorce,  and  that  "  comes  high."  Better  look 
ahead.  Study  the  science  of  marriage  and 
parentage,  and  have  heirs  you  can  be  proud 
of.  This  "PLAIN  HOME  TALK"  tells 
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Riddle  of  the  Universe 

at  the  Close  of  tha  Nineteenth  Century. 
By  ERNST  HAECKEL 

A  masterly  summary  of  the  achievements 
of  modern  science  in  their  bearing  upon  the 
Riddles  of  Existence. 


The  Ethics  of  the 
Greelt  Philosophers. 

By  PROF.  JAMES  H.  HYSLOP, 
Professor  of  Logic  and  Ethics  in  Columbia 

University. 
333  P''i§res,   gilt  top,  beautifully  ptinted  and 
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ancient  Oriental  and  Mediterranean  schools 
of  thought,   as  well   as  the  various   modern 
schools  down  to  our  own  day,  culminatmg  in 
the  Evolution  School,  which   is  a  revival  of 
the  old  Greek  schools. 

Good  Without  God. 

By  Captain  ROBERT  C.  ADAMS.  His 
last  work,  published  but  a  few  days  before 
his  death. 

Every  reader  of  Captain  Adams'  previous 
works  will  wish  to  have  his  latest  word. 

The  work  consists  of  14  essays,  conclud- 
ing with  a  Humanitarian  Prayer. 

114  pages  -         -         -         25  cents. 

Order  from  Secular  Thought  office. 
FIFTH  EDITION  OF  THE 

History  of  the  Christian 
Relinrion  to  A.D.  200. 

BY  CHAS.  B.  WAITE,  A.M. 
It  is  an  octavo  volume  of  about  600  pages, 
printed    on  superior  paper,    from   large  and 
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price,  in  cloth,  post-paid,  is  $2.25. 


By  the  same  Author, 

Herbert  Spencer 

and  His  Critics. 

Price,  cloth,  post-paid,  $1.00. 
The  Chicago  Chronicle  says  :  "  Not  one 
n  ten,  could  all  men  be  induced  to  read  all 
that  Spencer  ever  wrote,  would  know  as 
much  of  the  theme  as  even  an  aveiage  man 
may  gather  from  Mr.  Waite's  chapters." 

THE  FRENCH   REVOLUTION. 

By  Frederic  M.ay  Holland,  Author  of 
"  Liberty  in    the    Nineteenth    Century,"  etc 
Paper  wrapper,  loc. 
C.  M.  ELLIS,  Secular  Thought  Office. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS.  Bus.  Mgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  19.  TORONTO,  OCT.  28,    1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Wlbat  \B  tbe  ''  Zvwc  Spirit  of  Cbriat  ?  " 

:(): 

We  hear  a  great  deal  from  Christian  preachers  about  ^*the 
Spirit  of  Christ."  Now,  there  are  distinctly  two  spirits  of 
Christ  revealed  in  the  Gospels,  directly  opposed  to  each  other. 
One  is  humane,  the  other  is  inhuman.  One  is  the  spirit  of 
love  and  forgiveness,  returning  good  for  evil,  blessing  for  curs- 
ing, and  injunctions  to  forgive  our  offending  brother  seventy 
times  seven  times  a  day,  if  need  be.  This  beautiful  spirit  came 
out  in  his  dying  prayer,  *'  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do."  That  loving  spirit  also  inspired  the  in- 
junction, ^*  Judge  not."  The  other  spirit  is  manifested  in  the 
dreadful  passages  where  there  is  cruel  judgment,  cruel  purpose, 
fierce  resentment,  gross  self-assertion,  and  inexorable  revenge. 
These  two  **  spirits  of  Christ"  are  absolutely  irreconcilable. 
Either  the  character  of  Christ  was  a  compound  of  good  and 
evil,  or  the  Gospels  are  not  true.  And  I  leave  it  to  the  wor- 
shippers of  Christ  to  get  out  of  the  dilemma  if  they  can. — 
Rev.  Charles  Voysey. 

EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


S^rafalgar  Dai?  mi>  tbe  ipreacbere. 

The  centenary  of  the  great  naval  Battle  o(  Trafalgar  has 
given  the  preachers  one  of  those  opportunities,  of  which  they 
always  seem  ready  and  anxious  to  avail  themselves,  o(  pander- 
ing to  the  militant  sentiments  of  the  more  pugnacious  and  jin- 
goistic elements  of  society.  It  is  a  strange  spectacle,  that  of 
a  devoted  and  pious  follower  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  marching 
to  church  with  a  regiment  o(  soldiers,  and  then  mounting  the 


514  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

pulpit  and  indulging^  in  military  criticism  and  jing-o  swagger, 
attributing  a  bloody  victory  to  the  wisdom  of  his  loving  God. 
Mr.  Stead  told  us  what  he  thought  might  happen  ^*  If  Christ 
Came  to  Chicago,"  and  we  wonder  if  any  of  the  Christian 
preachers  who  act  as  chaplains  to  our  regiments  of  militia  and 
do  their  best  to  fan  the  flames  of  military  ardor  and  national 
prejudice  ever  ask  themselves,  *'  What  would  Christ  do  if  he 
were  in  my  place  ?  "  Imagine,  if  you  can,  Jesus  and  his  disci- 
ples acting  as  chaplains  to  a  dozen  regiments  in  either  a  sham 
fight  or  a  real  campaign.  What  sense  is  there  in  the  pretence 
that  these  men  are  preaching  the  '^  Christian"  religion?  If 
what  these  men  preach  as  Christianity  differs  essentially  from 
the  religion  of  Thackambau,  the  cannibal  chief  of  Fiji,  we 
should  like  to  have  the  difference  pointed  out. 

At  St.  George's  Church,  Toronto,  the  Rev.  Prof.  Clark  de- 
livered a  long  address  to  the  Army  and  Navy  Veterans,  in  the 
course  of  which  ^*  God  "  naturally  appears  as  the  chief  actor, 
and  the  fighting  men  as  merely  his  agents.  If  this  is  a  reason- 
able proposition,  why  remember  Nelson  at  all,  or  Trafalgar 
itself?  **  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty  "  ceases 
to  have  any  meaning  if  God  controls  the  event.  Prof.  Clark's 
review  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  was  rather  suited  to  a  military 
school  than  to  a  religious  rostrum  ;  but  if  a  pious  man,  even 
a  preacher,  is  to  try  to  appear  as  not  quite  a  '*  looney,"  he 
must  on  such  an  occasion  talk  of  the  realities  of  human  life, 
though  professional  etiquette  compels  him  to  interlard  his  dis- 
course with  his  trade  shibboleth. 

Rev.  Canon  Cayley  preached  at  St.  Simon's  Church,  and 
his  sermon  was  a  very  close  copy  of  Prof.  Clark's.  Neither 
of  these  men  seem  to  have  any  difficulty  in  reconciling  God's 
paternal  government  of  the  world  with  the  occurrence  of  the 
most  disastrous  wars.  They  can  **  glorify  God"  for  their  own 
victories,  but  forget  the  anguish  of  the  defeated.  Does  God 
never  plan  a  victory  without  a  defeat  ?     Why  not  ? 

Canon  Welch  only  made  a  passing  reference  to  Trafalgar 
— ^just  enough  to  ring  in  the  celebrated  signal.  The  battle,  he 
said,  was  an  event  that  shaped  the  destiny  of  Britain  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  Empire.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
same  remark  might  be  made  about  many  other  events.  But 
if,  as  the  Canon  says,  the  God-imposed  duty  of  the  British 
Empire  is  to  Christianize  the  races  with  which  it  was  brought 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  515 


into  contact,  then  we  are  afraid  the  divine  designer  will  be  a 
little  disappointed.  The  Jews  claim  a  similar  mission,  and 
seem  almost  as  likely  to  accomplish  it  as  the  British  to  fulfil 
theirs.  In  both  cases,  one  would  think,  the  divine  architect 
would  be  getting  rather  tired  of  the  slow  work  of  his  agents. 
Perhaps  this,  indeed,  is  the  cause  of  his  pending  so  many  wars 
— to  slaughter  his  children  who  stand  in  the  way. 

At  Grace  Church,  Elm  Street,  Rev.  Pitt  Lewis  delighted 
his  congregation  with  an  account  of  the  battle,  which  he  said, 
however,  was  not  to  be  compared  with  Salamis,  and  would  in 
the  future  be  regarded  as  not  a  greater  victory  than  Togo's  in 
the  Sea  of  Japan.  Evidently,  these  preachers  know  the  fail- 
ings and  prejudices  of  their  congregations,  and  pander  to  them 
because  it  pays  to  do  so.  It  may  be,  as  Mr.  Lewis  says,  that 
Japan's  victory  has  given  the  peoples  of  the  Orient  a  degree  of 
security  and  brightness  of  outlook  which  otherwise  they  would 
not  have  had  ;  but  are  we  to  understand  that  divine  goodness 
and  almighty  benevolence  can  only  give  us  peace  and  happi- 
ness through  the  slaughter  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  both 
our  friends  and  our  enemies  ? 

Dr.  Milligan,  at  Old  St.  Andrew's  Church,  maintained  that 
Britain's  ascendancy  was  gained  through  Trafalgar  and  Wa- 
terloo, **  because  God  had  colonizing  purposes  to  carry  out 
through  her,  to  fill  the  waste  lands.  She  of  all  peoples  has 
the  genius."  Well  may  we  reply,  ^'  How  long,  O  Lord,  how 
long  ?  "  to  such  rubbish.  The  Sacred  Book  tells  us  that  the 
favored  nation,  Israel,  was  to  be  in  numbers  like  the  sand  of 
the  sea,  but  where  does  it  say  anything  like  this  of  the  British 
people?  Who  told  Dr.  Milligan  that  God  wants  the  British 
people  to  fill  up  the  waste  lands  ?  Is  that  why  the  Canadian 
Government  is  making  such  great  efforts  to  fill  up  the  North- 
west with  Russian  Doukhobors,  Galicians,  Germans,  Swedes, 
Syrians,  and  all  other  foreigners?  ^*  May  we  ever  keep  the 
spirit  of  stewardship  to  the  God  of  nations  alive  among  us,  or 
we  are  all  destined  to  decay,"  concluded  Dr.  Milligan,  forget- 
ting for  the  moment,  perhaps,  his  story  about  God's  purpose; 
for  how  can  Britain's  mission  fail  unless  God's  purpose  fails 
also  ?     But  from  a  preacher,  what  can  be  expected  ? 

In  our  opinion,  no  good  can  be  done  by  celebrating  these 
days  of  strife  and  slaughter  ;  but  it  seems  totally  out  of  place 
for  preachers  to  help  the  jingoism  to  respectability. 


516  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 

Some  years  ago,  when  Bishop  Cox,  of  Western  New  York, 
wrote  a  fiery  war  poem,  a  writer  in  the  secular  press  rebuked 
him  in  these  terms  : 

Thou  man  of  God  who  thus  implore 
Thy  brother's  sacred  blood  to  pour 
In  hateful  tides  of  turbid  gore 
From  Dardanelles  to  Danube's  shore, 
Be  still  — be  still, 

Blaspheme  no  more  ! 

God  help  the  babes,  God  bless  the  wives  I 
Shame  on  the  priests  that  whet  the  knives  ! 
Shame  on  the  church  whose  altar  thrives 
By  wrecking  peaceful  peasants'  lives  ! 
Be  still— be  still  ! 

'Tis  hell  that  drives  ! 

How  long,  O  Lord,  before  thy  shrine 
Shall  men  pray,  "  Vengeance,  God,  is  thine," 
Then  worship  Moloch  as  divine, 
And  drink  the  battle's  bloody  wine  ? 
Be  still— be  still, 

O  heart  of  mine  ! 

We  are  afraid,  however,  that  appeals  to  the  rational  powers 
of  either  the  preachers  or  their  followers  will  not  be  of  much 
avail.  The  ludicrous  aspect  of  religious  dog-mas  is  the  feature 
that  will  ultimately  have  the  most  weight  ;  and  there  is  not  a 
more  idiotic  conception  in  the  whole  range  of  theology  than 
that  of  a  God  of  Battles. 

3uetice  mi>  Ibonor  to  ^bomae  paine. 

After  a  century  of  vindictive  and  false  abuse  and  vitupera- 
tion from  thousands  of  pulpits,  and  from  their  ignorant  adher- 
ents in  the  gutter  as  well  as  in  the  Presidential  chair,  belated 
justice  seems  to  be  in  a  fair  way  towards  being  rendered  to  the 
memory  of  one  of  the  greatest  forerunners  of  the  Freethought 
of  our  day.  It  is  not  a  matter  that  detracts  from  the  genius  of 
Thomas  Paine  that  he  should  have  been  unable  to  throw  off 
all  the  superstitious  dogmas  of  his  day.  In  any  age,  one  man 
cannot  be  expected  to  advance  more  than  to  a  certain  stage  on 
the  road  to  complete  mental  freedom.  That  he  should  have 
advanced  as  far  as  he  did  is  a  proof  of  his  great  mental  acute- 
ness  ;  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  publish  his  unorthodox  views 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  517 

in  an  age  and  to  a  people  dominated  almost  entirely  by  super- 
stitions that  made  free  thought  and  free  speech*  dangerous,  is 
evidence  of  his  high  courage  and  sincerity. 

That  Thomas  Paine  should  have  been  neglected  by  some  of 
his  old  friends  and  fellow-workers,  who  were  afraid  to  brave 
that  odium  theologicum  which  he  so  nobly  defied,  will  not  tell 
to  the  discredit  of  Paine,  as  it  has  hitherto  done,  but  to  that 
of  the  men  who  pandered  to  the  popular  prejudice,  instead  oi 
defending  a  friend  whom  they  knew  to  be  learned,  and  brave, 
and  sincere— a  man  who  had  done  more  than  perhaps  any 
other  man  to  achieve  the  great  results  for  which  they  were 
receiving  honors  and  rewards.. 

That  the  Paine  Monument  at  La  Rochelle  has  been  taken 
charge  of  by  the  municipal  authorities,  amid  an  enthusiastic 
demonstration,  and  that,  after  a  struggle  lasting  over  thirty 
years,  the  marble  bust  of  Paine  has  found  a  resting-place  in 
the  Philadelphia  Memorial  Hall,  are  two  facts  that  will  have 
a  marked  effect  upon  the  progress  of  Freethought  in  America. 

It  is  now  **  up  to"  the  man  who  styled  Thomas  Paine  **  a 
filthy  little  Atheist"  to  show  that,  though  a  politician,  honor, 
truth  and  honesty  have  some  weight  with  him. 

THE  GREAT  INSURANCE  COMPANY  FRAUDS. 

The  exposures  that  have  recently  been  made  of  misappropriations  of 
trust  funds  by  officers  of  some  of  the  largest  insurance  companies  ought 
to  lead  to  some  severe  thinking  on  the  part  of  the  large  army  of  policy- 
holders, whose  hard  earnings  have  gone  to  swell  the  enormous  reserve 
funds,  the  existence  of  which  has  made  possible  the  gigantic  frauds  ndw 
being  inquired  into.     Some  things  are  manifest  from  the  proved  facts. 

It  is  certain  that  the  policyholders  have  paid  into  the  coffers  of  the 
insurance  companies,  as  premiums,  vast  sums  over  and  above  a  fair 
price  for  the  insurances  they  have  effected,  and  these  sums  have  accu- 
mulated so  rapidly  as  to  form  a  veritable  gold-mine  for  the  chief  officers 
of  the  companies,  who  have  speculated  with  the  funds,  and  given  away 
immense  sums  to  relatives  as  commissions.  "  Heads  I  win,  tails  you 
lose,"  seems  to  have  been  the  maxim  of  these  men  in  dealing  with  the 
company's  funds  ;  but  these  funds  have  been  so  immense,  that  millions 
have  been  gained  and  lost  without  appreciably  affecting  the  stability  of 
the  companies. 


518  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

The  facts,  apparently,  have  only  been  exposed  through  quarrelling 
among  the  officials,  and  the  inference  seems  inevitable,  that  many  other 
similar  cases  exist,  only  awaiting  some  extraordinary  circumstance  to 
bring  the  frauds  to  light. 

The  excessive  premium  rates  are,  of  course,  not  as  profitable  in  the 
newer  and  smaller  companies,  but,  as  they  are  nearly  all  on  a  very  simi- 
lar scale,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  opportunities  for  fraud,  and  its 
existence  also,  may  be  predicated  almost  exactly  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  a  company's  business. 

One  of  the  latest  insurance  concerns  to  come  under  the  searchlight  of 
the  official  investigator  is  the  Mutual  Life  of  New  York.  This  company 
seems  to  have  a  president  with  a  salary  of  $150,000,  and  who  has  a  son 
who  for  many  years  has  been  receiving  a  commission  on  European  busi- 
ness— a  commission  which  for  the  last  three  years  alone  is  said  to  have 
exceeded  a  million  dollars  !  The  President  and  members  of  his  family 
in  the  company's  employment  were  receiving  salaries  aggregating  over 
half  a  million  dollars  per  annum  ! 

It  is  highly  probable,  too,  that  some  of  the  Canadian  companies  may 
be  in  the  toils  before  many  weeks  are  over.  A  correspondent  of  the  To- 
ronto World,  on  Oct.  23,  asserted  that,  having  held  a  policy  in  the  Canada 
Life  Company  for  $3,000  for  over  thirty  years,  he  had  recently  received 
notice  from  the  company  that,  not  only  would  his  agreed  "  profits  "  be 
discontinued,  but  that  the  face  value  of  his  policy  had  been  reduced  to 
$2,700.  As  the  correspondent  suggests,  it  would  be  only  right  that  the 
Government  should  appoint  a  commission  to  make  a  searching  inquiry 
into  the  working  of  all  insurance  companies  and  societies. 

SUPERANNUATION  OF  SCHOOL  TEACHERS. 

The  Education  Board  of  Toronto  has  attempted  to  inaugurate  what  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  dangerous  systems  they  could  possibly  adopt 
for  the  purpose  of  retiring  aged  school  teachers — a  system  of  selecting 
certain  teachers  for  superannuation,  instead  of  adopting  a  just  measure 
applicable  to  all  officials.  Under  the  proposed  system,  every  superan- 
nuation carried  out  would  be  open  to  suspicion  of  favoritism  or  fraud  or 
injustice,  and  undoubtedly  the  suspicion  would  often  be  justified. 

The  members  of  the  Board  will  be  open  to  the  gravest  criticism  if  they 
permit  themselves  to  grant  the  proposed  superannuations  before  they 
formulate  a  comprehensive  scheme  that  shall  be  submitted  to  and  ap- 
proved by  the  ratepayers.     Such  a  scheme  could   be  reasonably  adopted 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  519 

only  after  a  full  consideration  of  the  whole  question  of  salaries,  and  it 
will  go  a  long  way  to  impair  faith  in  the  bona  fides  of  the  Board  if  they 
carry  out  their  present  intention. 

On  general  grounds,  we  do  not  see  why  school  teachers  any  more  than 
bricklayers  or  carpenters  should  receive  pensions  from  the  public  funds. 
Their  special  qualifications  were  acquired  largely  at  the  public  ej^pensa 
in  the  High  Schools,  and  their  salaries  have  been  dependent  upon  the 
market  value  of  their  services  as  much  as  those  of  drain-diggers  and 
sailors.  Their  profession  was  a  matter  of  choice,  and  their  services  to 
the  public  are  no  more  essential  to  the  public  good  than  those  of  any  other 
class  of  workers.  If  their  salaries  have  been  fair,  a  superannuation 
scheme  should  include  payment  of  premiums  by  the  beneficiaries  on  a 
proper  scale. 

DIFFICULTY  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION. 

At  Champaign,  III,  Oct.  19,  there  was  a  discussion  at  the  University 
on  religious  education,  which  showed  clearly,  we  are  told,  that  the  sub- 
ject is  "  an  extremely  difficult  one,  involving  wide  differences  of  practice 
and  opinion."  This  is  what  any  one  might  reasonably  expect.  Religion 
is  the  one  subject  upon  which  there  is  room  for  an  unlimited  range  of 
opinion  ;  and  the  remarkable  thing  is  that,  this  being  an  acknowledged 
fact,  the  men  who  control  educational  affairs  do  not  see  that  this  fact 
is  an  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of  excluding  all  religious  teach- 
ing from  the  schools  and  universities. 

There  are  differences  among  teachers  in  many  other  branches  of  in- 
quiry than  religion,  but  religion  is  the  only  one  in  which  differences  of 
opinion  are  converted  into  mortal  offences,  and  made  the  ground  of 
charges  of  immorality  and  crime. 

A  geologist  does  not  think  of  charging  a  biologist  with  immorality 
because  he  rejects  his  calculations  as  to  the  age  of  the  earth  ;  but  if  you 
differ  with  a  pious  Christian  concerning  the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin  you 
are  anathema — you  are  an  enemy  to  the  human  race,  and  ought  to  be 
punished  with  at  least  eternal  torments. 

NIGHT  WORK  FOR  SCHOOL  CHILDREN. 

We  are  glad  to  record  the  views  expressed  by  Mr.  G.  L.  McDonald, 
of  the  IngersoU  Collegiate  Institute,  at  the  Convention  of  the  Oxford 
County  Teachers'  Association,  concluded  at  IngersoU  on  Oct.  20.     Mr. 


520  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

■  ~~  r 

McDonald  discussed  the  topic  **  Home  Work  and  Health,"  and  very 
strongly  urged  that  greater  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  health  and 
physical  training  of  the  school  children.  He  showed  from  statistics  and 
his  own  observation  that  the  present  physical  condition  of  the  people  was 
unsatisfactory — a  mild  way  of  putting  it,  considering  the  immense 
number  of  doctors  in  all  our  towns,  and  that  the  hospitals  and  asylums 
are  all  full  and  crying  out  for  more  room. 

And  he  denounced  the  practice  of  giving  home  work  to  school  children 
as  "  a  cruel  and  useless  drain  upon  the  nervous  force  of  the  children, 
which  was  needed  in  a  large  measure  for  their  bodily  growth,  and  which 
was  sufficiently  drawn  on  already  by  the  day's  w^ork  at  school." 

This  touches  a  matter  which  is  one  of  those  most  needing  reform  in 
our  school  system.  If  the  system  of  teaching  in  the  day  sessions  of  the 
schools  were  a  reasonable  one,  children  would  make  far  more  progress 
— solid  and  permanent  progress — than  they  do  or  could  make  with  any 
amount  of  night  lessons,  which  only  worry  them  when  their  attention  is 
distracted  by  thoughts  of  the  more  pleasant  occupations  they  might  be 
engaged  in.  Lessons  to  be  learnt  by  rote  assume  an  aspect  of  punish- 
ment, and  many  children  acquire  a  distaste  for  all  literature  that  is  sel- 
dome  overcome,  entailing  an  incalculable  loss  of  the  mental  enjoyments 
of  literary  pursuits. 

THE  TORONTO  CIVIC  BRIBERY  INVESTIGATION. 

Whatever  may  be  the  legal  outcome  of  the  inquiry  into  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  granting  by  the  City  Council  of  a  "  permit " 
to  the  Messrs.  Puddy  for  the  erection  of  an  abbatoir  in  North  Toronto, 
no  sane  man  will  believe  that,  daring  the  short  period  of  about  three 
months,  a  firm  with  honorable  intentions  would  part  with  nearly  a  thou- 
sand dollars  to  a  man  previously  a  stranger  to  them,  without  any  sort  of 
accounting,  and  without  any  idea  how  the  money  was  to  be  used,  unless 
for  such  things  as  cigars,  drinks,  and  car-fares,  in  trying  to  "influence" 
aldermen.  Are  aldermen's  votes  to  be  purchased  or  influenced  by  cigars 
and  drinks  and  free  car-rides  ?  The  Puddy  Bros,  profess  to  have  thought 
so ;  but  we  imagine  they  were  not  quite  so  soft. 

Whether  aldermen  did  accept  bribes,  or  whether  Elliott  stuck  to  all 
the  money  he  received  for  the  job  he  undertook,  is  a  question  that  may 
never  be  settled  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  some  of  the  aldermen  have  laid 
themselves  open  to  a  suspicion  of  wrong-doing  that  they  will  have  much 
difficulty  in  escaping  from. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  521 


It  may  be  true,  as  one  of  the  Pudd}^  Bros,  said,  that  to  them  a  few 
hundred  dollars  do  not  matter  so  much  as  do  a  few  cents  to  most  other 
people  ;  but  the  fact  is  well  known  that  such  men  are  fully  as  anxious  to 
get  value  for  the  money  they  la}^  out  as  are  less  wealthy  men. 

Ordinary  people  will  refuse  to  believe  that,  whatever  Elliott  maj^  have 
done  with  the  large  sura  of  money  given  to  him,  the  intention  with  which 
it  was  given  to  him  was  a  strictly  honorable  one.  It  was  manifestly  one 
that  would  not  bear  the  light  of  day. 

No  sane  man  will  pretend  that  Toronto  is  the  only  city  where  corrupt 
aldermen  are  unknown  ;  and,  in  our  view,  the  only  way  to  commence 
preparations  to  acquire  such  a  reputation  would  be  to  cancel  a  permit 
obtained  in  this  disreputable  fashion. 

SCHOOL  INSPECTOR  HUGHES  OPPOSES  SABBATARIANISM. 

Like  the  paid  and  senseless  bigot  that  he  is,  the  Rev.  T.  A.  Moore, 
secretary  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  protested  against  the  teachers  who 
attend  the  convention  at  Pittsburg  travelling  on  Sunday  on  their  return 
journey.  We  are  glad  to  see  that  Toronto's  School  Inspector,  James  L. 
Hughes,  has  expressed  his  opinion  that  Mr.  Moore's  bigoted  protest  is 
altogether  unjustifiable.  Idiotically  absurd,  we  should  call  it,  but  in  the 
name  of  religion  any  absurdity  seems  to  pass  muster. 

Fancy  the  teachers  arriving  in  Buffalo  on  Saturday  night,  and  then 
having  to  wait  till  Monday  morning  before  finishing  the  journey  home, 
while  half  a  dozen  trains  were  available  on  Sunday.  Do  these  religious 
freaks  desire  that  Toronto  should  acquire  the  title  of  the  City  of  Cranks, 
or  do  they  think  there  is  any  chance  of  converting  it  into  a  Holy  City  ? 

Mr.  Moore's  protest  shows  what  may  be  expected  from  these  Alliance 
hypocrites  if  they  get  the  upper  hand  in  our  Canadian  politics,  as  they 
appear  likely  to  do.  Both  the  Dominion  and  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ments seem  so  much  "  on  the  fence,"  that  it  is  not  improbable  they  will 
introduce  legislation  at  the  next  sessions  to  meet  the  views  of  these 
Pharisaical  bigots. 

Mr.  Moore  says  it  is  "  most  reprehensible"  that  teachers  should  travel 
on  Sunday,  because  many  parents  of  children  they  teach  have  "  convic- 
tions "  contrary  to  such  a  practice.  Has  it  come  to  this,  then,  that  the 
teachers  employed  to  give  instruction  in  arithmetic  must  pretend  to  be 
pious  Sabbatarians  because  some  of  their  pupils'  parents  are  Methodists 
or  Salvationists?  Surely  common  sense  will  defeat  such  outrageous  and 
senseless  folly. 


522  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

CANADA'S  NATIONAL  DEBT. 

The  official  statement  of  the  Dominion's  finances  for  the  past  year 
shows  a  net  increase  in  the  national  debt  of  $5,849,113,  against  an 
estimate  of  $1,250,000  ;  that  is,  about  one  dollar  for  each  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  Dominion.  The  total  revenue  was  $71,180,262,  an  in- 
crease of  about  half  a  million  over  the  preceding  year ;  the  expenditure 
being  $63,309,305,  an  increase  over  that  of  the  preceding  year  of  nearly 
$8,000,000.  The  surplus  is  given  as  $7,871,320,  but,  deducting  the 
increase  in  the  debt,  the  net  surplus  is  only  $2,622,207. 

Of  course,  it  will  be  understood  that  these  figures  give  but  a  faint 
idea  of  the  real  fluctuations  in  the  country's  indebtedness.  For  instance, 
the  enormous  sums  voted  for  increased  salaries  and  indemnities  and  for 
pensions  to  legislators  and  officials  add  obligations  that  are  really  equi- 
valent to  an  increase  of  many  millions  to  the  national  debt. 

The  interest  guaranteed  to  the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific  Railway  actually 
increases  the  debt  by  the  amount  of  the  capital  guaranteed,  though  it  is 
possible  the  country  will  ultimately  be  relieved  of  the  burden. 

There  can  be  no  question,  we  think,  that  the  expenditure  of  the  coun- 
try is  excessive,  and  is  used  largely  for  partisan  purposes  instead  of  for 
the  national  benefit.  Public  works  are  executed  in  a  reckless  manner, 
at  the  behest  of  party  contractors  and  wire-pullers,  while  the  real  needs 
of  the  people  are  neglected.  At  Toronto,  for  instance,  as  at  other  lake 
ports  we  have  seen,  large  sums  of  money  have  been  spent  (after  much 
wrangling  and  intriguing),  and  the  works  have  then  been  allowed  to  fall 
into  decay  ;  but  the  "capital "  spent  still  figures  in  the  public  accounts. 
Instead  of  permanent  stone  or  concrete  works  being  constructed,  poor 
(if  very  expensive)  wooden  structures  are  erected,  that  sometimes  show 
signs  of  decay  before  they  are  out  of  the  contractors'  hands,     v 

The  railway  now  being  constructed  into  Toronto  from  the  north  is 
subsidized  to  the  amount  of  $25,000  per  mile.  Its  actual  cost  is  said  to 
be  about  $18,000  per  mile.  The  contractors  are  thus  pocketing  $7,000 
per  mile,  and  own  the  railway,  while  its  cost  appears  in  the  public  debt. 

At  every  port  on  the  American  shore,  or  point  dangerous  to  naviga- 
tion, a  properly-equipped  life-saving  station  is  maintained  in  thorough 
repair  and  efficiency.  On  the  Canadian  shore  there  is  no  attempt  at 
any  such  means  of  saving  the  lives  of  wrecked  sailors. 

Probably,  when  the  Canadian  Government  has  feathered  its  own  nest 
warmly  enough,  and  in  the  process  has  Jiade  as  many  millionaires  out 
of  public  contracts,  railway  subsidies,  Crows'  Nest  Pass  coal  fields,  etc., 
as  the  people  will  sanction  and  applaud  as  national  benefactors,  it  will 
find  some  time  to  devote  to  matters  that  affect  the  welfare  of  the  people. 

:o: 

SERMONS  BY  DEAD  PREACHERS. 

Mr.  John  Lobb,  formerly  editor  of  the  Christian  Age,  having  turned 
Spiritualist,  has  reported  some  new  sermons  from  the  land  of  spirits  by 
both  Talmage  and  Spurgeon.     Unfortunately  for  such  men  as  Mr.  Lobb, 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  523 

they  have  never  yet  shown  any  talent  equal  to  that  of  the  men  whose 
names  they  take  in  vain.  If  they  had  any  such  talent,  instead  of  giving 
us  the  rubbish  they  palm  off  upon  their  dupes  as  the  words  of  dead  men, 
they  would  give  us,  say,  a  new  poem,  *'  Summerland  Gained,"  from  John 
Milton,  or  a  new  oration,  ''  The  Blessed  Bible,"  by  Ingersoll.  Instead 
of  which,  we  get  recommendations  to  "  study  phenomena,"  which  means 
— to  patronize  the  fake  mediums. 

:o: 

REVIVALIST  DAWSON  DENOUNCES  DOLLARS. 

A  man  named  Dawson,  a  revivalist  preacher  from  London,  England, 
has  just  landed  at  Boston,  Mass.,  to  begin  a  revivalist  tour  in  America. 
He  says  there  are  immense  possibilities  for  this  sort  of  work  upon  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  this  he  is  probably  correct ;  for,  side  by  side 
with  a  hitherto  undreamt-of  development  of  cunning  fraud  and  greed, 
there  is  a  wide-spread  gullibility  almost  unexampled  in  history.  Dawson 
also  echoes  the  trite  remark  that  ''  people  are  finding  out  that  dollars 
don't  give  them  the  satisfaction  that  is  lasting."  Like  all  such  remarks, 
however,  it  must  be  qualified,  for  most  rich  men  keep  up  till  death  the 
struggle  for  ''  more."  The  question  remains,  is  this  worse  than  if  they 
were  to  become  satisfied  as  religious  lunatics  ?  For  it  seems  to  us  that 
only  the  sincere  lunatics  are  satisfied.  The  main  body  of  religious  folks 
struggle  on  after  wealth  just  as  eagerly  as  the  more  honest  worshipers 
of  Mammon. 

:o: 

BUDDHIST  TEMPLE  AT  LOS  ANGELES. 

Buddhists  have  decided  to  build  a  temple  at  Los  Angeles,  the  first  in 
America,  to  be  on  a  scale  of  grandeur  not  equalled  in  this  country.  It 
is  said  there  is  a  large  Buddhist  mission  in  Los  Angeles,  with  many 
American  converts,  some  of  them  being  wealthy.  If  the  Buddhists  can 
succeed  in  making  a  few  more  wealthy  converts  and  building  some  fine 
temples,  it  is  probable  that  Buddhism  will  make  more  converts  in  Ame- 
rica than  Christianity  is  making  in  India. 

BAPTISTS  TAKE  ROCKEFELLER'S  MONEY. 

While  the  Congregationalists  protested  against  accepting  Rockefeller's 
**  tainted  "  money,  the  Baptists  have  accepted  $100,000  of  it  for  mis- 
sionary purposes.  Probably  the  money  will  do  as  little  harm  in  this 
way  as  in  most  other  conceivable  modes  of  spending  it ;  for,  while  but 
a  fieabite  of  it  will  ever  reach  **  the  heathen,"  most  of  it  will  go  into  the 
pockets  of  men  who  are  already  religious  parasites  or  are  in  training  for 
that  profession. 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  EDUCATION  IN  JAPAN. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Canadian  Church  Missionary  Society,  at  Toronto, 
on  Oct.  5,  the  Rev.  A.  Lea,  a  missionary  to  Japan,  who  is  on  leave  here 
after  a  sojourn  of  eight  years  in  Japan,  expressed  his  belief  that  Japan 


524  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

would  never  be  "  won  for  Christ  "  by  training  Japanese  missionaries  in 
Christian  colleges  outside  of  Japan.  Men  so  trained,  he  said,  often  came 
back  to  Japan,  and  their  superior  education  caused  tnem  to  be  sought 
for  to  fill  berths  where  they  secured  three  or  four  times  as  much  pay  as 
they  would  get  as  missionaries — and  of  course  they  were  at  once  "  lost 
to  Christ."  Which  only  means  that  the  "  won  for  Christ  "  part  of  the 
business  lasts  just  as  long  as  there  is  "  money  in  it." 

Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  only  way  in  which  the  Christian  religion 
seems  able  to  make  headway  among  the  heathen  is  for  the  missionaries 
to  dole  out  blankets  and  rice,  tobacco  and  rum,  draw  rotten  teeth  and 
administer  doses  of  medicine,  or  to  give  the  students  a  good  education. 
That  is  to  say,  that  on  religious  grounds,  Christian  propagandism  has 
turned  out  to  be  a  complete  failure. 

:o: 

THE  ENGLISH   MESSIAH. 

Messiah  Piggott,  of  the  Agapemone,  or  "  Abode  of  Lust,**  as  some  of 
our  friends  translate  the  name,  is  threatened  with  proceedings  under  the 
Church  Discipline  Act  for  immorality,  before  the  Consistory  Court  of  his 
diocese,  and  it  is  said  that  the  whole  of  the  practices  carried  on  at  the 
Piggott  Agapemone  will  then  be  inquired  into.  As  "  Glory  "  Piggott  is 
in  very  prominent  evidence,  it  may  be  expected  that  some  lively  sensa- 
tions will  be  the  outcome. 

:o: 

COLLAPSE  OF  BISHOP  POTTER'S  SALOON. 

Bishop  Potter's  freak  tavern,  the  Subway  Tavern,  has  at  length  found 
its  proper  level  as  an  ordinary  drinking  saloon.  It  failed  as  an  adjunct 
to  the  church  for  a  very  good  reason.  The  church  members  refused  to 
patronize  it  for  fear  of  being  recognized,  and  the  ungodly  objected  to 
going  to  it  for  fear  of  being  thought  religious.  Beer  and  Bible  form  a 
very  solid  partuership,  but  neither  party  cares  about  proclaiming  the 
fact  in  the  glare  of  the  electric  light. 

:o: 

SECULAR  FUNERAL  AT  WELLAND. 

On  Wednesday,  Oct.  4,  '05,  the  body  of  Charles  Rounds,  of  Welland, 
was  interred  in  the  family  grave  in  the  Welland  cemetery  at  Fonthill. 
Mr.  Rounds  was  a  young  man  of  only  36,  and  leaves  a  widow,  with  four 
children  of  ages  varying  from  five  to  fourteen.  The  circumstances  of 
his  death  were  very  distressing.  He  was  the  youngest  of  four  brothers, 
one  of  whom  was  killed  in  the  harvest  field  a  few  years  ago.  His  father 
died  in  June  last,  leaving  him  in  possession  of  the  farm.  He  had  been 
in  somewhat  poor  health  for  some  time,  and,  not  improving,  was  looking 
forward  to  an  annual  excursion  to  the  north  as  one  means  of  recupera- 
tion, when  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  an  attack  of  fever,  to  which  he 
succumbed  in  four  days.  Mr.  Rounds,  like  his  father,  was  a  staunch 
Freethinker,  and  had  expressed  a  wish  for  a  secular  funeral.  Mr.  Ellis 
attended  from  Toronto. 


SECULAE   THOUGHT.  525 

flnfictelit^  an&  flmmoralit?* 

AN  OPEN  LETTER  TO  MR.  W.  T.  STEAD. 

:o: 


BY  G.  W.  FOOTE,  IN  LONDON  "  FREETHINKER. 

:o: 

II.  {Cwichided.) 

Dear  Mr.  Stead, — I  am  sorry  that  the  exigencies  of  space  obliged  me  to  break 

(»flr  my  Open    Letter  to  you  in  the  middle.     I  now  resume  it  at  the  point  where 

I  left  off.     I  was  dealing  with  the  obliga  ion  you  were  under  to  explain  the  high 

morality  both  of  heathen  countries  to-day  and  of  pagan  countries  in  the  past. 

Noble  men  lived  in  the  worl.  before  Christianity  was  born — as  noble  as  any 
that  have  lived  since.  Some  of  the  noblest  rulers  in  the  Roman  Empire  lived 
before  Christianity  was  a  thing  of  any  importance.  What*  Christian  ruler  would 
you  put  beside  Antoninus  Pius  or  Marcus  Aurelius?  We  seem  to  have  lost  the 
art  of  breeding  such  characters. 

There  is  not  an  ethical  idea  in  the  Gospels  which  was  not  well-known  before 
they  were  written  No  one  has  been  able  to  point  to  a  single  moral  truth  that 
Christianity  revealed.  All  that  Christianity  did  was  to  revive  and  exalt  that 
"supernatural  sanction  of  morality"  which  had  gradually  died  away  under  the 
influence  of  a  more  highly  developed  civilization  and  the  teaching  of  a  more 
humanistic  succession  of  Pagan  philosophers 

Since  the  first  part  of  this  letter  was  written  and  printed  a  welcome  Peace  has 
been  proclaimed  between  Russia  and  Japan.  And  to  what  is  it  owing?  Clearly 
to  the  amazing  magnanimity  of  Heathen  Japan.  Holy  Russia  was  prepared  to 
re-open  the  war,  slay  or  maim  myriads  of  fresh  victims  to  the  modern  Moloch, 
and  drench  the  soil  of  North-East  Asia  with  another  deluge  of  blood,  rather 
than  pay  a  farthing  of  indemnity  to  the  victor  in  this  awful  struggle.  What 
other  defeated  nations  have  had  to  do  she  declared  to  be  in  her  case  an  impos- 
sible humiliation.  On  this  point  the  Czar  was  firm.  But  the  wiser  and  more 
humane  Mikado  waived  his  claim'  out  of  deference  to  the  loftier  principles  of 
civilization.  In  view  of  this  sublime  spectacle,  let  me  ask  you  in  all  seriousness 
how  it  is  possible  to  maintain  that  Christianity  is  in  any  way  essential  to  morality. 

Now  let  us  ask  you  another  question.  You  have  nobly  protested  against  the 
policy  of  defamation  pursued  by  Christian  teachers  like  Dr.  Torrey  and  Dr. 
Dixon.  I  honor  you  for  it,  but  I  fear  you  do  not  realize  that  this  policy  is 
nearly  as  old,  and  almost  as  universal,  as  Christianity  itself.  Slandering  heretics 
has  been  a  recognized  duty  of  the  clerical  profession.  Libelling  infidels  has 
generally  been  regarded  as  a  most  pious  occupation.  Dr.  Torrey  and  Dr. 
Dixon  are  only  conspicuous  representatives  of  a  vast  army  of  calumniators. 
Neither  of  them  has  invented  anything.  They  have  repeated  malicious  false- 
hoods which  did  duty  long  before  ihey  adopted  them.  Those  about  Thomas 
Paine  are  nearly  a  hundred  years  old.     They  were  started  before  the  breath  was 


626  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

out  of  his  body,  and  in  a  few  years  were  blown  around  the  English-speaking 
world.  Those  about  Ingersoll  were  started  as  soon  as  he  became  a  famous 
Freethought  orator.  And  his  traducers  were,  all  of  them,  either  Christian 
clergymen  or  persons  doing  active  duty  in  connection  with  Christian  churches 
and  missions.  I  beg  you  to  note  that  fact.  It  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the 
whole  aflfair.  In  my  opinion,  these  reverend  slanderers  are  not  entirely  animated 
by  a  spirit  of  disinterested  bigotry  ;  they  have  a  business  reason  for  vilifying 
"infidels";  their  object  is  to  keep  Christians  from  listening  to  them,  and  this 
is  subserved  by  representing  them  as  moral  lepers,  breathing  a  deadly  contagion 
on  all  within  the  reach  of  their  voices. 

I  repeat  that  this  game  is  an  old  one  ;  and  naturally,  too,  for  its  utility  is 
obvious  to  the  meanest  intelligence.  If  you  take  the  trouble  to  wade  through 
the  history  of  early  Christian  controversies,  you  will  find  that  the  "  heretics  " — 
that  is,  the  minorities  who  were  crushed  out  by  anathemas  first,  and  by  more 
effective  persecutions  afterwards — were  always  represented  by  the  orthodox  party 
— that  is,  by  the  majority — as  infamous  wretches,  foul  with  every  vice,  and  black 
with  every  crime.  "  Heretics,"  as  Gieseler  says,  "  were  universally  hated  as 
men  wholly  corrupt  and  lost."  No  doubt  you  will  recollect  a  supreme  instance. 
Arius  was  defeated  in  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  with  Athanasius,  and  his  very 
name  became  a  synonym  for  moral  infamy,  although  he  was  at  least  as  good  a 
man,  personally,  as  his  great  opponent. 

Jump  across  the  chasm  of  many  centuries,  and  listen  to  Carlyle's  grim  com- 
ment  on  the  story  of  Mohammed's  keeping  a  tame  pigeon  to  pick  peas  out  of 
his  ear,  and  pretending  that  the  bird  was  whispering  divine  messages.  Grotius, 
a  most  grave  and  reverend  author  of  Christian  Evidences,  published  the  story 
as  though  it  were  infallioly  true.  Pocock  travelled  from  England  to  ask  him  for 
his  authority,  and  Grotius  ad  nitted  that  he  had  none.  But  that  is  nothing  to 
what  had  been  said  about  'the  Arab  thief,"  as  John  Wesley  called  him.  Just 
look  at  the  fourth  chapter  of  "  Gc'd's  Arrow  Against  Atheism  and  Irreligion,*' by 
the  Rev  Henry  Srr.ith,  who  flourished  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who 
was  called  the  English  Chrysostom,  and  whose  Life  was  written  by  the  famous 
Thomas  Fuller.  That  chapter  is  crammed  with  lies  about  Mohammed  ;  lies  so 
extravagant  as  to  be  positively  amusing— at  least  at  this  time  of  day.  One 
accusation  belongs  to  the  lowest  gutter  of  vilification.  '*  I  must  utter  it,"  Smith 
said.  But  you  and  1  cannot  follow  him.  The  charge  is  unprintable  to-day  in 
any  paper  meant  for  general  reading.  And  what  evidence  did  Smith  give  in 
support  of  it  ?  "  Bonfinus  writeth  it " — that  is  all  he  said.  But  he  knew  it 
was  quite  enough  for  his  readers. 

Smith  was  a  decent  sort  of  a  man  in  a  general  way.  His  sermons  show  that 
he  was  something  of  a  moralist.  Probably  he  was  veracious  in  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life.  But  when  it  came  to  writing  about  "  the  false  prophet  "  he  stuck 
at  nothing.     No   weapon   was  too  dirty,  no  lie  was  too  monstrous.     The  end 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  527 

justified  the  means.  Christians  had  to  be  persuaded  that  every  prophet  but 
Christ  was  a  wicked  impostor,  and  the  great  thing  was  to  do  the  business 
thoroughly. 

Well  now,  the  question  I  want  to  ask  you  is  this  :  Did  you  ever  hear  of  Free- 
thinkers acting  in  such  a  manner  towards  their  intellectual  opponents?  Was  it 
ever  recorded  that  a  leading  Freethinker,  having  to  reply  to  a  leading  Christian, 
sought  everywhere  for  evidence  to  blacken  his  character?  I  venture  to  say  that 
it  never  occurred  to  a  Freethinker  to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  And  I  also 
venture  to  say  that  the  Freethought  party  would  be  utterly  ashamed  of  any 
representative  of  theirs  who  stooped  to  such  abominable  tactics. 

If  you  answer  the  previous  question  in  the  negative,  as  I  believe  you  must,  I 
have  to  ask  you  another.  Why  is  it  that  Christians  have  made  quite  a  fine  art 
of  calumny,  while  Freethinkers  have  always  looked  upon  it  with  loathing  and 
disdain  ?  Is  this  a  proof  of  the  superiority  of  Christianity  to  "  Infidelity  "  ?  Is 
^his  a  support  of  the  theory  that  the  '*  supernatural  sanction  "  is  the  ultimate 
guarantee  of  human  morality  ? 

I  will  now  deal  with  the  pretty  horticultural  analogy,  borrowed  apparently 
from  Mr.  Kegan  Paul,  with  which  you  introduce  the  second  part  of  your 
argument.  Mr.  Kegan  Paul,  I  believe,  had  been  almost  everything  by  turns, 
and  finally  died  in  the  arms  of  what  Carlyle  called  "the  Great  Lying  Church  " 
of  Rome.  It  might  be  concluded,  therefore,  that  he  was  an  excellent  all-round 
authority.  But  I  do  not  think  he  was.  The  man  who  is  everything  knows  the 
inner  secret  of  nothing.  His  illustration  of  the  swift-blossoming  rosebud  is 
simply  another  form  of  the  old  argument  that  when  *•  infidels  "  are  moral  it  is 
because  they  came  cf  Christian  stock  and  were  bred  in  a  Christian  environment^ 
But  this  does  not  include  cases  like  that  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  who  was  the  son 
of  a  sceptical  father,  and  was  brought  up  without  any  religion  at  all.  Nor  is  it 
calculated  to  make  any  sort  of  impression  on  the  mind  of  a  Freethinker,  or  even 
on  that  of  an  indifferent  spectator ;  for  a  little  reflection  serves  to  show  it  to  be 
a  specimen  of  that  very  common  fallacy  which  consists  in  begging  the  question. 
When  the  Christian  tells  the  Freethinker  that  he  is  a  good  man  because  he 
follows  the  Christian  tradition,  he  might  see,  if  he  looked  an  inch  beyond  his 
nose,  that  the  Freethinker  could  just  as  easily  tell  him  that  he  was  a  good  man 
because  he  followed  the  Human  tradition.  The  Freethinker's  position  is  that 
all  religions — all  the  argosies  of  faith— have  floated  upon  the  broad  ocean  of 
Humanity  ;  and  that  every  precious  thing  that  any  of  them  contains  is  of  purely 
natural  origin,  and  necessarily  also  of  purely  human  value. 

You  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  the  mule  illustration  is  only  the  rosebud 
illustration  carried  into  another  department  of  biology.  You  will  also  pardon 
me  for  saying  that  metaphors  are  admirable  aids  to  eloquence,  but  are  not 
acceptable  as  substitutes  for  logical  ratiocination.  You  are  definite  when  you 
declare  that  "the   Freethinker  seldom  has,  and  his  children   still  more  rarely 


528  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


have,  the  propagandist   fervor "  which   you   perceive   in   the   Christian  Church. 
And  where  you  are  definite  you  can  be  answered. 

I  will  take  your  two  statements — for  there  are  two  statements— separately. 
Your  first  statement  is  that  the  Freethinker  seldom  has  propagandist  fervor. 
Now,  suppose  this  were  true.  What  would  it  prove  ?  Do  you  mean  to  assert 
that  the  average  Christian  has  a  large  stock  of  propagandist  fervor  ?  If  you  do, 
I  contravene  the  assertion.  He  appears  to  me  to  have  very  little  of  that  article. 
Take  away  the  stimulus  constantly  applied  to  him  by  the  vast  army  of  profes- 
sional exhorters,  and  how  much  spontaneous  zeal  of  proselytism  does  he  display  ? 
Why,  the  apathy  of  the  average  Christian  is  a  standing  theme  of  clerical 
lamentation.  It  is  admitted  that  the  Laodiceans  are  in  an  overwhelming 
majority.  Is  the  case  any  worse  among  the  Freethinkers  ?  That  is  the  question 
you  should  deal  with.  I  deny  that  it  is  worse  among  them.  In  proportion  to 
their  number  they  boast  as  many  fervid  propagandists  as  the  Christians.  And 
this  *'  as  many  "  is  really  more.  For  nearly  all  the  by-motives  that  encourage  a 
man  to  work  for  Christianity  discourage  him  from  working  for  Freethought. 
Active  association  with  Freethought  too  often  spells  ruin. 

Christians  seem  to  me  to  argue  with  Freethinkers  on  the  principle  of  "  heads 
we  win  and  tails  you  lose."  They  call  Freethinkers  "blatant  fanatics"  when 
they  are  active,  and  "  selfish  wretches  "  when  they  are  quiescent.  You  charge 
them  with  a  want  of  "  propagandist  fervor."  Burke  charged  them  with  wanting 
to  upset  the  world.  Where  you  see  blue  he  saw  red.  But  perhaps  you  are 
both  wrong — and  also  both  right ;  for  Freethinkers  do  want  to  upset  the  world, 
in  a  certain  sense,  and  at  the  same  time  they  recognize  that  their  primary  appeal 
is  to  reason,  and  that  it  is  useless  for  them  to  compete  with  orthodoxy  in  cheap 
sensation  or  wild  emotion. 

Your  second  statement  concerns  the  children  of  Freethinkers.  You  assert 
that  they  have  "  the  propagandist  fervor "  still  more  rarely  than    their  parents. 

Throw  your  mind  back  to  the  early  days  of  your  own  religion.  Do  you 
imagine  that  parents  accepted  Christianity,  that  their  children  all  necessarily 
became  Christians,  and  that  Christian  families  ran  on  in  regular  hereditary 
succession  ?  I  do  not  imagine  anything  of  the  kind.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
families  were  divided,  that  Christianity  often  sprang  up  and  died  down  again, 
that  its  progress  was  very  irregular,  and  that  it  only  advanced  on  the  whole. 
And  the  same  is  true  of  Freethought.  It  also  advances  on  the  whole;  not 
through  the  agency  of  special  families,  but  through  an  impersonal  influence  over 
the  whole  community. 

No  doubt  Christianity  became  hereditary  when  it  was  once  thoroughly  estab- 
lished. That  is  quite  intelligible.  The  hereditary  principle  is  assisted  in  such 
a  case  by  a  hundred  other  influences  ;  amongst  whicii  are  education,  authority, 
and  custom — the  three  most  powerful  forces  in  human  society. 

Freethought  at  present  is  naturally  sporadic.     Why  should  you  expect  it  to  be 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  629 

otherwise?  The  Freethinker,  or  at  least  the  open  Freethinker,  is  an  exceptional 
person.  He  must  have  some  originaUty  of  mind,  some  independence  of  spirit, 
and  some  positive  courage.  Is  it  reasonable  to  expect  such  quahties  to  be 
hereditary  ?  Genius  is  not  hereditary — to  take  an  extreme  illustration.  Nothing 
in  the  Shelley  family  could  suggest  the  advent  of  the  author  of  "  Prometheus 
Unbound  ;"  nothing  in  the  Shelley  family  since  is  reminiscent  of  that  astonishing 
phenomenon.  Heredity  is  far  wider  than  individual  parentage.  A  man  is  the 
child  of  all  his  forefathers.  And  that  wide  heredity  is  always  pulling  individuals 
back  to  the  norm  of  the  race.  Biological  science,  therefore,  is  dead  against  the 
supposition  that  Freethinkers'  children  ought  to  be  Freethinkers.  Even  if  they 
have  a  tendency  that  way,  the  whole  power  of  society  is  constantly  working  upon 
them,  and  drawing  them  back  towards  the  common  way  of  the  world. 

I  must  now  conclude.  Perhaps  I  have  been  too  long  already.  But  you  know, 
as  well  as  I  do,  that  an  answer  must  often  be  longer  than  a  question.  I  have 
replied  to  your  arguments  as  well  as  I  could  within  my  limits  of  time  and  space. 
And  I  wish  to  conclude  with  a  note  of  gratitude.  Thanking  you  for  your  noble 
defence  of  truth  and  justice, 

I  am,  yours  most  sincerely,  G.  W.  Foote. 


3u6t(ce  to  ZTbomaa  paine* 

:o: 

PAINE'S  BUST  PLACED  IN  INDEPENDENCE  HALL, 
PHILADELPHIA. 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Dear  Sir, — Although  in  your  very  last  issue  (just  arrived  and  an  exceller>t 
number)  you  again  score  us  illogical  Theists,  I  will  return  evil  for  good,  and  fulfil 
a  long  self  imposed  pledge  by  sending  you  this  belated  screed. 

First,  as  to  your  half-contemptuous  references  to  such  writers  as  Mr.  Hoystadt 
and  Goldwin  Smith,  to  whom  you  pay  some  attention.  May  I  be  permitted  to 
supplement  the  latter's  letter  on  "  Freethought  and  Churchmanship  "  by  an 
excerpt  from  Drummond's  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World  "?  On  page  25 
of  the  introduction  he  says,  "  How  much  of  the  spiritual  world  is  covered  by 
natural  law  we  do  not  propose  at  present  to  inquire.  It  is  certain  at  least  that 
the  whole  is  not  covered,  and  nothing  lends  more  confidence  to  the  method  than 
this.  For  one  thing,  room  is  left  for  mystery.  Had  no  place  remained  for 
mystery,  it  had  proved  itself  both  unscientific  and  irreligious ;  a  science  without 
mystery  is  unknown  ;  a  religion  without  mystery  is  absurd^  I  can  see  you  (in 
my  mind's  eye)  giving  a  whimsical  assent  to  the  last  proposition.  Of  course,  with 
you  and  your  school  of  thinkers  the  mystery  explains  the  absurdity.  But  how 
the  full-fledged  Agnostic  is  going  to  eliminate  mystery  from  science  even,  is  a 
greater  mystery   than   most  others.     But  "  fret  not  your  righteous  soul."     I  am 


530  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

not  starting  to  give  you  a  fresh  and  vulnerable  target ;  the  Parthian  shot  is  all 
the  arrow  in  experience  you  will  get  from  me  this  bout,  because  I  had  a  more 
friendly  object  as  the  chief  incentive  to  writing.  It  was  a  theme  we  are  at  one 
on,  viz.,  the  orthodox  Christian's  treatment  of  Thomas  Paine.  If  you  will  follow 
seriatim,  according  to  the  consecutive  dates,  the  extracts  marked  in  the  Public 
Ledger  of  this  city,  you  will  find  it  a  very  interesting  controversy.  Briefly,  there 
has  been  for  over  thirty  years  the  attempt  to  place  a  marble  bust  of  Paine  in 
Memorial  Hall,  as  one  of  the  great  factors  for  American  Independence,  but 
though  some  liberal  Christians— mostly  leading  Unitarians  and  Deists — paid  for 
the  work  and  offered  it  as  a  tribute  to  Thomas  Faine's  patriotism,  the  bigotry  of 
the  evangelical  section,  and  their  hatred  of  Paine,  the  Atheist^  had  succeeded 
hitherto  in  keeping  the  piece  of  sculpture  out  of  that  hall  or  any  other.  He  has 
a  good  oil  painted  portrait  there  and  that  was  deemed  enough — even  more  than 
enough.  Now,  however,  by  dint  of  persisting,  we  have  succeeded  not  only  in 
admitting  the  bust,  but  in  changing  the  tone  of  the  whole  press  on  the  subject  of 
Paine  and  his  effigy.  The  correspondence  is  complete,  with  the  exception  of  the 
short  letter  by  a  Rev.  Kittredge  Wheeler  (to  which  I  allude),  wherein  he 
endorses  the  editorial  referred  to — letting  the  bigots  down  easy — with  such  pre- 
cipitant avidity  as  to  show  how  welcome  the  chance  was  of  backing  out  that  way. 
But  there !  perhaps  you  will  say,  like  Sir  Julius  O'Trigger,  "  It's  a  very  pretty 
quarrel  as  it  stands,  and  explanation  would  only  spoil  it."  So  I  leave  it  with 
you  to  do  as  you  like  with  it,  confident  that  you  will  use  it  to  the  best  advantage. 
With  greetings  to  all  and  sundry,  I  remain,  sincerely  yours,  S.  M.  Jones. 
Philadelphia,  Oct.  3,  1905. 


On  the  15th  of  September  the  Public  Ledger  had  an  editorial  giving  a  very 
grudging  eulogy  of  Paine's  services  to  the  republic,  and  ending  with  this  paragraph : 

"  Nor  does  this  *  animated  bust,'  with  its  sinister  grin,  convey  a  very  agree- 
able impression  of  the  subject  of  so  much  controversy,  though  it  may  suggest  a 
reason  why  he  was  not  universally  popular  in  his  lifetime.  However,  there  he  is, 
and  we  hope  to  hear  no  further  complaints  of  Philadelphia's  intolerance.  It 
shows  what  can  be  done  by  insistence.  But  some  day  we  must  try  to  get  some 
more  and  better  sculpture  in  the  State  House  thai  will  make  this  long-delayed 
gift  of  the  patriotic  citizens  a  little  less  conspicuous." 

This  called  forth  some  correspondence,  of  which  the  following  appeared  on  the 
20th  September  : 
Editor  Public  Ledger. 

Sir, — Your  editorial  in  yesterday's  paper,  in  re  the  bust  of  Paine  in  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  will  be  read  by  many  with  astonishment  and  regret.  I  am  not 
familiar  with  the  history  of  this  particular  bust,  but  think  it  an  error  to  say  that 
it  was  offered  years  ago  solely  (or  at  all)  on  the  ground  of  Paine's  grand  work 
as  an  emancipator  of  the  mind  from  religious  bigotry  and  tyranny,  for  it  is 
obvious  that  that  would  not  be  the  reason  for  its  acceptance  in  the  hall  (in  the 
present  state  of  ethical  evolution).     That  was  not  the  reason  it  was  desired  ^to 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  531 

place  him  there,  but  it  was  the  cause  of  his  rejection  !  Paine's  name  stands  at 
the  very  head  of  "disinterested"  patriots,  and  to  say  that  the  honor  is  out  of 
"  historic  proportion  "  is  a  profound  error.  The  man  who,  more  than  any  one 
man,  made  the  Declaration  of  Independence  possible  at  that  time  (perhaps 
ever),  whose  thrilling  words  held  together  Washington's  deserting  army,  whose 
whole  life  was  devoted  to  the  "  rights  of  man  "  over  kingly  and  priestly  oppres- 
sion, can  never  be  unduly  honored  anywhere,  least  of  all  in  the  *'  Cradle  of 
Liberty."  That  Philadelphia  has  only  a  "  wooden  "  statue  of  Washington  there 
is  not  flattering,  but  to  the  student  of  the  true  history  of  this  country  (as  yet 
unwritten)  the  bust  of  Paine  is  quite  at  home  in  Independence  Hall. 

If  it  is  ever  surrounded,  as  you,  Mr.  Editor,  hope,  by  a  group  of  distinguished 
statesmen  with  no  sculptured  "grin,"  be  assured  that  the  homage  done  to 
Paine,  the  martyr,  will  be  greater  than  to  any  of  them. 

L.  Anderson  Lee. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  September  i6,  1905. 

And  this  on  the  21st  September  : 
Editor  Public  Ledger. 

Sir, — For  the  enlightenment  of  Rev.  Kittredge  Wheeler  and  others  who 
believe  as  he  does  of  Thomas  Paine,  I  wish  you  would  publish  this  letter.  If  the 
sentiment  "  In  the  Hall  of  Patriots,  patriots  only  "  be  true,  then  Thomas  Paine 
should  be  among  the  foremost.  That  is,  if  we  can  credit  such  men  as  Washington, 
Jefferson  and  Adams  as  knowing  anything  about  the  matter.  Let  Mr.  Wheeler 
read  Robert  Ingersoll's  "  In  Defence  of  Thomas  Paine,"  and  let  him  study  well 
the  letters  of  these  great  patriots  written  to  Thomas  Paine  and  in  commendation 
of  his  patriotic  work.  He  was  so  great  a  patriot  that  his  patriotism  was  not 
limited  by  geographical  boundaries,  but  when  his  work  was  done  here  he  went 
to  France  and  was  among  the  great  patriots  in  that  country.  So  great,  indeed, 
that  he  was  selected  by  that  nation  to  carry  the  key  of  the  Bastille  to  America 
and  present  it  to  Washington.  And  so  great  that  this  country  sent  a  warship  to 
bring  him  home.  Robert  Littell. 

Ardmore,  Pa.,  Sept.  18,  1905. 

On  the  24th  of  September  the  Ledger  published  an  engraving  of  the  Paine 
bust,  accompanied  by  a  laudatory  notice  of  considerable  length,  and  headed 
"Paine  as  a  Patriot ;"  and  the  correspondence  ended  the  next  day  with  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Jones,  from  which  our  space  only  permits  us  to  extract  this 
passage : 

"  If  the  previous  opposition  to  this  bust  was  so  purely  academic  as  you  state, 
it  is  at  least  peculiar  that  no  one  thought  of  such  an  explanation  before  ;  it  is 
cuiious,  also,  that  no  such  opposition  was  met  in  the  case  of  Jefferson,  FrankHr> 
and  Adams — men  holding  similar  anti-orthodox  views  as  Paine.  If  the  odium 
theologicum  has  never  been  a  factor  in  the  fight,  why  should  Barry,  for  instance, 
not  only  go  unquestioned,  but  have  a  $10,000  monument  voted  him — as  a 
patriot  ?  Then,  in  another  direction,  is  not  Captain  John  Barry's  portrait 
larger  than  either  Commodore  Paul  Jones's  or  Thomas  Paine's  ?  You  point  out 
that  Washington  has  but  a  wooden  monument  inside  Independence  Hall  ;  but 
has  he  not,  also,  a  magnificent  marble  statue  outside?  Why  attempt  thus  to 
confuse  issues  and  gloze  over  the  fact  that  it  has  been  the  ultra-orthodox  element 
that  has  hitherto  prevented  the  recognition  of  Paine  the  patriot  because  he  was 


532  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


also  (as  it  is  now  put)   Paine  the  deist  ?     How   many  months  is  it  since  he  was 
known  only  as  the  infidel  Paine,  and  'a  dirty  little  infidel '  at  that?" 


RE-DEDICATION  OF  THE  PAINE  MONUMENT  AT 
NEW  ROCHELLE. 

This  afternoon  the  re-dedication  and  assignment  to  the  custody  and  care  of 
New  Rochelle  of  the  Thomas  Paine  memorial  on  North  Street  will  take  place. 

There  will  be  a  shoit  parade  through  New  Rochelle,  starting  at  2.15  p.m. 
from  Huguenot  street,  near  the  railroad  station,  headed  by  a  squad  of  police  and 
Mayor  Henry  S.  Clarke  and  the  Common  Council  of  New  Rochelle,  accompanied 
by  the  recently  adopted  city  flag,  used  on  this  occasion  for  the  first  time. 

The  i)arade  will  pass  round  Huguenot  street,  around  the  Soldiers'  Monument, 
up  Main  street  to  Rose  street,  to  North  street,  to  the  Paine  Monument. 

Ceremonies  at  the  monument  will  commence  at  3  o'clock,  with  the  singing  of 
""America,"  by  150  school  children,  under  Musical  Director  George  H.  Foss, 
accompanied  by  the  Fort  Slocum  Band.  Dr.  E.  B.  Foote,  Jr.,  chairman  of  the 
meeting,  will  give  some  account  of  the  memorial.  Theodore  Schroeder,  of  the 
Brooklyn  Philosophical  Association,  will  speak  on  "  Paine,  the  Author- Hero." 
Prof.  Thaddeus  B.  VVakeman,  of  the  Manhattan  Liberal  Club,  will  speak  on 
"  Why  Patriots  Honor  Paine."     The  children  will  then  sing  "  Hail,  Columbia  !" 

The  official  acceptance  address  will  be  made  by  Hon.  Henry  S.  Clarke,  Mayor 
of  New  Rochelle.  The  concluding  song  will  be  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner," 
and,  as  the  last  strain  dies  out,  the  Second  Battery  will  fire  a  salute  of  thirteen 
guns  in  honor  of  the  thirteen  original  States.  The  monument  will  be  decorated 
with  the  national  colors. 

Refreshments  will  be  served  to  out-of-town  guests  only  by  the  Women's 
Auxiliary,  G.A.R.,  Miss  Mary  Hayes,  president,  her  associates  being  Mrs. 
Stephen  Romeyn,  Mrs.  Edward  Osterhout,  Mrs.  Norman  L.  Underbill,  Mrs. 
William  Lockwood,  Miss  Jennie  Dodge. 

The  monument  will  be  turned  over  by  the  Paine  Historical  Society,  the  Paine 
Memorial  Association,  and  the  bronze  bust  committee. 

The  monument  can  be  reached  by  the  Union  Railway  cars  from  128th  street 
and  Third  avenue  by  transfer  at  New  Rochelle  to  North  street  car  for  a  single 
fare  of  five  cents  ;  or  by  either  the  Harlem  River  or  main  branches  of  the  New 
Haven  Railroad,  and  thence  by  North  street  trolley  car. — N.Y.  Post,  Oct.  14. 


A  curate  who  had  left  his  parish  on  account  of  the  attentions  of  his  lady 
parishioners,  meeting  his  successor  in  the  street  asked  him  how  he  got  on  in  his 
new  position.  "Very  well  indeed,"  returned  the  other.  "But  are  not  the 
ladies  very  pressing  in  their  attentions  ?  "  "  Oh,  my  dear  fellow,  I  manage  that 
all  right  ;  I  find  safety  in  Numbers."  "  I  see,"  returned  his  companion  ;  "  well, 
I  found  safety  in  Exodus." 


The  Rev.  A.  B.-  Kendig,  pastor  of  the  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Worcester,  Mass,  made  a  prayer  before  his  farewell  sermon  the  other  week,  in 
which,  after  having  prayed  for  every  member  of  the  church,  the  choir,  organist, 
sexton,  and  ushers,  he  finally  prayed  for  "  the  one  who,  although  hidden  from 
sight,  yet  contributes  so  much  to  the  musical  part  of  worship,"  ending,  "O, 
Lord,  I  mean  the  boy  who  plays  the  organ." 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  533 


IReliQion* 

:o: 

BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

:o: 

Religion  is  an  element  of  man's  nature.  It  is  manifested  in  varfous  forms 
among  the  different  races  and  in  the  different  stages  of  mental  and  moral  deve- 
lopment. In  its  highest  manifestation  it  is  defined  by  Matthew  Arnold  as 
•'  morality  touched  with  emotion."  Be  this  a  correct  or  incorrect  definition^  it 
is  certain  that  without  knowledge  and  moral  instruction,  the  natural  religious 
sentiment  is  insufficient  to  guide  man  in  the  path  of  duty.  Mere  belief  without 
intellectual  enlightment  and  ethical  culture,  while  it  may  lead  to  worship,  is  not 
enough  to  insure  moral  character  and  moral  life. 

In  Pagan  Rome  the  thief  prayed  for  success  in  his  crime  and  made  an  offering 
of  the  first  fruits  of  his  plunder  ;  a  youth  entreated  Hercules  to  expedite  the 
death  of  a  rich  uncle ;  the  adultress  implored  Venus  for  the  favor  of  her  par- 
amour. "  A  wager,"  says  Mommsen,  "  might  be  laid  that  the  more  lax  any 
woman  was  the  more  piously  she  worshiped  Isis.^'  These  are  illustrations  of 
sincerity  of  belief  in  the  popular  religion  of  that  day  without  the  moral  disposition 
and  the  spiriatuality  which  are  found  in  those  who  combine  with  religious  faith 
the  higher  qualities  of  head  and  heart. 

Dr.  Schaff,  writing  in  1879,  of  negroes  in  the  South,  remarked  :  "  The  negroes 
are  very  religious  by  nature,  and  infidelity  is  scarcely  known  among  them  ;  but 
their  moral  sense  of  honesty  and  chastity  is  very  weak." 

We  often  see  men  and  women  who  revel  in  the  excitement  of  revivals,  and  yet 
whose  moral  deficiency  is  so  marked  as  to  make  them  unreliable  and  more  of  an 
injury  than  a  benefit  to  the  church  which  tries  to  help  them.  In  such  cases 
sometimes  the  spirit  may  be  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak,  and  in  many  "  the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil  "  make  the  moral  and  spiritual  situation  almost 
hopeless. 

"  Sins  of  the  flesh  "  are  so  common  because  the  animal  nature  denominates. 
But  worse  than  these  are  the  vices  of  the  mind  whose  victims  Dante  pictures 
suffering  the  worst  agonies  in  hell.  For  instance,  greed  may  be  so  strong, 
strengthened  by  the  habit  of  amassing  wealth  through  a  lifetime,  that  it  devours 
all  the  minor  vices  as  Aaron's  rod,  turned  into  a  serpent,  swallowed  the  ma^r- 
cian's  serpents.  A  Rockefeller  may  be  circumspect  in  his  ordinary  life,  free 
from  the  vices  of  the  drunkard,  the  sensualist,  the  glutton  ;  for  the  overmastering 
desire  to  pile  up  millions  upon  millions  has  become  the  dominant  passion  of  his 
life,  and  absorbs  all  others. 

One  may  outwardly  be  a  "  Christian  gentleman,"  yet  in  his  greed  for  money 
ever  ready  to  take  advantage  of  a  rival,  to  wreck  and  ruin  him,  regardless  of  the 
moral  aspect  of  the  subject  or  of  the  consequences,  involving  distress  to  many_ 
He  may  not  be  lacking  in  religious  belief — the  devils  believe  and  tremble — but 


534  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


the  spirit  of  "  pure  religion  and  undefiled,"  as  defined  in  James'  epistle,  is 
absent.  That  is  the  only  spirit  which  will  save  us  from  the  predatory  class  that 
has  the  power  largely  to  form  the  conventional  standards  of  social  respectability, 
so  as  to  include  under  it  themselves,  when  they  belong  really  to  the  robber 
class.  The  "  respectable  "  sinners  to-day  are  the  worst  enemies  of  religion  and 
morality,  even  though  they  are  professed  friends  of  both.  Fur  they  cannot  serve 
God  and  Mammon.  They  pay  the  *'  tithe  of  mint,  anise  and  cummin,  and  have 
omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  law."  They  "  make  clean  the  outside  of  the 
cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  within  they  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess." 


Ztbe  Ibcbrew  XaiiQuage  IRot  ancient 

:o: 

BY   W.    H.    BURR. 

For  more  than  forty  years  explorers  have  been  searching  for  Hebrew  inscriptions 
in  Palestine.  Other  inscriptions  have  been  found  in  abundance,  but  not  a 
Hebrew  word.  The  Moabite  stone,  if  authentic,  would  hive  been  the  oldest 
known  specimen  of  alphabetic  writing  in  Western  Asia.  This  is  too  great  a 
demand  upon  our  credulity.  It  proves  too  much  and  shows  its  falsity.  The 
circumstances  of  its  discovery  are  such  as  to  discredit  its  antiquity. 

The  oldest  Hebrew  writing  at  present  known  is  generally  referred  to  the 
eighth  or  ninth  century,  but  is  doubtless  not  older  than  the  twelfth,  which  would 
be  2,200  years  later  than  the  alleged  age  of  the  Moabite  stone. 

Square  Hebrew  letters  were  written  by  St.  Jerome,  who  purported  to  live  in 
the  fifth  century,  but  the  characters  betray  a  sixteenth  century  fabrication.  The 
character  of  the  reputed  saint  is  also  that,  of  a  sixteenth  century  polemic. 

One  eminent  scholar,  Dr.  Gust,  suggested  that  the  old  Hebrew  died  out,  and 
that  a  kind  of  survival  of  it  exists  in  Judeo-German  and  Judeo-Spanish  jargon. 
The  Russian  Jews  have  a  like  jargon  called  Yiddish. 

Must  we  believe  in  a  miracle  of  history  whereby  the  literature  of  Assyria,  of 
the  Hittites,  and  of  other  Oriental  peoples  has  been  locked  up  for  2.000  or 
3,000  years,  while  that  of  Israel  has  always  been  available  ?  Recent  researches 
go  to  show  that  Hebrew  literature  is  modern,  all  our  information  about  Hebrew 
books  comes  from  the  Hebrews  themselves,  beginning  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Palestinian  and  Babylonian  schools  are  Rabbinical  tale-. 

Robertson  Smith  tells  us  that  in  grammatical  st'ucture  Arabic  comes  nearer 
than  Hebrew  to  the  original  Semitic.  Arabic  is  singularly  copious  ;  it  has  a 
vocabulary  which  rivals,  if  it  does  not  exceed,  that  of  any  other  language,  and  is 
more  fully  developed  than  any  Semitic  tongue.  Hebrew  is  a  comparatively 
poor  language.  The  earliest  European  Arabic  scholars  claimed  for  the  Arabic 
that  its  study  was  the  only  true  road  to  the  understanding  of  the  Hebrew.  The 
word  "Hebrew"  has  never  been  found  in  the  early  monuments  of  Eastern 
nations.  Not  one  Hebrew  inscription  of  the  age  of  the  Jewish  monarchy  has 
come  down  to  us. 

But  have  we  not  the  history  of  the  Jews  by  Josephus  ?  says  the  reader. 
"  The  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,"  is  a  compilation  from  Oriental  chronicles  ;  the 
"  Wars  of  the  Jews,"  a  piece  of  fiction  fabricated  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  a 
renegade  Jew.  —  Truth  Seeker. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  535 


H  ^tbanftesivina  Cantata^ 

:o: 

BY    MAD    MURDOCK. 

:o: 

Members  of  the  Company    -     -  Everybody  who  has  **  a  good  thing." 

Landlords  :     We  thank  thee.  Lord,  for  blessings  sent : 
With  houses  scarce,  we  raise  the  rent. 

Bulls  :  To-night,  O  Lord,  we  sumptuous  sup  ; 

Our  purchased  news  put  prices  up. 

Bears  :  We  thank  thee,  Lord,  we've  got  the  rocks  ; 

Our  fake  reports  have  tumbled  stocks. 

Parsons  :  Thank  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 

We  save  their  souls  who  pay  the  most. 
Our  only  helper,  guide  and  nurse, 
Where  were  our  gains  but  for  thy  curse  ? 

The  Devil  :     Glory  to  God,  our  mill  works  prime  ; 
Grant  sulphur  new,  count  overtime  ; 
Make  bare  thine  arm  and  show  thy  pow'r, 
Harden  some  stupid  heart  each  hour. 

Burglars  :        Forbid  it.  Lord,  that  we  should  brag ; 
Thine  be  the  praise, — we  got  the  swag. 

M.  P.'s :  To  Him  that  was,  is,  and  shall  be, 

Thanks  for  increased  indemnity. 

Controllers  :  To  those  in  want  thou'st  lent  a  willing  ear  > 
Our  salary  is  growing  every  year. 

Undertakers  :  Aided  by  thee,  we  keep  the  narrow  way ; 
Bless  we  thy  name, — fresh  corpses  every  day. 

Manufacturers  :  Thou'st  made  the  tariff  big  and  labor  cheap  ; 
For  which  we  praise  thee,  and  thy  precepts  keep. 

Loan  Companies  :  Thanks,  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  mortgage  greater  grows  - 
The  debtor  ever  pays,  and  ever — owes. 

Street  Railways  :   For  dividends  increased  thy  name  we  praise  ; 
We  must  kill  some,  for  packing  always  pays. 

The  Opposition  :  Glory  to  God,  the  Government  goes  wrong  f 
Office  we  want.     How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  ? 

The  Press  :      Send  us  a  scandal,  that  our  lists  may  grow — 
A  wife  deserted  or  a  girl   betrayed. 
For  scandals  past  we  thank  thee,  bending  low, 
And  own  thee  Lord,  who  scribes  and  scandals  made. 

The  Workers  :  Father  of  Mercies,  we  accept  thy  grace, 

And  give  thee  thanks,  while  holding  Burton's  place. 


536  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


The  Liquor  Dealers  :  For  fools  at  the  bottle  we  thank  thee,  our  Father ; 
Our  toast  is  well  buttered,  our  roast  it  is  brown. 
We'll  praise  thee  for  ever — or,  that  is,  we'd  rather 
Give  glory  to  God,  while  we  live  on  the  town. 

All  Together  :  We  thank  thee  for  coupons,  and  coffins  for  brothers  ; 
We  praise  thee— as  long  as  our  table  is  spread ; 
Send  blessings  on  us,  and — to  hell  with  the  others. 
We  thank  the  Provider — like  swine  that  are  fed. 


©nil?  an  Eastern  jfablc^ 

:o: 

BY   AN    idler. 

:o: 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Lyle,  of  Hamilton,  has  been  preaching  a  sermon  on  Balaam's 
Ass.  The  reverend  gentleman  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  story  is 
only  an  Eastern  fable.  I  do  not  know  that  this  conclusion  will  strike  the  readers 
of  Secular  Thought  as  being  a  very  remarkable  or  original  one.  I  think  any 
ordinary  person  of  average  intelligence  and  average  education  will  agree  with 
him. 

This  statement  of  the  reverend  gentleman,  however,  opens  up  some  very  wide 
avenues  of  inquiry.  In  the  first  place,  how  can  he  continue  to  hold  such  opin- 
ions, and  still  enjoy  honestly  and  conscientiously  the  emoluments  and  the  other 
good  things  of  this  world  which  naturally  flow  from  his  being  the  pastor  of  a 
W9althy  congregation  in  a  city  like  Hamilton  ?  Or,  opening  our  inquiry  still 
wider,  since  the  reverend  doctor,  however  great  he  may  loom  to  his  own  con- 
gregation, is  only  a  unit  in  the  great  world,  how  can  any  one  hold  such  views  on 
the  story  of  Balaam  and  his  ass  and  still  remain  the  pastor  of  any  church  ? 

The  inquiry  widens  still  further  when  we  look  at  the  reasoning  on  which  the 
conclusion  is  based.  The  reverend  doctor  does  not  know  Balaam  and  never 
saw  the  ass.  He  simply  disbelieves  the  story  on  the  ground  of  its  improbability, 
although  it  is  contained  in  the  sacred  Bible.  Therefore  the  Bible  must  no  longer 
be  a  sacred  book  to  him,  and  the  criterion  of  any  of  its  stories  must  be  their 
probability.  What  does  he  think  of  Adam  and  his  rib?  Eve  and  the  apple  ? 
Cain  and  the  mark  on  his  forehead  ?  Methuselah  and  his  age  ?  Elijah  and  his 
chariot  ?  Eli'^ha  and  his  bears  ?  Daniel  and  the  lions  ?  Jonah  and  the  whale  ? 
Ezekiel  and  the  dead  bones  ?  Samuel  and  the  witch  of  Endor  ?  Joshua  and 
the  sun  ?  Job  and  his  boils  ?  and  a  host  of  the  other  Biblical  stories  of  our 
youth  ?     Are  they  not,  too,  only  Eastern   fables  ? 

Then,  what  about  Jesus  and  his  miraculous  birth,  his  miraculous  life,  and  his 
miraculous  resurrection  ?  Are  they  not  improbable  ?  Are  they  not  also  only 
Eastern  fables?  If  you  can  reject  any  Biblical  story  on  the  ground  of  improba- 
bility, how  can  you  retain  any?  That  you  must  either  believe  all  or  pass  out  of 
the  wide  open  door  seems  to  me  the  only  logical  conclusion. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  5a7 


In  Xiflbter  IDein. 

:o: 

BY    ERNEST    PACK,    IN    '*  AGNOSTIC   JOURNAL." 

:o: 

THIS  IS  MY  PIG-GOTTEN  SON. 
The  Clapton  Christ  has  been  playing  the  role  of  Holy  Ghost,  and  has  nobly 
acquitted  himself  as  a  competent  understudy.  The  child  is  progressing  favor- 
ably. And  now,  if  some  star  or  other  have  a  night  off,  and  can  manage  to  light 
the  way  to  the  brat's  birthplace,  no  doubt  we  could  find  three  wise  men  from 
Wapping  or  Whitechapel  to  journey  down  with  a  few  bull's-eyes  and  brandy- 
balls,  and  to  worship  the  new  Messiah,  who  was  born  in  the  "  Abode  of  Lust  " 
(the  word  Love  being  obviously  a  mis-print).  I  notice  that  the  special  up  to- 
date  Christ  is,  as  might  be  expected,  the  son  of  a  virgin,  in  the  special  circum- 
stances of  having  given  birth  to  a  divine  infant. 


So,  here  we  are  with  a  new  Messiah  with  a  new  mamma,  named,  not  Mary, 
but  Ruth,  whose  child  is  to  be  called  "Glory,  "  and  not  Jesus.  Let  us  pause  for 
a  space,  and  sing  that  touching  little  verse  : 

"  Oh,  that  will  be—'  Glory  '  for  me, 
'  Glory '  for  me — *  Glory  '  for  me  ! 
*  Glory's  '  sweet  face 
Makes  me  smile  at  disgrace  ; 
Dear  little  *  Glory, '  he  IS  so  like  me. " 

"  Glory  "  Piggott.  Heavens,  what  a  name  !  How  euphonic  f  "  Glory  "  is 
bad  enough  ;  but  *'  Glory  "  Piggot  !  Jerusalem  !  It  is  worse  than  Hall  Caine's 
•'Glory  "  Quale.  Fancy  the  Lamb  of  God  as  Piggot.  We  can  now  take  our 
choice,  and  have  either  Lamb-'ot  or  Pig(g)-'ot(t).  As  the  man  with  the 
baked  potatoe-can  puts  it — "All  'ot  !  "All  'ot  ! "  "Now,  Mr.  Brown,  which 
did  you  say,  please — 'ot  Lamb  or  'ot  Pig  ?  Plenty  of  both,  my  boy — plenty  of 
both." 


It  is  a  jolly  good  job  that  the  child  turned  ont  to  be  a  boy,  because  it  can  be 
called  a  Messiah  ;  but  good  Lord  I  suppose  the  youngster  had  been  a  girl  f 
What,  what  ?  We  should  then  have  had  a  Messiahess  for  a  change  ;  and,  had 
the  little  one  been  as  well  favored  as  mamma,  there  would  have  been  plenty  of 
worshij^pers  to  worship  her — in  time,  with  a  strength  of  worship  rivaling  that  of 
Smyth-Piggot  for  innocent  Ruth,  who  is  "a  beautiful  girl  of  about  four-and- 
twenty,  tall  and  stately,  with  a  fine  figure,  and  a  head  crowned  with  a  wealth  of 
auburn  hair."  Auburn  hair  !  My  favorite  color,  too  1  But  let  me  not  pursue 
the  subject.     I  must  dissemble, 

And  banish  thoughts  of  girl  so  gay, 
I'm  getting  wrinkled,  old,  and  grey ; 
^  But  still,  you  know,  the  truth's  the  truth  ; 

And— hang  it  all  !— a  Ruth's  a  Ruth 

But,  perhaps  the  end  is  not  yet.  What  if  there  should  be  some  more  little 
Messiahs?  Ha,  ha  !  I  like  to  speculate  on  these  matters.  Why,  who  knows  ? 
Before  long  we  may  each  have  a  little  Messiah  all  for  our  very  own.     One  man 


538  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


one  Messiah.  There  would  then  be  less  need  to  enquire  if  anyone  had  found 
Jesus,  he  could  get  the  temporary  loan  of  a  Jesus  from  his  neighbor,  while  he 
telephoned  to  the  nearest  police  station  to  enquire  if  the  force  was  making  a 
fuss  of  his  own  private  Messiah. 


I  am  simply  full  of  this  podgy  little  Christ,  whose  "divine"  father  belongs 
to  the  *'  toil  and  spin  not"  fraternity,  and  wears  a  clerical  coat  and  a  white  choker. 
But  I  am  almost  forgetting  what  I  principally  wanted  to  say. 

Little  Glory  will  "  grow,  and  increase  in  stature,"  and  then — ah,  yes,  and 
then  comes  the  question,  Will  he  perform?  Will  he  walk  about  on  the  sea? 
Will  he  feed  five  thousand  people  on  five  penny  rolls  and  two  pilchards?  Will 
he  give  the  blind  their  sight  ?  And  will  he  raise  the  dead  after  the  insurance 
fees  have  been  paid  for  the  funerals  ?  These  are  little  points  I  am  going  to 
watch  very  carefully.  I  am  on  the  look-out  for  a  party  who  can  turn  a  "  yan- 
nick  "  of  bread  into  a  shaving-stone.  We  could  become  '*  pards,"  and  travel 
about  together,  I  could  contribute  my  little  share.  Already  I  know  how  to 
turn  a  bucket  of  water  into  a  barrel  of  wine,  and  I  am  not  the  only  expert  at 
this  trick,  judging  by  the  flavor  of  some  of  it.  But  there,  one  can  never  keep 
these  things  to  one's  self — once  shown  and  all  the  world  knows  it.  Oh,  dear — 
oh,  dear ! 


Now%  Christians  are  very  fond  of  hurling  at  Freethinkers  the  words  ''  Free 
Love."  And  I  will  take  the  opportunity  suggested  to  me  by  Christ  of  Clapton, 
who  has  just  introduced  us  to  our  new  Saxon  Savior,  "  Glory,"  to  ask  them 
their  opinion  of  the  Parson  Piggot  party.  At  birth  he  was  a  "  Glory"  boy,  and 
when  he  expires  he  will  be  a  sort  of  "  Death  "  (and)  "  Glory  "  boy.  I  should 
like  to  see  Ruth  singing  this  little  squaller  to  sleep  to  the  tune  of 

Glory  be  to  the  Father  and  to  the  Son, 
And  to-o-o  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  can  imagine  some  funny  little  scenes,  too,  with  the  worthy  father  and  mother, 
if  the  child  should  get  lost.  Fancy,  for  instance,  an  agonized  parent,  half 
distracted  with  apprehension,  yelling  all  over  the  place,  "  Glory  !  "  "  Glory  !  !  " 
"Glory!!!"  Glory,  neighbours  would  say,  "Oh,  not  so  much  'Glory.' 
And  if  you  are  so  happy,  what  are  you  looking  so  glum  about  ?" 

So  Glory  !    Glory  !     Hallelujah  ! 

And  we'll  all  go  marching  home. 

Pom,  Pom. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


THE  REAL  RIDDLE  OF  THE  SPHINX. 

1  wish  to  point  out  that,  so  long  as  the  natural  man  increases  and  multiplies 
without  restraint,  so  long  will  peace  and  industry  not  only  permit,  but  they  will 
necessitate  a  struggle  for  existence  as  sharp  as  any  that  ever  went  on  under  the 
regime  of  war.  The  Population  Question  is  the  real  riddle  of  the  Sphinx.  In 
view  of  the  ravages  of  the  terrible  monster,  Over-Multiplication,  all  other  riddles 
sink  into  insignificance. — Professor  Huxley. 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  539 

One  day  two  men  were  talking  about  miracles.  One  of  them  said,  *♦  I  saw  a 
man  that  hasn't  been  able  to  talk  for  nine  years  speak  the  other  day."  "  How 
did  he  do  it?  "  asked  the  other  man.  "  Why,  he  went  into  a  bicycle  shop  and 
picked  up  a  wheel  and  spoke." 


King  James  of  England  believed  that  Hebrew  was  man's  natural  language, 
and  to  prove  it  he  placed  two  infant  children  with  a  deaf  and  dumb  nurse  upon 
a  lonely  island.  Instead  of  talking  Hebrew  or  Sanscrit,  the  two  children  talked 
like  dogs,  and  behaved  like  savages.  All  our  civilization  depends  upon  our 
child  training,  and  every  nation  which  neglects  its  children  falls  back  into 
barbarism. — Rev.  Herbert  N.  Casson. 


Two  grammarians  were  wrangling  the  other  day,  one  contending  that  it  was 
only  proper  to  say,  •'  My  wages  is  high,"  while  the  other  noisily  insisted  that  the 
correct  thing  was,  "  My  wages  are  high  "  Finally,  they  stopped  a  day  labourer, 
and  submitted  the  question  to  him.     **  Which  do  you  say — 'your  wages  is  high,' 

or  'your  wages  are   high'?"  "  Oh  !  to  the  d wid    yer   nonsense,"  he   said, 

resuming  his  pick  ;  "yer  naylher  of  ye  right ;  me  wages  is  low,  thunderin'  low.' 


Bobby's  father  had  given  him  a  ten-cent  piece  and  a  quarter  of  a  dollar, 
telling  him  he  might  put  one  or  the  other  on  the  contribution  plate.  "  Which 
did  you  give,  Bobby  ?  "  his  father  asked  when  the  boy  came  home  from  church. 
"  Well,  father,  I  thought  at  first  I  ought  to  put  in  the  quarter,"  said  Bobby, 
"  but  then,  just  in  time,  I  remembered  'The  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver,'  and 
I  knew  I  could  give  the  ten  cents  a  great  deat  more  cheerfully,  so  I  put  that  in.''^ 


The  "  Christian  "  ladies  and  gentlemen  willing  to  lend  money,  who  so  long 
preened  their  feathers  in  the  advertistng  columns  of  the  daily  press,  have  fairly 
sickened  of  the  distinction.  "  Why  did  you  adopt  '  Christian,'  anyway  ?  "  one 
of  them  was  asked  lately.  "  Veil,  mein  friendt,  it  was  to  show  ve  vere  not  Jews. 
Some  peoples  tink  Jews  all  bad  ;  veil  it  vas  to  catch  dose  peoples  "  "  And  why 
don't  you  still  keep  up  the  distinction  ?"  *•  Played  out,  mein  freindt,  played  out  ; 
Christian  is  now  ze  very  vosrt  ting  anypody  can  call  a  money-lender.  Ah,  I 
remember,  twenty  years  ago  ze  vorst  name  vas  Jew  ;  it  vas  very  bad  ;  de  Chris- 
tian money-lenders  called  themselves  Jews.  That  killed  us.  Den  ve  called 
ourselves  Christians.     That  killed  them.     Ve're  all  eqval  now." 


John  Burns,  M.P.,  writes  in  Thrift: — "My  participation  in  many  of  the 
greatest  labor  movements  of  the  present  generation  has  enabled  me  to  witness 
how  drinking  dissipates  the  social  force,  industrial  energy,  and  political  strength 
of  the  people.  The  general  summary  of  my  life's  experience  amongst  the  woik- 
ing  classes  of  this  and  other  countries,  in  sharing  their  aims,  voicing  their  ideals, 
championing  their  causes,  leading  their  movements,  a  sentinel  on  the  outworks 
of  their  social  hopes,  is  that  drink,  with  too  many  of  them,  is  their  bane, 
drunkenness  is  their  curse,  excessive  drinking  their  greatest  defect,  and  that 
from  every  aspect  of  their  individual,  social,  and  political  condition  it  is  the 
chief  cause  of  many  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  and  burden  them  as  workman, 
husband,  father,  breadwinner  and  citizen." 


540  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

BOOKS  THAT  YOU  SHOULD  BUY 

The    Age  of   Reason.     By  Thomas  Paine.     25c      Presentation   Edition,  $2  00. 

The  Bible.     By  John  E.  Remsburg.   Large  handsome  volume,  500  pages,  $1.25. 

The  Riddle  of  the  Universe.      By  E.  Haeckel,  transl'd.  by  J.  McCabe,     $1.50. 

Bible  Myths,  and  their  Parallels  in  Other  Religions.      By  J.  W.  Doane.      $2.50. 

Adam's  Diary.      By  Mark  Twain.      Finely  Illustrated  by  F.  Strothmann.    $1.00. 

The   Jefferson    Bible.     Selected  from  New  Test,  by  Thomas  Jefferson.     $1.00. 

Four  Hundred  Years  of   Freethought.     Illust'd.     By  Samuel  Putnam.     $5.00 

Infidel    Death    Beds.     By  G  W.  Foote.     25c. 

Self  Contradictions  of  the  Bible.     By  W.  H.  Burr.      15c. 

Ingersoll    As    He  Is.     Refutation  of  Slanders.     By  E.  M.  Macdonald.        25c. 

God    and    My    Neighbor.      By  Robert   Blatchford.     Paper,  50c. ;  cloth,  $1.00. 

Confucius  ;  his  Life  and  Moral  Maxims.     By  M.  R.  K.  Wright.     25c. 

Woman  :  her  Glory,  her  Shame,  and  her  God.     By  Saladin.     2  vols.,  cl.,  $2.50. 

God    and    His    Book.     By  Saladin.     $1.25. 

The   Confessional.     By  Saladin.     25c. 

The    Earth's    Beginning.     By  Sir  Robert  S.  Ball.     Many  illustrations.     $2.00. 


CHEAP  REPRIHTS  OF  THE 

RATIONALIST  PRESS  ASSOCIATION. 

Each  with  Portrait.  Finely  printed  on  good  paper. 

Paper,  25c.  ;  cloth  (except  4,  6,  14,  15),  50c. 

1  Huxlev's   Lectures    and    Essays    (a    Selection).       With    Autobiography. 

2  The    Pioneers   of   Evolution.      By  Edward  Clodd. 

3  Modern    Science   and    Modern    Thought.      By  Samuel  Laing.     Illustrated. 

4  Literature    and    Dogma.     By  Matthew  Arnold. 

5  The  Riddle   of    the  Universe.     By  Prof.  Ernst  Haeckel. 

6  Education  :   Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical.     By  Herbert  Spencer. 

7  The  Evolution  of  the  Idea  of  God.      By  Grant  Allen. 

8  Human  Origins.     By  Samuel  Laing.     Revised  by  Ed.  Clodd.     Illustrations. 

9  The  Service  of  Man.      By  J.  Cotter  Morison.     Introduc.  by  Fred.  Harrison. 

10  Tyndall's  Lectures  and  Essays.     A  Selection.      VV^ith  Autobiography. 

11  The  Origin  of  Species.     By  Charles  Darwin. 

12  Emerson — Addresses  and  Essays.    A  Selection.    Intro,  by  Dr.  Stanton  Coit. 

13  On    Liberty.     By  John  Stuart  Mill.     With   Biographical  Sketch. 

14  The  Story  of  Creation.     By  Edward  Clodd.     Tables  and  Illustrations. 

15  An  Agnostic's  Apology.     By  Sir  Leslie  Stephen. 

16  The  Life  of  Jesus.     By  Ernest  Renan. 

17  A  Modern  Zoroastrian.     By  Samuel  Laing. 

18  Herbert  Spencer's  Philosophy — Introduction  to.       By  Prof.  Hudson. 

19  Three  Essays  on  Religion.     By  John  Stuart  Mill. 

20  The  Creed  of  Christendom.    By  W.  R.  Greg.     Introduction  by  Dr.  Sullivan. 

21  The  Apostles.     By  Ernest  Renan.     New  Tran  lation  by  W.  G.  Hutchison. 

Order  from    SECULAR    THOUGHT,  Toronto,  Canada. 


SEC  UL AE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 


J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor. 

NEW  SERIES. 

C.  n.  ELUS,  Bu5.  Mir. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  20. 

TORONTO,  NOV.   11, 

1905. 

loc;  $2  per  ann. 

ffolli?  of  flDiraculoue  jEviftcnce* 

:o: 

Suppose  I  were  to  say  that  when  I  sat  down  to  write  this  book 
a  hand  presented  itself  in  the  air,  took  up  the  pen,  and  wrote 
every  word  that  is  herein  written,  would  anybody  believe  me? 
Certainly  they  would  not.  Would  they  believe  me  a  whit  the 
more  if  the  thing  had  been  a  fact  ?  Certainly  they  would  not. 
Since,  then,  a  real  miracle,  were  it  to  happen,  would  be  sub- 
ject to  the  same  fate  as  the  falsehood,  the  inconsistency  be- 
comes the  greater  of  supposing  the  Almighty  would  make  use 
of  means  that  would  not  answer  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  intended,  even  if  they  were  real. — Thomas  Paine. 

EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


IRVIiNG'S  ASHES  IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 

No  sooner  were  Sir  Henry  Irving's  ashes  comfortably  deposited  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  than  the  journalistic  critics  began  to  find  out  that 
he  was  hardly  a  big  enough  man  for  the  honor  paid  to  him.  "  Let  us 
forget  all  but  his  good  deeds,"  is  a  not  unsafe  maxim  to  adopt  in  dealing 
with  the  reputations  of  dead  men  ;  for  in  summing  up  a  man's  good  and 
bad  sides  one  is  very  apt  to  prove  but  a  prejudiced  judge  and  a  one-eyed 
prophet. 

There  are  two  very  pronounced  features  of  present-day  literary  and 
histrionic  art  that  tend  greatly  to  the  prevention  of  the  personal  supre- 
macy of  a  few  groat  writers  and  actors  that  was  such  a  marked  feature 
of  former  times.  One  is,  the  wide  spread  of  literary  ability.  Not,  by 
any  means,  that  such  ability  of  the  highest  type  is  common  ;  but  literary 


S42  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

ability  of  a  comparatively  uncultured  type  is  very  wide-spread ;  and  the 
race  for  wealth  causes  many  men  of  real  genius  to  aim  at  quantity  rather 
than  quality ;  so  that  the  general  effect  is  rather  that  of  levelling  down 
than  of  levelling  up.  It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  dramatic  works 
of  real  literary  merit  are  almost  unknown  in  our  day.  Doubtless,  in  the 
future,  they  will  again  be  produced,  as  culture  advances  from  its  present 
broader  vantage-ground. 

The  other  is  the  great  development  of  the  modern  spectacular  drama, 
which  has  degraded  the  taste  of  theatre-goers,  and  rendered  the  posses- 
sion of  personal  charms,  gorgeous  attire,  and  scenic  effects  of  greater 
importance  and  financial  value  than  histrionic  ability.  For  the  time  at 
least,  vaudeville  and  spectacle  have  conquered  the  theatrical  world. 

No  one  who  had  seen  Irving  in  his  young  days  could  doubt  that  his 
mature  ''  genius  "  was  almost  entirely  the  product  of  his  hard  work  and 
his  intelligent  study  of  plays,  actors,  and  critics  ;  but,  whatever  its 
origin,  as  a  successful  actor — one  whose  fame  was  world-wide  in  his  own 
day,  who  had  the  power  to  move  immense  audiences  to  the  highest  en- 
thusiasm, and  who  commanded  universal  admiration  for  his~personal  as 
well  as  his  professional  qualities — Irving,  we  believe,  will  stand  in  the 
front  rank  of  those  great  actors  who  have  honestly  tried  to  elevate  the 
stage  to  the  highest  efficiency  as  a  means  of  legitimate  public  entertain- 
ment and  improvement. 

:o: 

IS  DIVORCE  A  SIGN  OF  IMMORALITY? 

Noting  that  as  many  divorces  are  every  year  granted  in  the  United 
States  as  are  allowed  altogether  in  France-,  Germany,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Belgium,  Greece,  Austria,  England,  and  Scotland,  the  Catholic  Colum- 
hian  retorts  on  the  common  denunciation  by  some  Americans  of  Euro- 
pean laxity  in  morals,  that  the  number  of  divorces  in  America  shows  a 
greater  moral  laxity  there  than  in  Europe.  This  distorted  view  of  mo- 
rality is  common  to  many  Protestants  as  well  as  to  the  Catholics ;  but 
it  seems  to  us  that  any  sensible  man  must  own  that  there  is  far  more 
immorality  involved  in  compelling  two  antagonistic  married  people  to 
live  together  against  their  will  than  in  allowing  them  to  separate  and 
make  more  suitable  alliances. 

Of  course,  many  awkward  situations  are  conjured  up  by  the  clerical 
imagination  as  the  outgrowth  of  freedom  in  divorce ;  but  one  thing  is 
certain,  and  that  is,  that — for  a  consideration — the  church  has  always 
been  willing  to  grant  divorces,  often  for  the  most  shameless  and  disgust- 
ing purposes.  The  truth  is,  the  church  objects  to  the  principle  of  divorce, 
not  on  the  ground  of  morality  or  justice,  but  because  it  strikes  at  one  of 
the  greatest  holds  the  church  possesses  upon  the  people.    "  The  sanctity 


SECULAK    THOUGHT.  543 

of  the  marriage  tie,"  if  tied  by  a  priest  and  not  by  a  municipal  official, 
appeals  strongly  to  the  mass  of  superstitious  people,  but  it  would  puzzle 
any  preacher  to  show  what  greater  sanctity  could  be  conferred  by  a 
ceremony  performed  by  a  drunken,  lascivious  priest  than  by  an  equally 
binding  ceremony  before  a  magistrate. 

The  idea  that,  if  divorce  were  freely  allowed,  immorality  would  rapidly 
manifest  itself,  shows  how  keenly  the  clericals  appreciate  the  fact  that 
their  religion  has  totally  failed  as  a  moral  force.  According  to  them — 
and  they  probably  know  as  much  about  it  as  anybody — society  is  seeth- 
ing with  immorality,  even  after  many  centuries  of  Christian  preaching, 
and  only  awaits  the  withdrawal  of  the  priestly  restraint  to  boil  over  in 
a  wild  carnival  of  vice.  Remedy  they  have  none — except  to  fasten  down 
the  safety-valve. 

:o: 

AUTUMN  ''DEFENDED"  BY  THE  TORONTO  STAR. 

The  Editor  of  the  Toronto  Star  is  a  veritable  Don  Quixote.  In  an 
editorial  article  a  week  or  two  ago  he  donned  his  philosophical  armor 
and  ran  a  tilt  in  defence  of  Nature  against  the  great  army  of  nature 
poets.  The  old  song  of  '*  Falling  leaf  and  fading  tree"  should  be  altered, 
he  says,  to  read  *'  flaming  tree."  He  has  no  reference,  apparently,  to 
forest  fires,  but  in  his  view  the  quick  combination  of  burning  is  nearer 
the  truth  than  the  slower  combusion  of  decay  ;  but  what  difference  does 
it  make  in  the  end?  And  why  choose  autumn  as  '''the  inost  beautiful 
season  of  the  year?"  Undoubtedly  it  is — sometimes;  certainly  not 
always  ;  but  each  to  his  taste.  The  Star  editor,  however,  is  nothing  if 
not  religious,  and  he  thus  makes  religious  capital  out  of  this  autumn 
business : 

"  The  virginal  green  of  spring,  the  darker  emerald  of  summer,  these  may  be 
l^eautiful,  but  give  us,  for  choice,  this  autumn  foliage,  which  challenges  the 
sunset  with  its  lambent  hues.  Some  poets  call  them  'hectic  tints,'  and  asso- 
ciate them  with  death  and  decay.  They  do  not  know  their  business.  They 
are  not  true  poets  who  see  to  the  heart  of  things.  If  they  were,  they  would 
know  that  the  leaves  are  transfigured,  as  dying  faces  are  which  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  joys  of  heaven.  It  is  the  glow  of  immortal  life  that  the  autumn  leaves 
picture  forth,  not  darkness  and  annihilation." 

We  need  not  stay  to  discuss  the  question  whether  the  true  poet  is  one 
who  sees  things  that  are  realities,  though  hidden  from  the  common  man 
under  deceptive  phenomena,  or  one  who  replaces  such  mystical  or  magi- 
cal realities  with  false  and  baseless  imaginations  ;  but  we  certainly  can 
see  no  reason  to  class  as  a  true  poet  one  who  can  see  "  the  glow  of  im- 
mortality "  in  an  autumn  forest,  any  more  than  one  who  should  see  the 
same  glow  in  the  bright  red  of  a  rusty  knife  or  a  burnt  brick. 

What  we  wish  to  point  out  to  our  pious  and  poetical  editor  is  the  fact 
that,  though  he  may  say  that  dying  faces  and  fading  leaves  are  merely 
"  transfigured,"  he  must  know,  if  he  is  not  a  lunatic,  that  they  are  really 
dying,  and  as  individuals  are  annihilated,  as  far  as  our  actual   know- 


544  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


ledge  is  concerned,  though  as  parts  of  the  indestructible  matter  of  the 
universe  they  are  only  transformed  or  transfigured. 

Whether  or  not  '*  the  joys  of  heaven  "  are  seen  on  the  faces  of  dying 
men  or  ''  the  glow  of  immortal  life  "  on  the  reddening  leaves,  what  we 
do  know  is,  that  men  and  leaves  alike  sink  to  the  earth,  are  transmuted 
into  other  forms,  and  do  not  permit  the  possibiHty  of  immortality. 

The  Star  editor  may  say  that  he  does  not  pretend  that  the  bodies  of 
either  men  or  leaves  are  immortal ;  but,  if  so,  what  does  he  mean  ?  If 
men  have  spirits  that  are  immortal,  do  the  leaves  also  possess  immortal 
spirits?  If  not,  what  becomes  of  the  editor's  philosophy?  We  back 
the  poets  against  the  aS^^?*  editor,  both  as  poets  and  as  philosophers,  even 
if  they  are  not  "  true  poets,"  who  pretend  to  find  life  in  death  or  the 
promise  of  immortality  in  the  decay  of  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf. 

:o: 

THE  TORONTO  MAIL  ANNIHILATES  THE  HIGHER  CRITICS. 

The  Toronto  Mail  a  few  days  ago  had  a  special  article  on  the  opening 
of  the  colleges  for  the  winter  session,  in  which  it  took  occasion  to  air  its 
views  on  Biblical  criticism  at  some  length.  It  thinks  Biblical  criticism 
is  out  of  place  in  the  pulpit,  but  that  it  should  be  well  considered  in  the 
colleges.  So  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge,  it  is  also  mightily  out  of  place 
in  the  columns  of  a  partisan  daily  paper  as  well  as  in  the  pulpit,  and 
for  a  similar  reason  :  both  preachers  and  editors  are  not  qualified  or  in 
a  position  to  be  intelligent  and  impartial   interpreters  of  such  criticism. 

We  can  well  believe  that,  in  the  pulpit.  Biblical  criticism  is  a  disturb- 
ing force  ;  but  if  it  is  out  of  place  there,  there  must  ba  one  of  two  rea- 
sons for  such  a  fact :  (1)  that  the  truth  is  unfit  for  the  propagation  or 
support  of  religion  among  the  people  ;  (2)  that  the  people  are  incompe- 
tent to  understand  the  arguments. 

If  the  first  is  true,  then  religion  must  be  false  ;  if  the  second  is  true, 
then  the  people  are  Christians  simply  because  they  have  been  instructed 
in  that  faith,  and  would  have  been  equally  good  and  intelligent — or 
unintelligent — Mohammedans,  Buddhists,  or  Shintoists,  had  they  been 
brought  up  in  any  one  of  those  faiths.  We  can  only  see  in  the  argu- 
ment of  the  Mail  the  usual  trade  cry  and  thi  inherent  weakness  of  its 
case.     Its  folly  is  admitted  when  it  says : 

"  There  is  always  a  fierce  controversy  in  progress  touching  the  genuineness 
of  the  Scripture  narrative  and  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  and  those  who  go 
out  to  meet  the  forces  that  antagonize  revelation  cannot  be  too  well  equipped 
for  the  fight." 

Does  the  Mail  really  think  that,  there  being  **  always  a  fierce  contro- 
versy in  progress  "  regarding  the  Higher  Criticism,  the  fact  can  be  kept 
from  the  laity  by  the  silence  of  the  preachers?  And  if  the  laity  know 
of  the  fierce  controversy,  what  will  they  think  if  the  preachers  ignore  it? 
Can  the  editor  understand  what  is  involved  in  a  **  fierce  controversy  ?'* 
The  Mail  has  the  sense  of  an  ostrich. 

It  is  all  very  well,  too,  to  talk  about  "  considering  "  it  in  the  colleges. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  545 


As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  consideration  given  to  it  there  simply  amounts 
to  a  study  of  the  best  means  of  misrepresenting  opponents  and  deceiv- 
ing friends.  College  instruction  rarely  rises,  in  any  department,  to  fair 
discussion  of  disputed  questions,  and  in  religious  matters  we  may  safely 
say  that  it  never  does. 

One  way  only  exists  by  which  the  truth  in  controversial  matters  can 
ever  be  arrived  at,  and  that  is  by  open  discussion ;  and  pulpit  discussion 
is  the  only  substitute  for  honest  discussion  that  is  likely  to  have  much 
influence  for  good  in  the  church  itself.  Only  one  interpretation  is  pos- 
sible to  the  Mails  declaration,  and  that  is,  that  to  support  religion  the 
truth  must  be  hidden. 

' :o: 

THE  MAIL  ON  "  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES." 

In  this  passage  the  Mail  editor  ranges  himself  among  the  lowest  class 
of  the  "  Christian  Evidence  "  men — the  class  of  which  Hastings,  Sam 
Jones,  Clark  Braden,  Booth,  Dowie,  etc.,  have  been  the  apostles  : 

"  The  issue,  however,  is  not  at  all  new,  for  from  the  very  first  the  influences 
which  make  for  doubt  have  been  active.  But  the  destructive  critics  have  not 
been  able  to  maintain  their  position,  much  less  to  prove  their  case.  Those  who 
have  applied  themselves  to  the  abolition  of  the  Old  Testament  narrative  on  the 
theory  that  modern  discoveries  are  against  it,  have  failed  to  meet  the  evidence 
which  their  own  weapon — vscience — has  adduced  in  favor  of  the  validity  of 
revelation.  Confronted  with  proofs  of  the  gradual  development  of  the  earth 
and  of  the  catastrophe  known  as  the  Deluge,  they  cannot  well  say,  as  they  for- 
merly didy  that  the  record  of  Genesis  is  a  fable.  Faced  by  the  fact  that  history 
— that  of  Egypt,  that  of  Assyria — as  written  by  the  ancients,  harmonizes  with 
the  story  related  in  the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  theory  of 
fiction  and  of  legend  disappears." 

That  the  editor  of  a  prominent  daily  paper  should  write  himself  down 
as  an  ignorant  ass  in  this  concise  way  is  amazing.  Supposing  that  the 
recent  archaeological  discoveries  do  corroborate  the  Biblical  narrative  in 
some  of  its  alleged  historical  details,  would  that  fact  validate  the  theory 
of  "  divine  revelation  ?  "  If  a  history  is  proved  to  be  true,  will  that  fact 
prove  it  to  be  divine?  If  it  could  be  proved  that  the  Gospel  Jesus  really 
lived,  would  that  prove  that  he  wrought  miracles,  that  he  was  crucified 
and  went  to  hell,  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  and  ascended  to  heaven  ? 

If  science  does  demonstrate  the  gradual  evolution  of  the  earth,  how 
can  that  fact  be  made  to  tally  with  the  Biblical  story  of  its  creation,  or 
manufacture,  in  six  days,  each  consisting  of  a  morning  and  an  evening? 
Will  it  put  sense  into  the  idea  of  an  *'  infinite  being"  walking  about  a 
garden  in  a  little  world  of  his  own  manufacture?  or  into  the  stories  of 
Adam's  "  fall "  through  eating  an  apple,  of  talking  serpents  and  asses, 
or  of  suns  and  moons  *'  standing  still  ?  " 

Does  science  harmonize  the  contradiction  involved  in  the  story  that 
light  was  made  before  the  sun,  while  elsewhere  we  are  told  that  the  sun 
was  made  to  give  light  to  the  earth  ?   Where,  too,  shall  we  find  scientific 


546  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

proof,  or  any  proof,  that  "  the  catastrophe  known  as  the  Deluge  "  ever 
occurred  V  Surely  the  editor  must  have  been  seeing  snakes — perhaps 
interviewing  them. 

Amusing,  if  not  very  edifying,  is  it  to  find  this  Bible  champion 
dismissing  Strauss  and  Baur,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  school  of  Higher 
Critics,  as  having  been  hopelessly  overthrown,  the  Bible  having  success- 
fully witnstood  tlie  attacks  of  its  enemies.  But  how  does  he  think  this 
tallies  with  his  own  admission  that  a  "  fierce  controversy  "  is  always 
raging  about  the  genuineness  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  evidences  of 
Christianity  ?  If  it  is  all  over  with  the  Higher  Critics,  and  if  science 
has  fully  sustained  the  Bible  narrative  and  Bible  inspiration,  what  need 
is  there  that  the  men  who  go  out  to  meet  the  infidel  should  be  '*  well 
armed  for  the  fight  ?  "  The  battle  is  won,  but —  The  Mail  editor  is 
like  the  Irishman  w^ho  swore  that  he  did  not  steal  the  pig,  but  pleaded 
for  a  light  sentence  on  the  promise  that  he  would  not  do  it  again. 

:o: 

INCREASING  POVERTY  IN  TORONTO. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  every  institution  providing  for  aged  and 
incapable  paupers  is  at  the  present  time  full  to  the  limit.  The  House 
of  Providence  accommodates  seven  hundred  persons  ;  it  is  full,  and  a 
few  weeks  ago,  when  four  elderly  women,  who  had  been  occupying  an 
old  cottage  which  was  condemned  for  its  unsanitary  condition,  were  at 
length  evicted,  it  was  with  extreme  difficulty  that  a  temporary  shelter 
could  be  found  for  them. 

It  has  been  the  boast  of  Canada  that  it  had  no  poorbouses.  This 
was  once  also  the  proud  boast  of  the  United  States.  The  inevitable  de- 
velopment, however,  seems  to  overtake  all  nations  aHke.  As  they  grow 
and  prosper,  wealth  increases — and  so  does  poverty.  As  cities  increase 
in  size,  the  more  conspicuous  become  the  "  palatial  residences  "  of  the 
wealthy — and  the  more  extensive  and  degraded  the  slums  and  hovels 
of  the  poor.  As  the  incomes  and  salaries  of  the  wealthy  and  official 
classes  increase,  the  gaols  and  hospitals  and  asylums  multiply  and  fill, 
and  tramps  and  paupers  become  recognized  classes  in  the  social  order. 

Remedies  innumerable  there  are  for  this  condition  of  things,  but  not 
one  so  far  announced — from  the  blood  of  Jesus  to  the  single  tax — seems 
likely  to  ajiend  it.  Improving  the  dwellings  of  the  working  classes  is  a 
favorite  remedy  with  some ;  but  the  movement  in  favor  of  providing 
better  houses  for  workmen,  inaugurated  some  months  ago  by  Goldwin 
Smith,  seems  to  have  collapsed,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  building  and 
sanitary  regulations  enforced  to-day  make  building  expensive  and  the 
prospect  of  a  good  dividend  rather  precarious.  Mr.  Smith  also  objected 
to  the  $700  house  exemption,  as  discriminating  against  the  landlords,  as 
one  reason  for  abandoning  the  scheme. 

Co-operation,  more  especially  in  building  societies,  has  been  attempted 
in  various  forms,  but  only  last  year,  in  a  mock  fit  of  virtuous  indigna- 
tion at  the  many  frauds  perpetrated  under  the  co-operative  name,  the 
Ontario  Government  abolished  the  Co-operation  Act  and  decided  not  to 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  547 


grant  any  more  charters  for  societies  of  this  kind.  Of  course,  this  is  iri 
the  interest  of  the  wealthy  property  owners  and  real  estate  dealers. 

It  may  be  noted  here  that  at  Cobourg,  Ont,  plans  were  a  few  weeks 
ago  discussed  for  building  a  new  jail  and  converting  the  old  jail  into  a 
House  of  Refuge  for  paupers.  Cobourg  is  growing  big,  and  necessarily 
must  have  a  big  jail  and  a  big  almshouse. 

We  imagine  that  some  system  of  old  age  pensions  would  be  preferable 
in  many  ways  to  the  system  of  almshouses,  especially  in  the  way  of  cost 
and  jobbery  in  officialdom. 

SUPERANNUATION  FOR  ONTARIO  SCHOOL  TEACHERS. 

The  scheme  formulated  by  the  Committee  of  the  Ontario  Teachers' 
Association  to  establish  a  superannuation  fund  for  the  school  teachers 
vseems  to  us  to  be  a  most  fair  and  reasonable  one.  It  provides  for  the 
formation  of  the  fund  by  payments  according  to  salary  received,  volun- 
tary for  a  few  years,  and  afterwards  to  be  compulsory.  The  payments 
made  by  teachers  who  have  already  reached  an  advanced  age  are  to  be 
decided  in  each  case  by  a  competent  actuary.  We  think  it  a  wise  pro- 
posal that  the  Legislature  should  be  asked  to  prohibit  the  alienation  of 
the  superannuation  allowances  for  debt  or  other  purposes. 

The  payments  to  be  made  to  the  fund  will  be  according  to  this  scale : 
On  salaries  of  $500  or  less,  3  per  cent.  ;  $500  to  $750,  BJ  per  cent. ; 
$750  to  $1,000,  4  per  cent;  $1,000  to  $1,500,  4J  per  cent.  Above 
$1,500  per  annum  salaries  will  not  count  either  for  premium  or  pension. 
No  one  can  grumble  at  these  moderate  payments,  nor  can  we  wonder 
that  the  Government  is  to  be  asked  to  take  charge  of  the  scheme,  and 
also  to  supplement  the  teachers'  payments  by  a  contribution  amounting 
to  IJper  cent,  on  all  the  salaries  paid  to  school  teachers  in  the  province, 
which  would  total  about  $60,000,  as  the  salaries  amount  to  about  four 
million  dollars  per  annum.  The  Government  are  to  be  asked  also  to 
allow  interest  at  the  rate  of  4  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  fund. 

Taking  the  average  rate  of  payment  to  be  3J  per  cent,  the  teachers 
would  contribute  about  $140,000  to  the  fund,  and  the  Government's 
$60,000  would  bring  it  up  to  a  total  of  about  $200,000  per  annum. 

Superannuation  allowances  are  to  begin  at  the  age  of  65,  and  are  to 
be  calculated  on  a  basis  of  If  per  cent,  of  the  total  amount  of  salary 
received  during  term  of  service,  after  deducting  excess  over  $1,500  per 
annum.  Women  teachers  may  retire  at  the  age  of  60,  but  those  who  do 
so  can  only  receive  I J  per  cent,  per  annum  of  their  total  salary. 

If  teachers  retire  on  completing  six  years'  service  or  previously,  they 
will  receive  nothing  from  the  fund  ;  but  if,  after  this  time,  from  any 
cause  whatever,  they  leave  the  service  before  reaching  the  age  of  60  or 
65,  they  (or  their  heirs)  will  receive  back  the  total  amount  of  their  con- 
tributions, but  without  interest ;  and  the  heirs  of  a  pensioner  are  also  to 
be  entitled  to  any  balance  of  total  contributions  to  the  fund  not  received 
back  by  the  pensioner. 

W^e  do  not  know  what  statistics  are  available  as  to  retirements  from 


548  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


the  service,  but  it  is  probable  the  present  superannuation  scheme  will 
have  a  decided  tendency  to  keep  in  the  service  many  men  and  women 
who  otherwise  would  seek  a  different  employment ;  in  any  case,  it  is  not 
probable  that  a  much  larger  proportion  than  25  per  cent,  of  those  who 
enter  the  service  would  reach  the  retiring  age  of  65.  On  such  a  basis, 
if  the  average  contributing  term  reaches  thirty  years,  the  pensions  of 
this  25  per  cent,  at  If  per  cent,  will  reach  about  $250,000.  As  pro- 
posed, the  pension  fund  may  possibly  carry  this  sum,  though  it  will  be 
close  work.  As,  however,  the  committee  has  had  a  full  year  to  develop 
and  amend  the  scheme  which  was  brought  in  last  year,  and  have  had 
the  assistance  of  the  best  available  experts,  it  seems  probable  that  the 
scheme  now  proposed  will  fully  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case. 

:o: 

THINKING  BACKWARDS. 


Colonel  Rochas,  a  Frenchman,  has  just  published  a  pamphlet  intended 
to  support  the  Theosophists'  theory  of  Re-incarnation.  He  has  hypno- 
tized a  number  of  persons,  and  has  induced  them  to  believe  that  they 
were  ten,  twenty,  fifty,  or  even  hundreds  of  yeirs  younger — or  older — 
than  they  really  w^ei'e.  A  woman  of  thirty-live  passed  backwards,  it  is 
said,  through  courtship  time  and  babyhood,  until  her  language  became 
unintelligible,  and  she  could  only  make  signs, — when  we  suppose  she 
had  reached  the  monkey  stage.  But — perhaps — not  so ;  for  after  this 
she  acquired  the  personality  of  a  deep-voiced  man  named  John  Bour-' 
don ;  and  inquiries  showed  that  a  man  of  this  name  had  lived  in  the 
village  mentioned  by  the  woman  just  ninety-six  years  ago.  Then  the 
woman  went  back — ^how  far  we  are  not  told — and  answered  in  the  feeble 
tones  of  an  old  woman  named  Carteret.  It  is  a  pity  she  did  not  get  as 
far  back  as  Sappho,  and  complete  some  of  her  fragments  of  poetry. 

Other  women  relapsed  into  babyhood  in  the  same  way  ;  and  we  are 
left  wondering — if  the  stor^  is  substantially  true- — how  this  sort  of  thing 
can  prove  re-incarnation.  Our  friends  seem  to  think  they  can  demon- 
strate the  truth  of  re-incarnation  by  telling  us  a  story. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  subjects  of  these'  hypnotic  tests  are  women. 
They  think  backwards.  The  men^perhaps— will  think  forwards,  and 
become  prophets.  If  they  do,  and  tell  us  what  will  happen  ten,  twenty, 
or  a  thousand  years  hence,  and  it  all  turns  out  to  be  true,  will  that  prove 
re-incarnation  ?     What  is  re-incarnation  ?     Materialization  ? 

-:o: - 

RE-INCARNATION  TO  BE  DEMONSTRATED  ! 

Whether  Colonel  Rochas  succeeds  or  fails  in  his  attempt  to  prove  re- 
incarnation by  memory  or  imagination,  an  English  churchman.  Arch- 
deacon Colley,  snys  he  is  going  to  prove  it  by  ''  ocular,  auditory,  and 
tangible  "  demonstration  at  the  English  Church  Congress  at  Weymouth, 
England,  in  November,  He  says  he  will  give  *' scientific  proof"  that 
the  dead  are  alive ; 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  549 


"  Religionists  say  that  we  want  no  proof,  but  I  wish  to  show  that  it  is  a 
truth  that  does  not  depend  upon  belief,  article,  or  creed,  but  on  proof  positive 
— ocular,  auditory,  and  tangible — that  these  spirit  people  of  whom  I  speak 
have  been  seen,  heard,  and  touched  by  me.  I  give  dates  for  all  the  circum- 
stances, and  chapter  and  verse." 

Naturally,  we  read  the  first  announcement  with  high  expectations  of 
fretting  something  substantial  from  a  gentleman  whose  education  must 
have  given  him  a  slight  notion  of  what  is  involved  by  the  words'*  proof" 
and  **  demonstration  ;"  but  our  heart  sank  again  as  we  read  on,  and 
found  that  only  the  same  old  rigmarole  was  to  be  repeated,  and  that  we 
were  once  more  to  be  asked  to  believe  an  unbelievable  hypothesis  on  the 
evidence  of  a  gentleman  of  probity,  etc.  Well  may  Goldwin  Smith  put 
the  whole  thing  quietly  aside  with  tl  e  remark,  **  Of  such  things  we  need 
not  speak,"  But,  in  this  age  of  witchcraft  and  humbug,  millions  of  men 
and  women  do  speak  of  them  and  believe  them. 

In  one  of  the  Archdeacon's  experiences,  a  little  child  was  "  re-incar- 
nated," and — "  instructed  by  the  medium — fetched  articles  from  different 
jmrts  of  the  room  !  " 

"  Eventually  an  ornament  on  the  mantelpiece  was  indicated  ;  and,  as  the 
little  girl  went  forward,  the  fire  blazed  up  with  scorching  heat,  and  she  drew 
back  in  alarm." 

Involuntarily,  he  says,  the  Archdeacon  asked  :  "  Did  it  burn  you,  my 
dear?  "  And  the  reply  came  back — through  the  medium — *'  Yes,  I  felt 
it !  "  She  could  fetch  and  carry,  feel  the  fire,  and  smile,  but  she  could 
only  speak — through  the  medium.  This  is  unfortunate.  She  might 
have  been  a  daughter  of  a  priestess  of  Isis  from  Thebes  or  of  a  vestal 
virgin,  from  Rome,  and  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  she 
talked  ancient  Egyptian  or  Latin,  or  had  acquired  the  latest  Cockney 
slang.  Truly,  this  is  good  scientific  evidence,  and  we  suppose  the  Eng- 
lish Church  Congress  wilt  accept  it — for  what  it  is  worth. 

LIKE  CHRISTiANITY :  SENT  TO  FOOLS,  NOT  TO  THE  WISE. 

The  Archdeacon,  however,  seems  to  have  got  a  few  grains  of  sense  left, 
for  he  says : 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  pressing  these  things  before  unbelievers,  because  life 
is  too  short  for  controversy,  and,  as  someone  has  said,  controversy  equalizes 
wise  men  and  fools." 

From  his  point  of  view,  there  is  sound  sense  in  this  method.  It  is 
the  logical  method  of  the  mystery-monger  in  all  ages.  But  we  might 
ask  him  whether  there  is  any  other  way  of  attaining  a  rational  solution 
of  a  disputed  question  than  by  controversy,  even  in  the  matter  of  the 
validity  of  alleged  direct  evidence  ;  and  whether  it  equalizes  men  by 
bringing  the  wise  man  down  to  the  level  of  the  fool  or  raising  the  fool  to 


550  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

the  level  of  the  wise  man.  Probably,  though  posing  as  a  wise  man,  he 
has  a  consciousness  that  his  position  is  tliat  of  a  fool.     He  goes  on  : 

"  I  shall  not  cease  to  claim  that  these  manifestations  should  be  received  as 
being  just  as  credible  as  Bible  incidents,  in  which  angels  appeared  to  men." 

Good  for  you.  Archdeacon  !  You  have  some  idea  of  logic  after  all. 
But  what  has  become  of  your  proof  and  your  demonstration?  If  you 
w^ant  us  to  be  convinced  that  angels  did  appear  in  Bible  times  to  men — 
and  also  to  asses— it  is  of  no  use  to  tell  us  stories.  Bring  a  real  jackass 
to  the  Church  Congress,  and  let  your  fellow-preachers  hear  you  and  your 
companion  carry  on  a  conversation  that  shall  not  be  more  asinine  than 
what  you  have  now  written  for  us.  If  you  want  the  Congress  to  be  con- 
verted to  your  beliefs, — never  mind  your  old  stories,  but  re-incarnate  a 
few  of  your  old  friends.  Like  the  Witch  of  Endor,  conjure  up  again  the 
spirit  of  Samuel,  only — unlike  that  witch — let  the  Congress  see  and  hear 
the  old  man,  instead  of  merely  answering  for  him  ;  re-incarnate  David^ 
and  let  him  tell  the  Congress  who  really  wrote  the  Psalms  ;  or  Moses, 
and  let  him  tellwho  wrote  the  Pentateuch  and  where  the  Creation  story 
came  from  ;  or  Adam,  and  let  him  tell  where  Cain  gob  his  wife ;  or  Me- 
thuselah, and  let  the  oldest  of  men  tell  how  he  managed  to  escape  the 
Flood  without  being  recorded  as  an  inmate  of  the  ark. 

Unfortunately,  to-day  there  are  millions  of  supposed-to-be-educated 
people  who  believe  in  this  witchcraft,  and  scores  of  thousands  of  parsons 
whose  business  it  is  to  encourage  and  confirm  them  in  their  belief. 


-:o:- 


f  ANGELS"  AEE  NOT  FEMALES. 

Th6  countenances  of  some  thirty  or  forty  *' angels/'  in  the  Belmont 
Memorial  Chapel  of  the  St.  John  the  Divine  Cathedral  on  Morningside 
Heights,  New  York,  have  had  to  be  changed  from  a  feminine  to  a  mas- 
culine aspect)  in  consequence  of  the  criticism  of  some  unusually  obser- 
vant clerical  delegates  to  the  recent  Protestant  Episcopal  Convention  in 
New  York.  One  of  these  questioned  a  bystander  about  the  matter,  and 
found  he  was  speaking  to  J.  Guntzen  Mothe-Borglum,  the  sculptor  who 
modelled  them  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  the  Bible  invariably  repre- 
sents its  angels  as  young  men,  not  one  being  referred  to  as'a  female.  In 
the  end,  the  figures  were  all  remodelled.  It  is  not  commonly  known 
that  the  meaning  of  the  word  angel  is  really  "  messenger." 


The.  mother  was  expecting  guests  for  the  evening,  and  at  eight  o'clock  the 
youngest  son  was  told  that  it  was  bedtime.  The  little  fellow  persisted  in  sitting 
up  for  the  occasion,  pleading  fear  of  the  darkness.  His  mother  assured  him 
there  was  nothing  to  fear,  saying  he  would  not  be  alone,  as  the  angels  would  be 
in  the  room  to  guard  him.  P'inally,  the  youngster  reluctantly  went  to  bed,  An 
hour  later  a  little  figure  appeared  in  the  dining  room  doorway,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  the  entire  company,  saying:  "  Mamiua  !  "  "-Well,  dear?"  his 
mother  said,  "  May  I  speak,  mamma?"  "  Certainly,  dear.  What  do  you 
want?"  "  Mamma,  are  the  angels  in  my  room  now?"  "Yes,  dear."  "Are 
they  in  my  bed,  too?"  "Oh,  yes,  yes,  dear,"  answered  the  mother  impatiently. 
"Well,  then,  mamma,  the  angels  are  biting  me."^ — Ladies'  Home  journal. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  551 


10  It  BU  ? 


Reasons  fur   Believing   that,  although  Individual  Existence  Cannot 
Continue,  the  Grave  Does  Not  End  All  for  Human  Beings. 

bv  george  allen  white. 

:o: 

"  In  spite  of  the  shadows  and  the  visions,  I  rest  my  fate  upon  a  dream  which  is  not 
all  a  dream.  I  am  a  soldier  far  from  home.  The  helm  is  on  my  head  and  the  spear 
in  my  hand.     I  feel  that  I  have  left  somewhere  where  time  is  eternal  or  where  time  is 

unknown But  I  will  return.     Brief  on  this  earth  are  the  bivouac,  the  march, 

and  the  battle.  Something  stronger  than  death  and  strong  as  God  has  told  me  I  will 
return.  When  the  solemn  fir  strikes  his  roots  into  my  grave  and  the  rank  hemlock 
through  the  decayed  coffin  boards  has  absorbed  my  blood,  I  shall  have  returned  to 
that  home  where  my  babe  was  held  aloft  among  the  roses,  and  where  my  wife  sobbed 
'  Farewell  ! ' "— W.  Stewart  Ross  ("  Saladin  "),  in  "  God  and  His  Book,"  ch.  xxi. 


I  THINK  there  is  a  feeling  among  us— among  those  of  us  Liberals  who  have 
escaped  the  toils  of  religious  superstition— that  the  mystery  of  the  universe  is  at 
last  practically  all  explained.  To  many  in  our  ranks,  seemingly,  everything  is 
conceived  as  capable  of  being  grasped  in  esse  by  the  five  evolved  senses  of  man  ; 
as  being  easily  explainable  on  the  basis  of  those  senses,  if  not  now,  at  least  in  the 
not  far  remote  terrestnal  future. 

For  perhaps  the  most  of  us,  what  apocalypse  comes  from  the  huge  sidereal 
mechanism  aside  from  integration  and  disintegration,  evolution  and  devolution, 
world-whirling  and  tenuous  gas,  a  little  consciousness  and  eternal  sleep— in  short, 
a  bootless,  barmecide,  and  wholly  cognizable  repetition  throughout  measureless 
space  and  time  of  those  telescopic  and  other  cognitions  achieved  sensorially  by 
pigmy  outcroppings  of  intelligence  on  a  relatively  pigmy  world  within  that  mere 
finger-snap  of  time  known  as  the  last  few  hundred  years?  We  are  as  gnats,  the 
all  but  infra-microscopic  product  of  a  mighty  All-Tumid,  we  weakly  twist  and 
turn,  gibber  and  run  about  with  banal  effort  on  a  spherical  body  of  what  strikes 
us  as  *'  matter."  Yet  we  know  every  secret.  The  telescope,  the  microscope,  and 
the  test-tube  are  all-sufificient.  Ask  the  average  Freethinker  whether  anything 
higher,  anything  nobler,  or  ultimately  more  acute,  can  be  found  in  the  universe 
than  the  brain  of  man  or  evolutionary  extensions  of  it.  You  cannot  find  more 
than  one  here  and  there  whose  mental  vision  apprehends  aught  but  that  the 
human  by-products  of  imperial  spatial  mystery  are  really  superior  to  it ;  superior 
to  the  antecedent  and  environing  prescience  fashioning  them  into  what  they  are 
and  are  to  be. 

Such  was  rather  recently  my  own  view.  After  all,  I  said,  not  much  remains 
to  be  discovered,  not  much  to  be  imparted.  Quidnuncs,  we  use  our  eyes,  our 
ears,  our  sense  of  touch.  We  use  them  cleverly.  Our  knowledge  is  a  complete 
replica  of  the  Unknown.     Aud  this  is  all,  I  concluded. 

But  is  it  all? 


552  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


We  live  and  die.  We  gasp  and  grope  and  gasp  again.  But  is  this  all — 
absolutely  all  ? 

One  splendid  day  in  the  spring  of  1905  I  sat  in  a  sheltered  nook  back  of  our 
barn,  encompassed  by  a  welter  of  bright  sunshine — for  the  season  was  still  cold. 
Quiet  as  from  a  colossal  Lethe-stream  came  to  envelope  me  somehow  there.  In 
a  half-dream  state  I  looked  off  and  away  over  landscapes  beautiful  with  foliage 
and  life  ;  vibrant  and  alive  with  the  verve  of  existence,  the  inscrutableness  of 
being,  the  push  of  a  smaller  world.  And  as  I  looked  and  dreamed  and  dreamed 
and  hazily  thought  that  exquisite  morning,  upon  me  stole  the  consciousness,  the 
conviction,  never  before  realized,  that  here  was  displayed  for  man's  teaching  a 
high  hint  of  the  glory  of  eternality. 

For  all  this  profusion  of  life-moulds,  I  saw,  is  duplicated  and  not  infrequently 
exceeded  all  the  way  from  equator  to  the  poles  Out  of  that  which  is  grossly 
termed  inorganic  nature  arose  somewhere  and  some  'way  in  a  long  foretime 
paleontologically  divined,  the  faintly  functioning  progenitors  of  all  this  protean 
organic  fashioning.  For  millions  of  ages  that  dark,  meagre  super-crust — only  a 
few  feet  of  slime  or  triturated  rock — chancing  to  be  upwrought  toward  our  fervid 
sun  in  the  natal  writhing  of  this  earth,  has  been  metamorphosing  uniamed  into 
formal  life  and  back  again,  constantly  giving  expression  to  loftier  attributes  and 
powers,  to  choicer  and  ever  choicer  modes  of  all-mutable  being.  Every  meanest 
atom  of  that  thin  and  fragile  adventitious  topping  must,  even  in  the  present 
stellar  incarnation,  have  throbbed  and  throbbed  again,  instinct  with  the  vital 
spark  of  life,  animal,  vegetable  and,  deeper  yet,  mineral  and  impenetrably  occult. 

The  outer  layer  of  earth's  crust  is  what,  for  want  of  a  better  word,  may  be 
called  purely  accidental.  It  just  *' happened  "—in  obedience,  of  course,  to 
everlastingly  inerrant  laws,  to  be  thrust  to  the  outside  of  this  living  ball  of 
splendor.  That  mundane  veneer— of  relative  proportion  to  the  whole  mass  such 
as  would  be  imperceptible  in  an  orange— which  to-day  supports  life  in  all  its  in- 
vincible redundance,  and  which  in  the  marvellous  unru^h  of  intelligence  gives 
evidence  of  such  mystic  powers,  might  have  had  its  place  usurped  with  the  same 
remarkable  result  by  any  one  of  the  thousands  of  intermediate  like  strata  between 
teeming  surface  and  molten  centre. 

We  extend  the  life-picture.  "  On,  on  forever  ! "  It  breaks  upon  us  that, 
situated  at  the  open-faced  exterior,  each  and  every  particle  of  our  planet  would 
have  flowered  under  the  benign  auspices  of  the  sun,  into  just  such  to  us  consum- 
mate manifestations  of  organic  existence  as  the  chance-surface  exposed  by  this 
epoch  of  eternity  has  already  witnessed.  Scoop  out  the  prodigious  material 
mass  now  enveloped  in  apparent  blackness  beneath  the  rod  ;  submit  that  mass 
to  the  drastic  chemics  of  Old  Sol  by  spreading  it  in  flat  perspective  adown  the 
trail  of  space,  and  the  grand  ensemble,  **  inert,"  "  dead,"  *'  nothing  but  dirt  "  and 
water,  would  bud  into  all  the  wonder,  all  the  gorgeousness,  of  hope  and  love  and 
life.     The    human   race  is  no  more  exalted  than  the  oozy  mud.     We  are  not 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  553 

"  preferred  stock."  Whatever  i^,  lives  in  glory  evermore.  Each  atom  holds  in 
potency,  not  only  what  the  animate  history  of  the  world  shows  to  students 
archaeological,  but  far  be)ond  and  above  that,  a  matchless  grandeur  as  impossible 
of  conception  by  humanity  as  stellar  ma  esty  is  by  a  paltry  flea.  Each  atom  is 
but  the  seneschal  of  an  immortal  brightness  deep  ensconced  in  the  bosom  of  the 
eternal. 

Man  thinks  of  himself  as  an  unparalleled  entity— as  the  karma  of  the  universe. 
Great  as  man  is,  individuated  he  really  amounts  to  only  a  transitory  Nothing. 
But  even  though  he  be  considered  pre-eminent  in  the  cosmos,  he  can  be  evoked 
inimitably  out  of  that  so-called  matter  he  has  affected  with  disdain  to  despise. 
Between  four  and  five  billions  of  his  fruitful  kind  come  and  go  from  the  unknown 
to  the  unknown  every  century.  In  the  course  of  a  few  million  years  every 
material  unit  on  the  surface  of  pregnant  earth  will  have  repeatedly  gone  to 
make  up  his  might  and  worth,  his  geniality  and  probity,  his  thought  and  will  and 
emotions.  In  this  "  matter  "  resides  something  we  wot  not  of,  something  we 
sense  not  with  our  retorts,  our  crucibles,  our  chemical  reactions  of  the  laboratory 
annex.  Why  should  we  longer  hesitate  to  say  that  it  not  only  has  the  potentiali- 
ties of  organic  life  and  in  eternity  of  something  sublimer,  but  actually  is  alive, 
here  and  now,  and  mayhap  with  a  glory  of  purport — with  cadence  undying — in- 
conceivably beyond  any  imagine^l  by  the  out-craving  souls  of  earth  ? 

Even  that  constricted  externality  comprehensible  by  our  pale  senses  has 
shown  us  wonders  piling  upon  wonders  as  man's  intelligence  extends  ever  further 
in  the  urgeful  unravelling  of  material  relations  The  telescope,  the  railway,  the 
telephone  and  telegraph,  printing,  electricity  and  its  uses,  steamships,  houses, 
skyscrapers,  pianos,  photography,  Roentgen  rays,  wireless  telegraphy,  spectrum 
analysis,  the  swaying  audience  at  the  theatre,  automobiles,  gramophones,  the 
titanic  turmoil  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  afternoon  sunlight  — all  this,  together 
with  vegetation,  morality,  love,  the  sense  of  sublimity,  the  thrills  of  sex,  sym- 
pathy, intellect  and  undreamed-of  powers  and  wildly  thronging  mysteries 
awaiting  only  future  years  to  develop  full  and  free  beneath  our  palling  senses  — 
all  this  is  woven  eternally  adamant  in  the  texture  of  every  cubic  foot  of  matter 
and  of  all  the  atoms  of  this  globe,  from  centre  to  circumference,  through  and 
through  and  from  A  to  Z.from  hell-heat  to  curdling  cold,  FROM  PHENO- 
MENON TO  THE  FATHOMLESS  UNKNOWN 

We  do  not  have  to  embrace  a  defunct  Berkeleyism  or  even  latter-day  Idealist 
philosophy  to  concede  that  an  infinite  glory  underlies  the  whole  enigmatic 
scheme  of  circling  universes  ;  that  at  bottom  we  know  not  anything  ;  that  some 
time  the  All,  of  which  we  form  a  poor,  feeble,  in  a  measure  detached  part  to-day, 
may  take  us  in  ego-freed  concord  on  through  the  amaranthine  dawning  of  reali- 
zation to  the  sheen  and  lustre  of  a  diviner  day.  Verily  there  is  a  Glory,  yes,  a 
startling,  high-flung  Glory  in  and  thiough  it  all. 

Whatever  way  we  turn,  contradiction  and  ignorance  meet  us.     With  mocking 


554  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

face  they  thwart  our  best  endeavors.  Impotence  is  our  real  watchword.  What 
we  know  is  nothing.  Terrific  space  and  time — they  are  infinite,  yet  space  can 
be  divided  and  hence  seems  to  be  constituted  of  ihe  finite  ;  while  time  is  being 
augmented  each  second  that  ticks  on  the  dial  of  infinity.  The  material  universe 
— how  could  it  have  existed  forever  ?  Yet  plainly  it  could  never  have  been 
created  from  nothing.  The  sun — why  did  it  not  burn  itself  away  ages  ago  ?  For 
these  and  other  fundamental  problems  there  is  no  apparent  explanation  to  finite 
mentality.     There  is  nothing  to  be  said,  nothing  to  do  hut  —  wait. 

Yet  they  are  explainable.  They  must  be.  An  explanation  exists,  though  not 
imaginable  by  us.  We  know  nothing — but  everything  has  been  known  and 
will  be  known,  can  be  known  and  is  known.  Else  the  All  is  insane.  Else 
everlasting  Power  is  in  need  of  a  conservator. 

"  If  we  had  any  scientific  evidence  which  justified  us  in  ^oing  back  to  a  stage 
when  ether  (whatever  the  *  prolhyl '  may  turn  out  to  be)  alone  existed  ;  and 
could  then  show  how  atoms  of  ponderable  matter  arose  by  condensation  of  it,  or 
by  the  formation  of  vortices  in  it ;  and  could  see  these  atoms  being  grouped  into 
the  complex  atoms  of  oxygen,  gold,  sulphur,  etc.,  and  could  further  trace  their 
aggregation  into  meteorites,  and  the  meteorites  into  nebular  and  the  nebular  into 
solar  systems — even  then  we  should  in  reality  be  no  nearer  the  beginning." — ■ 
Joseph  McCabe  :  "  Haeckel's  Critics  Answered." 

"  Unfortunately,  the  materialistic  system  leaves  as  much  to  be  desired  in  this 
respect  as  the  spiritualistic.  Indeed,  this  riddle  will  never  be  solved  by  the 
mind  of  man,  for  it  can  never  overstep  the  limits  of  time,  space,  and  causality 
which  nature  and  experience  have  imposed  on  it,  and  which  the  universe,  as 
such,  does  not  know  ;  and  because,  in  order  to  solve  this  problem,  it  would  have 
to  place  itself  outside  the  universe  to  which  it  belongs.  Hence  all  systems  that 
have  yet  purported  to  interpret  the  world  by  one  principle — whether  they  called 
it  Matter,  or  Spirit,  or  God,  or  the  Absolute,  or  the  Thing  in  Itself,  or  the 
World-soul,  or  the  Unknowable,  or  Will,  or  the  Unconscious,  or  what  not — were 
either  wrecked  by  their  own  impotence,  or  were  compelled  to  hide  this  impotence 
from  the  eyes  of  the  uninitiated  by  a  screen  of  fine  phrases."  — Ludwig  Buchner, 
"  Science  and  Metaphysics,'   Essay. 

•*  So  that,  in  fact,  impossible  as  it  is  to  think  of  the  actual  universe  as  self- 
existing,  we  do  but  multiply  impossibilities  of  thought  by  every  attempt  we  make 

to  explain  its   existence It  results,  therefore,  that  space  and    time  are 

wholly  incomprehensible.  The  immediate  knowledge  which  we  seem  to  have  of 
them  proves,  when  examined,  to  be  total  ignorance.  .  .  .  Matter,  then,  in  its 
ultimate  nature,  is  as  absolutely  incomprehensible  as  space  and  time.  Frame 
what  suppositions  we  may,  we  find  on  tracing  out  their  implications  that  they 
teach  us  nothing  but  a  choice  between  opposite  absurdities  .  .  .  While,  then,  it 
is  impossible  to  form  any  idea  of  force  in  itself,  it  is  equally  impossible  to  com- 
prehend its  mode  of  exercise.  .  .  .  Hence,  while  we  are  unable  either  to  believe 
or  to  conceive  that  the  duration  of  consciousness  is  infinite,  we  are  equally  unable 
either  to  believe  or  to  conceive  it  as  finite.  ...  So  that  the  personality  of  which 
each  is  conscious,  and  of  which  the  existence  is  to  each  a  fact  beyond  all  others 
the  most  certain,  is  yet  a  thing  which  cannot  truly  be  known  at  all ;  knowledge 
of  it  is  forbidden  by  the  very  nature  of  thought.  .  .  .  Though  as  knowledge 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  655 


approaches  ils  culmination,  every  unaccountable  and  seemingly  supernatural 
fact  is  brought  into  the  category  of  facts  that  aie  accountable  or  natural  ;  yet,  at 
the  same  time,  all  accountable  or  natural  facts  are  proved  to  be  in  their  ultimate 
genesis  unaccountable  and  supernatural." — Herbert  Spencer,  "First  Prin- 
ciples," ch.  I  to  5. 

'*  Was  life  implicated  in  the  nebula — as  part,  it  may  be,  of  a  vaster  and 
wholly  unfathomable  life;  or  is  it  the  work  of  a  Being  standing  outside  the 
nebula,  who  fashioned  it,  and  vitalized  it  ;  but  whose  own  origin  and  ways  are 
equally  past  finding  out  ?  "—John  Tyndall,  "Apology  for  the  Belfast  Address."^ 

"  If  these  statements  startle,  it  is  because  matter  has  been  defined  by 
philosophers  and  theologians  who  were  equally  unaware  that  it  is,  at  bottom^, 
essentially  mystic  al  and  transcendental.  .  .  .  Science  understands  much  of  this 
intermediate  state  of  things  that  we  call  nature,  of  which  it  is  the  product  ;  but 
science  knows  nothing  of  the  origin  or  destiny  of  nature.  Who  or  what  made 
the  sun  and  gave  his  rays  their  alleged  power?  Who  or  what  made  and 
bestowed  ui^on  the  ultimate  particles  of  matter  their  wondrous  power  of  varied 
interaction  ?  Science  does  not  know  :  the  mystery,  though  pushed  back,  remains 
unaltered.  To  many  of  us  who  feel  that  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  the  present  philosophy  of  science,  but  who  have 
been  also  taught,  by  baffled  efforts,  how  vain  is  the  attempt  to  grapple  with  the 
Inscrutable,  the  ultimate  frame  of  mind  is  that  of  Goethe  : 

"  '  Who  dares  to  name  His  name, 
Or  belief  in  Him  proclaim. 
Veiled  in  mystery  as  He  is,  the  All-enfolder  ? 
Gleams  across  the  mind  His  light, 
Feels  the  lifted  soul  His  might. 
Dare  it  then  deny  His  reign,  the  All-upholder  ?' " 

—John  Tyndall,  •'  Vitality,"  Essay. 

"  Perhaps  the  principle  of  polarity  may  assist  us  in  understanding  that  both 
theories  [Idealistic  and  Materialistic]  may  be  true;  or,  rather,  that  matter  and 
spirit,  necessiiyand  free-will  may  be  opposite  poles  of  one  fundamental  truth, 
which  is  beyond  our  comprehension." — Samuel  Laing,  "A  Modern  Z.oroastrian." 

(To  he  concluded.) 


Parson— My  little  man,  do  you  go  to  church  every  Sunday  ? 
Bobbie— Yes,  sir  ;  I'm  not  old  enough  to  stay  away. 

A  very  old  lady  on  her  deathbed,  in  penitent  mood  said,  "  I  have  been  a? 
great  sinner  more  than  eighty  years  and  didn't  know  it."  An  old  colored 
woman,  who  had  lived  with  her  a  long  while,  exclaimed,  "  Lors  !  I  knowed  it 
all  the  time." 


It  is  perhaps  natural  that  little  children  should  expect  their  small  supplications 
to  be  answered  literally.  We  can  sympathize  with  the  small  boy  over  his  sums, 
who  said  to  his  governess  in  a  puzzled,  half-indignant  voice  :  "  I  can't  do  my 
sums,  I  can't ;  and  I  did  ask  God  to  help  me,  and  He's  made  three  mistakes 
already." 


^56  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


fflD?  ]frien&  tbe  Sunbai?  Scbool  Superintenbent* 

:o: 

BY    AN    IDLER. 

We  were  sitting  in  the  cosy  back  room  of  one  of  our  hotels  the  other  day. 
There  was  just  the  right  number  of  us  for  one  of  those  httle  heart-to-heart  talks 
over  which  a  little  Walker's  Imperial  and  a  little  soda  exercises  such  a  benignant 
influence.  One  of  my  sodales  was  a  quiet,  shy,  reserved  man,  whose  whole 
ambition  it  is  to  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  all  mankind.  Yet  withal  there 
is  a  vein  of  quiet,  racy  humor  in  him  ;  and,  thawing  out  under  the  genial  influ- 
ences of  his  environment,  he  told  us  the  following  tale.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  simple 
little  story  ;  yet  in  its  way  it  struck  me  as  a  true  lyric  idyll.  It  also  throws,  in  its 
simple,  unadorned  style  as  a  true  picture  of  rural  worship,  a  flood  of  illumination 
on  the  religion  of  the  cross-roads.  Our  ancestors  were  pagans  ;  scratch  us  a  little 
and  you  find  the  pagan  still 

My  friend,  it  seemed,  once  dwelt  in  the  country,  and,  having  nothing  better  to 
do  on  a  Sunday,  found  himself  in  church.  Though  an  Episcopalian,  there  was 
nothing  nearer  than  the  little  Methodist  chapel.  So  thither  his  instinct  of  gre- 
gariousness  drew  him.  By  and  by  he  became  a  Sunday  school  teacher,  and, 
when  the  post  of  Sunday  school  superintendent  fell  vacant,  a  discerning  public 
proposed  him  for  the  post.  Some  are  born  to  honor,  some  achieve  it,  and 
others  have  honors  thrust  upon  them  !  The  last  was  my  friend's  dilemma.  He 
♦car^d  not  for  the  honor,  but  he  disliked  worse  the  importunities  of  his  friends 
and  neighbors.  Yielding  reluctantly,  he  only  bargained  for  the  unanimous 
support  of  all.  A  Sunday  school  superintendent  is  born,  not  made ;  so  the 
congregation  readily  promised  support. 

Now,  my  friend,  having  once  put  his  hand  to  the  plow,  naturally  desired  as 
straight  and  clean  a  furrow  as  possible.  The  exercises  seemed  to  him  to  lack 
life  and  vigor,  so  he  proceeded  to  introduce  innovations.  The  Sunday  school 
became  popular.  The  hired  man  preferred  it  on  a  Sunday  to  hunting  ground 
hogs.  Young  Mr.  Farmer  found  it  a  nicer  place  in  which  to  court  Miss  Nextlot 
than  the  new  buggy.  It  was  an  excellent  curtain-raiser  to  the  serious  drama  of  the 
walk  home  after  church.  The  attendance  still  kept  increasing,  and  my  friend 
thought  he  had  at  last  found  the  true  vocation  of  his  life  ! 

Amongst   the  innovations   was  a  choir  and  a  brand  new  organ,  and  an  organ 
,  meant  an  organist,  according  to  Dr.  Paley's  argument  on  design  ;  and  my  friend, 
as  a  still  further  improvement  on   the  logical   necessities  of  the  case,  added  an 
assistant  organist ;  and  herein  he  erred  against  both  light  and  logic. 

In  his  appointment  my  friend  consulted  musical  proficiency  alone,  and  thought 

not  on  unseen  and  hidden  danger.     His  choice  for  organist  fell  on  the  daughter 

of  a  local  preacher,  and  for  assistant  on  the  daughter  of  the  local  class-leader- 

'For  some  time  all  went  merry  as  the  customary  marriage  bell.     One  day,  how- 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  557: 


ever,  the  organist  was  absent,  but  the  understudy  kept  her  usual  seat  in  the 
family  pew.  My  friend  went  down  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  said  :  "  Welly- 
Lib,  come  on  up  to  the  organ."  Lib  replied  that  she  '*  did  not  like  to."  *'  Oh^^ 
come  !  "  said  he  ;  "  you  will  manage  all  right."  But  she  said,  "  My  people  will 
not  let  me."  My  friend,  nothing  discouraged,  went  to  the  good  class-leader  and 
explained  to  him  the  emergency.  To  his  consternation  tlie  man  of  God  replied  : 
'*  Ma  and  I  have  been  talking  this  matter  over,  and  if  Lib  ain't  organist  she 
don't  play  at  all."  My  friend  said,  "  All  right,"  and  started  the  hymn  as  best  he 
could.  At  the  end  of  the  service  he  introduced  a  new  variation.  It  had  been 
customary  to  close  with  a  prayer  by  the  class-leader,  and  this  prayer  was  the 
Joseph  of  his  old  age.  It  was  an  heir-loom  from  generations  of  ancestral  class- 
leaders.  His  in  his  strenuous  youth,  his  in  his  sturdy  manhood,  his  in  his 
ripening  old  age.  In  youth,  in  manhood,  and  in  the  sere  and  yellow  he  had 
told  the  Lord  that  his  sins  were  like  the  hairs  on  his  head,  all  unconscious  that 
Nature,  the  mighty  joker,  was  fast  rendering  him  a  Sir  Galahad.  That  prayer 
was  the  great  weekly  event  of  his  life  when  for  a  short  quarter  of  an  hour  he 
bounded  from  the  commonplace  of  the  plowtail  and  became  a  priest  and  a 
prophet  in  Israel.  My  friend  quietly  closed  with  a  simple  benediction,  leaving 
the  prayer  unsaid.  The  revenge  was  subtle  enough  for  a  Machiavelli.  He 
further  startled  the  audience  with  the  dramatic  announcement  that  next  Sunday 
was  positively  his  last  appearance  on  that  stage.  My  friend  kept  his  word,  and 
so  ended  his  meteoric  career  as  a  Sunday  School  Superintendent. 


Uqc  of  flDan  on  tbe  fiartb* 

;o: 

Most  readers  are  familar  with  the  eloquent  disquisition  on  lost  arts  written  and 
spoken  to  thousands  of  Americans  many  years  ago  by  Wendell  Phillips.  Few 
can  have  read  what  he  wrote  without  being  led  to  reflections  on  what  may  be 
the  deeper  significance  of  such  facts  as  those  he  wrote  of,  and  to  them  many  have 
since  been  added. 

Within  recent  years  there  has  been  great  activity  in  exploration  and  excavation 
on  the  sites  of  ancient  cities  of  which  history  has  long  had  more  or  less  vague 
mention.  Among  the  striking  facts  emphasized  by  the  result  of  this  activity  is 
the  knowledge  that  many  of  these  ancient  cities,  though  now  in  complete  ruins, 
and  some  of  them  for  long  periods  entirely  lost  to  man's  knowledge,  prove  upon 
being  turned  up  to  the  light  to  have  been  superimposed  upon  the  ruins  of  yet 
other  cities  far  older  than  themselves,  and  that  these  yet  older  cities  are  knowrv  to 
have  existed  at  all  only  through  these  recent  excavations. 

The  University  of  Chicago  has  an  excavation  expedition  in  the  great  plain  of 
Babylonia,  and  the  field  director  has  recently  published  some  account  of  its 
result.  In  this  are  particulars,  in  part,  of  the  excavation  of  Bismaya,  a  Sumerian 
or  ante- Babylonian  city,  believed  to  have  flourished  5,000  to  6,000  years  ago. 

The  Babylonian  plain,  almost  perfectly  level,  a  thin  crust  of  clayey  soil 
imposed  on  a  bed  of  caving  sand  of  unknown  depth,  without  slopes  on  its  sur- 


558  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


face,   offered  diffculties  to  any  kind  of  drainage  that  would  seem  to   be  nearly 
insuperable  to  the  best  sewer-building  science  of  our  own  day. 

Yet  this  excavation  has  revealed  that  the  drainage  engineers  of  6,000  years 
ago  overcame  them  triumphantly  by  an  elaborate  systeni  of  terra  cotta  drains 
sunk  many  feet  into  the  sand,  erected  vertically  of  sections  resting  on  each  other, 
€ach  with  grooved  flanges  to  receive  the  one  above  it,  and  all  perforated  with 
small  holes  through  which  water  could  escape  into  the  sand  in  the  event  of  any 
choking  of  the  lowest  outlet. 

In  this  drainage  system  are  found,  also,  constructed  of  terra  cotta  still  well 
preserved,  several  examples  of  arched  drains.  Until  the  discovery  a  few  years 
•ago  in  the  lowest  stratum  under  the  Babylonian  city  of  Nippur  of  a  dilapidated 
arch,  it  had  been  supposed  that  the  arch  was  wholly  unknown  until  Roman  times. 
But  it  now  appears  in  this  excavation  and  in  some  others  made  by  the  Germans 
in  the  same  region  that  the  arch  was  frequently  employed  by  builders  of  cities 
long  anterior  to  Babylon,  or  more  than  6,000  years  ago. 

When  we  read  of  these  things  to-day  we  cannot  avoid  yet  more  interesting 
reflections  Within  the  memory  of  living  men  it  was  the  well-nigh  universally 
accepted  belief  that  the  earth  was  spoken  into  existence  "  out  of  nothing  "  only 
about  6,000  years  ago.  Here  and  there  some  daring  individual  speculator 
thought  and  spoke  differently,  but  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  profane  and  danger- 
ous man,  in  whom  other  men  scarcely  dared  repose  confidence  even  in  the 
ordinary  affairs  of  daily  life. 

Yet  now  we  are  learning  that  before  the  day  when  Adam  was  believed  to  have 
been  created  as  the  crowning  act  of  the  creation  of  the  earth,  even  then  men 
were  living  in  millions  on  the  plain  of  Babylonia,  building  great  cities,  furnishing 
them  with  what  we  to-day  call  "  modern  improvements,"  and  achieving  therein 
these  and  other  works  which  amount  to  indubitable  proof  that  they  had  deve- 
loped a  civilization  which  all  of  human  history  that  we  know  anything  about 
^oes  to  show  could  only  have  been  the  product  of  evolution  through  thousands 
of  anterior  years. 

Fut^ther,  men  have  long  known  that  in  Egypt  and  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
world  are  the  remains  of  oher  cities,  demonstrating  the  existence  of  other  forms 
of  civilization  approximately  as  oM  as  Bibylon.  And  if  in  Babylonia  there  had 
been  elaborate  civilization  long  anterior  to  Babylon,  is  there  any  reason  to  deny 
that  older  civilizations  also  preceded  the  vast  remains  of  dead  civilizations  in 
other  parts  of  the  world  ?  It  could  hardly  have  been  true  of  Babylonia  without 
being  equally  or  nearly  equally  true  of  other  regions. 

Moreover,  since  we  long  supposed  Babylon  to  have  been  the  outgrowth  of  the 
first  civilization  attained  by  mankind,  and  now  find  that  it  was  rot  so,  but  had 
been  preceded  by  other  far  earlier  civilizations,  culminating  in  the  greatly  older 
cities  of  Bismaya  and  Fara  and  others,  all  evincing  growth  through  many  ages, 
are  not  we  authorized  to  believe  that  Bismaya  and  Fara  were  no  more  than 
Babylon  products  of  man's  earlier  civilizations  ?  As  they  underlie  what  we  long 
supposed  the  oldest  of  nan's  work,  may  not — indeed,  considering  their  character 
must  not — there  be  others  still  older  underlying  them  ? 

Are  we  not  almost  driven  by  such  revelations  of  antiquity  not  heretofore 
conceived  of  to  the  conclusion  that  for  countless  millions  of  ages  the  old  earth, 
which  has  not  essentially  changed  since  our  civilization  began,  has  been  the 
scene  whereon  human  civilization  after  civilization,  varying  in  form  but  always 
.human  civilization,    has   been    born   in   endless   succession,    each  growing   up 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  559 


through  thousands  of  years,  culminating  in  the  highest  attainment  possihle  to 
each,  and  then  dying  out,  and  perhaps  through  unrecorded  ages  of  savagery  or  in 
some  other  wise  regerminating  into  a  new  form  of  Hfe  to  bear  blossom  and  fruit 
and  die  in  its  turn  ?  And  we  must  further  conjecture  that  this  process  of  birth 
and  bloom  and  culmination  and  decay  and  death  and  rebirth  of  man's  civiliza- 
tion, as  of  men  as  individuals,  is  to  go  on  through  uncounted  ages  of  a  perhaps 
endless  future. — Chicago  Chronicle. 


lS>ctt\\cc  of  ''  Zbc  Xor^  "  Hgainet  bis  /IDaltaners. 

:o:- 

That  was  an  interesting  event  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  Joshua  was 
engaged  in  a  death  struggle  with  the  host  of  the  five  kings  of  the  Amorites. 
The  Lord  was  enlisted  with  Joshua,  as  we  are  told,  Josh,  lo  :  8,  who  instructed 
him  not  to  fear,  and  slew  the  enemy  with  great  slaughter,  casting  down  great 
stones  from  heaven,  upon  them"  so  that  more  died  from  the  stones  than  Israel 
slew  with  the  sword.  But  night  was  coming  on  and  the  killing  was  not  finished, 
so,  in  obedience  to  Joshua's  request  of  the  Lord,  "  the  sun  stood  still,  and  the 
moon  stayed,  until  the  people  had  avenged  themselves  on  the  enemy."  Says 
the  inerrant  record  :  "So  the  sun  stood  still  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  hasted 
not  to  go  down  about  a  whole  day." 

The  surface  of  the  earth  in  its  diurnal  revolution  moves  forward  more  than^ 
i,ooo  miles  an  hour.  If  stopped  in  its  motion  everything  on  its  surface  would 
be  hurled  forward.  The  waters  of  rivers,  lakes,  seas  and  oceans  would  leave 
their  beds.  Every  tree  would  be  torn  from  its  root,  and  fly  like  feathers  in  a 
tornado.  Rocks,  like  gossamer  in  the  wind,  would  rush  through  the  air,  not 
visible  because  of  their  speed.  Mountains  would  leave  their  base  and  roll  on 
over  continents.  All  life  w(;uld  be  destroyed.  Nothing  could  resist  this  forward 
precipitation  of  matter  with  the  revolution  of  the  earth  stopped.  The  tornado 
sweeping  over  the  plain  at  one  hundred  miles  an  hour  prostrates  everything. 
Multiply  this  force  and  velocity  ten  times  and  imagination  cannot  exaggerate  the 
result  ;  and  this  is  just  what  would  occur  with  the  stoppage  of  the  earth  in  its 
revolution. 

But  the  grand  display  of  Almighty  power  is  recorded  in  II.  Kings  20  :  11, 
when  the  Lord  turned  the  dial  of  time  back  ten  degrees.  The  effect  of  such  an 
event  would  be  double  that  when  the  earth  was  simply  stopped  »n  its  revolution, 
equal  to  the  impact  of  the  two  bodies  meeting,  each  moving  with  the  velocity  of 
a  thousand  miles  an  hour. 

We  are  instructed,  *'  God  is  the  same  yesterday,  today  and  forever ;  that  with 
him  there  is  no  variation  or  shadow  of  turning  ;"  and  yet  how  often  are  we  told 
of  his  repenting  that  he  made  man  ;  that  he  drowned  the  world  to  get  rid  of  the 
productions  of  his  own  hand.  It  is  time  somebody  should  come  to  the  defence 
of  the  Lord  against  his  maligners  ;  hence  the  reason  The  Progressive  Thinker 
has  assumed  the  task.  The  book  recording  these  libels  was  priest-made.  It 
reflects  the  narrow  ideas  of  ignorance,  and  it  is  an  outrage  to  allow  it  to  repeat 
its  barbarism  without  contradiction  on  a  cultured  age  and  on  an  enlightened 
people. — Progressive  Thinker. 


560  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


3u6ttce  to  c;boma0  patne. 

RE-DEDICATION  OF  THE  PAINE  MONUMENT  AT 
LA  ROCHELLE,  N.Y. 

:o: 

Condensed  from  the  N.Y.  Truth  Seeker. 

The  date  was  Saturday,  October  14,  1905,  and  the  occasion  the  re  dedication 
and  assignment  to  the  custody  and  care  of  New  Rochelle  of  the  Thomas  Paine 
Monument  on  North  street,  erected  in  1893  by  Gilbert  Vale  and  other  Free- 
thinkers, and  since  that  date  kept  in  repair  and  supplied  with  a  bronze  bust  of 
Paine  by  the  Liberals  of  New  York  and  the  country  at  large.  The  first  man  on 
the  scene  was  Capt.  George  W.  Lloyd,  who  by  reason  of  strength  is  four  score 
and  over,  and  who  appended  to  convenient  trees  the  old  familiar  banners  bearing 
the  legends,  "Thomas  Paine,  Author-Hero  of  the  Revolutioi.,"  and  "Spare  the 
Man,  but  Kill  Monarchy."  Captain  Lloyd  had  his  piccolo  with  him. 

As  representative  of  the  Paine  Historical  Society,  the  Paine  Memorial 
Association,  and  the  Bronze  Bust  Committee,  Dr.  E.  B.  Foote,  Jr.,  was  Chair- 
man of  the  meeting  Dr.  Foote  was  also  the  creator  of  the  event  For  weeks 
he  has  devoted  time  and  labor  to  the  arrangements  ;  he  organized  the  demon- 
stration, prepared  the  program,  and  carried  things  ahead  to  great  and  glittering 
success.  The  mayor  and  the  city  council  of  New  Rochelle  did  their  part  with 
honor  and  fidelity,  and  Gen.  Frederick  D.  Grant,  commander  of  the  Department 
of  the  East,  contributed  in  the  name  of  Uncle  Sam.  The  National  Guard 
represented  the  State  of  New  York.  The  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  the 
Minutemen,  and  the  Washington  Continental  Guards  were  present  by  their 
officers. 

Captain  W.  H  Sage,  23rd,  commanding  the  U.S.  Army  Post  at  Ft.  Slocum, 
detailed  for  the  occasion  the  Ft.  Slocum  Band  and  a  Battalion  consisting  of 
Companies  "  A  "  and  ''  B  "  8th  U.S.  Infantry.  The  second  Battery  N.G.,  N.Y  , 
sent  a  detail  of  five  guns. 

Delegates  came  from  Flandreau  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and  the  Norman  Crosby 
Post,  Spanish  War  Veterans. 

The  parade  through  New  Rochelle  started  about  2.15  from  Huguenot  street 
near  the  railroad  station,  headed  by  a  squad  of  police  (for  form's  sake),  and 
Mayor  Henry  S.  Clark  and  the  common  council  under  the  recently  adopted 
city  flag,  then  used  for  the  first  time.  Passing  down  Huguenot  street,  around 
the  Soluiers'  Monument  and  up  Main  to  Rose  street,  the  procession  swung  into 
North  street  and  along  that  thoroughfare  to  the  Paine  Monument.  The  military 
and  National  Guards  grounded  arms  facing  the  monument,  the  Continentals  and 
Minutemen  marched  around  the  inclosure,  the  Civil  and  Spanish  War  Veterans 
were  provided  with  seats  facing  the  orators  of  the  day,  while  the  battery  of  five 
guns,  four  horses  to  the  gun,  rumbled  down  the  lane  that  is  to  be  officially 
known  as  Paine  Avenue,  and  unlimbered  in  the  adjacent  field. 

A  swarm  of  New  Rochelle  school  children  under  Musical  Director  Geo.  H. 
Foss,  assembled  between  the  monument  and  North  street,  and,  accompanied  by 
the  Fort  Slocum  Band,  sang  the  hymn  "America."  The  singing  was  soft  but 
sweet. 

This  opened  the  ceremonies.  The  scene  was  a  pretty  one.  The  day  was  the 
loveliest  of  the  season,  sunny  and  just  cool  enough  not  to  be  too  warm.     Across 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  561 


North  street  the  rising  ground  .was  occupied  by  hundreds  of  women  and  children, 
with  a  sprinkHng  of  men.  In  the  road  were  the  soldiers  standing  at  ease  in 
their  trim  uniforms.  South  of  the  monument  in  Paine  Avenue  were  the  veterans 
and  back  of  them  rows  of  seats  occupied  by  visitors,  while  the  crowd  who  found 
standing  room  only  surrounded  the  inclosure  about  the  memorial.  In  the  back 
ground  was  the  battery  of  guns.  The  monument  itself  is  much  better  situated 
than  formerly.  In  the  middfe  of  Paine  Avenue  beside  North  street,  it  is  on 
more  elavated  ground,  has  a  raised,  tiled,  and  curbed  walk  about  it,  and  is 
immediately  surrounded  by  a  yet  more  elevated  base  and  an  iron  fence.  Inside 
the  fence  were  seated  the  speakers,  the  mayor  and  council  and  distinguished 
visitors. 

There  were  Liberals  present  from  out  of  town,  but  not  so  many  as  would 
have  come  if  they  had  foreseen  the  magnitude  of  the  event.  Trolley  lines  fron> 
adjacent  towns,  loaded  to  the  guards,  drew  up  at  the  monument  and  the  cry  was 
"  All  out."     They  were  extra  cars  and  went  no  farther. 

The  voice  of  the  younger  Dr.  Foote,  appropriately  stentorian,  called  the 
assemblage   to  order.     Dr.  Foote  said  : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  Others  will  tell  you  to-day  of  the  life  and  works  of 
Thomas  Paine.  I  am  here  to  give  you  the  last  chapter  in  his  story.  Paine  died 
in  New  York  city  in  1809,  and  the  funeral  was  held  a  few  days  later.  His  body 
was  brought  up  from  New  York  and  buried  somewhere  within  fifty  feet  of  this 
monument.  There  it  lay  for  several  years  and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  its 
presence  but  a  headstone  inscribed  "  Thomas  Paine  "  and  the  dates  of  his  birth 
and  death.  William  Cobbett,  an  Englishman,  raised  the  bones  of  Paine  and 
took  them  back  to  England  with  him.  At  that  time  Cobbett  thought  he  could 
effect  a  revolution  in  the  government  of  England  with  the  bones  of  Paine,  and 
that  men  would  get  together  and  erect  a  great  monument  to  Paine,  but  fron> 
Mr.  Cobbett's  large  idea  only  small  results  came.  The  fact  is  that  nothing  was 
accomplished  by  the  project,  and  the  bones  knocked  about  England  for  many 
years  until  now,  no  one,  Mr.  Conway  says,  knows  where  they  are. 

In  1833  a  man  named  Tilley,  who  was  the  tailor  of  Mr.  Cobbett,  took  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  bones  of  Paine  in  London  and  secure  1  a  small  portion 
of  his  hair  and  brain.  The  piece  of  brain  was  handed  down  until  Mr.  Conway 
got  hold  of  it  in  London.  'I  his  relic  of  Paine  is  here  in  this  small  box.  Now, 
this  portion  of  the  remains  of  Paine  is  all  that  we  have  left,  and  sometime  it  will 
be  placed  within  this  monument ;  then  we  can  say  the  remains  of  Paine,  all  that 
we  have,  are  to  be  found  here.  You  have  all  heard  the  song  '•  John  Brown's 
body  lies  mouldering  in  the  grave,  but  his  soul  goes  marching  on  ; "  and  so  with 
Paine  ;  his  bones  may  be  scattered  about  the  earth,  but  his  soul  goes  marching  on. 

President  Andrew  Jackson  said,  "Thomas  Paine  needs  no  monument  made 
by  hands  ;  he  has  erected  a  monument  in  the  hearts  of  all  men  who  love  liberty." 
But  they  got  together  a  subscription  of  about  one  thousand  dollars  and  erected 
this  stone  in  1839,  a  few  feet  south  of  where  it  now  stands.  When  they  brought 
this  monument  from  Tuckahoe  they  were  not  able  to  place  it  right  over  the 
grave  on  account  of  the  grave  being  located  on  private  property,  and  so  the 
monument  was  placed  at  the  entrance  to  this  lane  which  leads  up  to  the  house 
on  the  hill  where  Paine  at  one  time  lived.  The  ownership  of  the  fand  on  which 
the  monument  stood  was  in  dispute  for  forty  years  and  no  particufar  attention, 
was  given  to  it  except  by  Captain  Lloyd  and  occasional  straggling  visitors. 

In  1 88 1  New  York  friends  of  Paine  repaired  and  polished  it  up,  and  in  1899 


562  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Ihe  handsome  bronze  bust  made  by  Wilson  McDonald  was  unveiled.  Within  a 
year  or  two  a  spirit  of  improvement  has  come  across  the  people  of  New  Rochelle 
and  they  have  improved  North  street,  as  you  see,  all  the  way  to  this  spot.  They 
have  taken  the  monument  in  and  put  it  up  here  as  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy 
forever  (applause.).  New  Rochelle  has  carried  out  a  noble  piece  of  work,  after 
it  was  neglected  for  many  yeafs.  But  so  were  the  bones  of  Paul  Jones  neglected 
for  many  years.  The  bones  of  Paul  Jones  have  been  brought  to  this  country 
.and  buried  with  due  ceremony,  and  now  we  can  say  also  that  the  memory  of 
Thomas  Paine  has  received  the  best  attention  that  the  city  of  New  Rochelle  can 
bestow,  and  the  monument  has  been  placed  so  it  will  stand  for  many  a  year. 

This  is  a  great  day  for  New  Rochelle,  for  Thomas  Paine,  for  the  country,  and 
for  us.  As  a  result  of  this  celebration,  the  history  of  Paine  will  be  looked  up  l)y 
those  unfamiliar  with  it,  and  his  services  to  the  country  will  be  more  and  more 
appreciated. 

It  may  be  that  the  Committee  who  has  had  this  affair  in  charge  will  think 
best  to  offer  some  prizes  for  the  children  of  New  Rochelle  to  write  essays  on 
"  The  Paine  Monument :  Why  il   should  be  Cherished  and  Preserved." 

I  will  read  a  few  words  from  a  letter  which  Mr  Conway  has  sent  for  this 
occasion.     (The  letter  will  be  published  in  our  next  issue  ) 

After  speeches  irom  Mr.  Theodore  Schroeder,  of  the  Brooklyn  Philosophical 
Association  ;  Mr.  Hagaman  Hall,  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  and 
Mr.  Thaddeus  B.  Wakeman,  of  the  Manhattan  Liberal  Club,  Dr.  Foote  said: 
Our  next  speaker  will  be  the  Mayor  of  New  Rochelle,  the  Hon.  Henry  S. 
Clark.  We  turn  over  to  the  city,  I  say  to  Mr.  Clark  as  representative  of  the 
city  of  New  Rochelle,  all  interest  we  have  in  the  Paine  Monument  and  the 
Bronze  Bust.  We  have  nursed  the  project  of  its  erection,  and  have  guarded  |it  ; 
it  is  yours  to  protect  from  now  on  and  for  you  to  say  to  all  vandals,  Come  and 
see,  but  hands  off.     The  Mayor  will  now  address  you. 

Mayor  Clark  said  :  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentleman,— I  have  the  honor 
to  act  in  behalf  of  my  associates  of  the  Common  Council  and  the  People  of  the 
City  of  New  Rochelle,  as  a  spokesman  on  this  occasion  for  the  acceptance  of 
this  historical  memorial  by  the  City.  The  memorial  should  serve  and  will 
remain  an  object  lesson  inculcating  not  only  patriotism,  but  the  fundamental 
idea  which  appeared  only  in  Paine's  writings — political  equality  for  all  men. 
He  ranks  with  Samuel  Adams  as  a  patriot,  who  taught  to  the  British  subjects, 
that  they  have  rights  as  citizens  greater  than  those  conferred  upon  them  by  the 
British  crown.  Paine  brought  about  an  awakening  that  impressed  upon  the 
people  those  two  great  ideas — political  equality  and  the  power  by  popular 
suffrage  to  carry  on  a  government  by  which  all  men  were  equal  under  the  law. 
And  the  lesson  which  he  taught  then  is  a  lesson  which  should  not  be  forgotten 
now  May  this  memorial  ever  serve  to  keep  fresh  in  the  minds  of  this  oncoming 
generation  the  patriotism  and  the  love  of  liberty  of  Thomas  I'aine  and  of  the 
men  of  his  times  (applause).  And  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
in  behalf  of  my  associates  of  the  Common  Council,  the  representatives  of  the 
people  of  New  Rochelle,  we  accept  this  splendid  memorial  and  pledge  ourselves 
to  ever  protect  and  preserve  it,  trusting  it  will  ever  be  an  inspiration  to  self- 
sacrificing  citizenship. 

The  addresses  had  been  interspersed  with  mnsic  by  the  Fort  Slocum  band  and 
the  children's  choir ;  and  the  proceedings  ended  with  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns, 
one  for  each  of  the  original  States.     It  had  been  a  great  day  for  New  Rochelle. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  563 


»cfore  It  mne  Xiobt. 

:o: 

BY    MAD    MURDOCK. 

:o: 

"  When  It  Was  Dark  "  is  a  story  of  fiction  by  one  Guy  Thome.  Reviewers 
passed  it  by  for  reasons  that  will  be  clear  to  whoever  tries  to  read  it.  Then  the 
Bishop  of  London  "discovered"  the  book.  Then  other  parsons  also  "dis- 
covered "  it,  and  are  boosting  it  with  many  adjectives.  Nobody  besides  parsons 
is  on  record  as  saying  a  good  word  for  the  book,  that  the  Scripture  might  be 
fulfilled,  which  saith,  "  Thou  hast  hid  it  from  the  wise  and  prudent  and  hast 
revealed  it  unto  babes."  The  clergy  have  no  interest  in  the  sale  of  the  work. 
"  Rev."  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady  says  :  **  I  have  no  interest  in  the  sale  of  the 
book,  of  course,  but  " — 

Constantine  Schaube,  millionaire  and  British  M.P.,  is  a  hater  of  Christianity 
and  resolves  to  kill  it.  Sir  Robert  Llewellyn,  a  scholar  and  scientist,  who  has  an 
unlovely  wife  in  one  street  and  a  lovely  chorus  girl  in  another,  owes  Schaube 
;^i4,ooo.     Llewellyn  cancels  the  debt  by  forging  an  irkscription  to  this  effect  i 


:  I,  JOSEPH  OF  ARIMATHEA,  TOOK  THE  BOD-Y  I 
:  OF  JE.SUS  THE  NAZARENE  FROM  THE  TOMB  ! 
:       WHERE    IT    WAS    FIRST  LAID   AND    HID    IT    IN       1 

:    THIS  PLACE  : 

— Translation  from  the  Inscription. 

Sir  Robert,  acting  for  his  chief,  "  salts  the  claim."  The  suggestion  the  arcH 
conspirator  wished  to  plant  in  the  minds  of  all  Christians  was  that  the  body  of 
jesus  had  been  stolen  from  the  original  tomb  in  order  to  spare  the  disciples  the 
misery  of  the  final  end  of  their  hopes.  In  due  course  the  inscription  is  disco- 
vered by  the  "  Palestine  Exploring  Expedition,"  the  news  of  the  revelation  given 
to  the  world,  and  the  darkness  of  irreligion  falls  upon  the  Christian  nations. 

Crime  at  once  increases,  morality  ceases,  marriage  ties  are  cast  aside,  and  the 
women  of  the  country  are  the  first  to  suffer  humiliation  and  shame.  Chaos 
developes.  All  the  evil  passions  of  humanity  come  to  the  surface,  and  a  flood 
of  wickedness  and  impiety  is  poured  over  the  world.  A  secondary  effect  of  the 
death  of  Christianity  is  found  in  the  sudden  revival  of  the  power  of  the  Mo- 
hammedans, who  start  a  massacre  which  practically  exterminates  the  Christians 
in  the  East.  Horrible  scenes  of  riot  and  murder  are  leported,  and  incendiarism 
and  war  fill  the  world  with  a  lurid  glare.  At  the  end  of  six  months  the  fraud  is- 
discovered.  Sir  Robert  giving  the  thing  away,  and  the  story  ends  with  the  return 
of  universal  peace  and  light,  for  Christianity  becomes  alive  again  as  suddenly 
as  it  had  died. 

Thorne  may  be  quite  clever  at  "  Old  Sleuth  "  or  "  Hatch,  the  Hell  Diver,"  but 
he  will  have  to  take  a  week  or  two  off  before  trying  to  write  any  more  of  this 


.564  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


kind.  The  plot  is  weak  ;  Schaube,  in  playing  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  should  take 
some  better  plan  than  boldly  setting  up  a  headstone  and  advertising  what  he 
wished  to  conceal  from  the  disciples.  Then  he  puts  himself  into  the  power  of 
Sir  Robert,  who  is  glad  to  get  even  whenever  opportunity  offers.  How  would  I 
have  done  it  ?  Any  way  but  the  one  adopted.  A  good  idea  would  be  to  forge 
,a  document  on  papyrus  or  parchment,  setting  forth  why  he  had  stolen  the  body 
and  been  guilty  of  the  pious  fraud.  This  could  be  discovered  in  an  old  vault 
with  some  trinkets  showing  that  it  really  was  old  Joe's  memorandum.  He  could 
have  left  a  few  baskets  of  bread  crusts  and  the  backbones  of  a  couple  of  red 
herring  ;  also  the  skull  of  Jesus  when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  another  when 
he  was  fully  grown,  and  a  tiara  of  thorns.  However,  Thome's  purpose  was  to 
make  something  that  would  sell,  and  to  do  that  he  had  to  catch  the  rascals  red 
handed  in  their  effort  to  down  Christianity,  and  he  therefore  had  to  do  what 
comes  to  him  "  by  nadural,"  as  the  Dutch  put  it,  and  made  a  poor  plot. 

But  that  is  not  the  main  point.  Where  Guy  Thorne  shines  is  where  he  shows 
that  when  the  fraud  is  discovered  darkness  vanishes,  and  those  who  had  given 
themselves  up  to  every  form  of  bestiality,  all  manner  of  immorality  and  dupli- 
city, turn  again  to  the  Jesus  whom  they  had  worshipped  in  the  past.  If  Jesus 
was  buried  here  he  is  no  more  Christ,  and  we  fear  him  not.  His  teachings  are 
of  no  account.  He  promised  to  prepare  a  place  for  us,  a  mansion  where  all  we 
would  have  to  do  would  be  to  praise  him  as  provider.  He  is  a  man  of  straw, 
no  bank  would  discount  his  note.  Away  with  such  a  fellow  or  at  least  give  him 
an  hour  to  leave  town. 

Then  comes  the  discovery  of  fraud.  The  tombstone  is  bogus  and  there  are 
no  bones  beneath.  Jesus  is  not  buried  here  ;  therefore  he  is  ascended  ;  there- 
fore, he  is  the  Christ  whom  we  always  loved  ;  therefore,  we  are  resolved  to  follow 
his  teaching  or  we  will — catch  hell  for  it. 

The  author  is  entitled  to  an  everlasting  place  in  the  literary  world,  not  for  his 
literary  style  or  taste,  but  for  his  interpretation  of  Christ  as  a  sort  of  devil  who 
can  be  hoodwinked  into  conferring  favors  on  false  flatterers,  whom  none  of  them 
love,  but  all  fear. 

Guy  Thorne  is  a  b't  hard  on  Christ,  but  he  is  rough  on  the  Christians,  the 
only  ones  affected,  the  rest  of  the  world  wagging  its  even  way.  If  the  book 
sells,  the  author's  mission  is  fulfilled. 


A  Kansas  paper  tells  the  following  touching  incident.  A  preacher  moved  by 
the  grief  of  a  husband  whose  wife  was  about  to  be  buried,  sought  to  console  the 
stricken  one,  so  addressed  him  :  "  My  brother,  I  know  this  is  a  great  grief  that 
has  overtaken  you,  and  though  you  are  compelled  to  mourn  the  loss  of  this  one 
who  was  your  companion  and  partner  in  life,  I  can  cheer  you  with  the  assurance 
there  is  another  who  sympathizes  with  you  and  seeks  to  embrace  you  in  the  arms 
of  unfailing  love."  The  bereaved  gazed  through  falling  tears  into  the  holy  man's 
face,  and  inquired  :  "  What's  her  name  ?  " 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  565 


ICerreetrtal  flDaanctiem. 

:o: 

BY    A.    ELVINS,    TORONTO. 

:o: 

(Continued  from  page  495.) 

The  hope  of  physicists  during  the  last  century  has  been  that  a  study  of  terrestrial 
magnetism  and  kindred  phenomena  might  lead  us  to  a  knowledge  of  the  cause 
of  the  atmospheric  changes  which  occur  on  the  earth  ;  and  that,  knowing  the 
causes  which  produce  weather  changes,  the  "  meteorology  of  the  future  "  might 
become  possible.  A  coincidence  in  the  time  between  periods  of  magnetic  dis- 
turbance and  that  between  periods  of  solar  spot  activity  was  found  to  exist. 
The  time  from  one  maximum  to  another  varied  greatly,  but  the  mean  was 
between  eleven  and  twelve  years.  Terrestrial  magnetism  showed  the  same 
fluctuations  ;  it  had  also  a  period  of  the  same  length  ;  and  when  ihe  sun's 
maximum  occurred  before  or  after  the  main  point  in  time,  the  same  was  also 
the  case  with  the  magnetic  curve. 

It  seems  probable  that  solar  radiations  of  heat  and  magnetism  may  produce 
meteorological  changes  on  the  planets ;  and  it  has  been  thought  by  many  that 
weather  changes  result  from  changes  in  the  sun  which  we  see  manifested  in 
spots. 

No  doubt  it  is  the  hope  that  a  connection  will  be  found  to  exist  between 
magnetism  and  the  weather  which,  when  fully  understood,  will  aid  in  enabling 
us  to  foretell  the  mean  character  of  coming  seasons,  which  has  induced  nations 
to  establish  magnetic  observatories  in  many  parts  of  the  world ;  and  I  think  this 
hope  will  ultimately  be  realized  ;  but  if  it  is  not,  the  records  of  these  observatories 
will  make  us  acquainted  with  many  natural  facts  and  the  laws  which  govern 
them. 

I  believe  the  increase  of  our  knowledge  will  well  repay  the  human  race  for  the 
outlay.  An  increase  to  knowledge  is  a  permanent  asset,  and  brings  no  disaster 
in  its  train.  The  late  war  has  brought  Russia  to  poverty  and  anarchy  and  Japan 
to  famine.  The  cost  of  the  war  will  rest  with  increasing  weight  on  both  nations  ; 
Russia's  scientific  victories  will  remain  a  blessing,  her  wars  a  curse  to  the  race. 
The  names  of  Strove  and  Mendeleff  will  be  honored  when  those  of  her  generals 
are  forgotten. 

THE   ANNUAL   DISTRIBUTION    OF    DISTURBANCES. 

Mr.  W.  Ellis,,  one  of  the  Greenwich  scientists,  gives  the  following  table  of 
magnetic  disturbances  in  the  March  number  of  the  Monthly  Notices  of  the 
Royal  Astronomical  Society.  It  is  seen  that  the  number  is  greater  at  the 
equinoxes  than  at  the  solstices ;  laying  these  in  a  curve  as  he  has  done  shows 
this  in  an  instant. 


566  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


Number  of  Days  of  Moderate  and  Great  Magnetic  Disturbance, 

1848-1897,  IN  Half-monthly  Periods. 

The  dates  given  are  the  middle  days  of  the  half- monthly  periods. 

Jan.     I 116         Apr.     2 208  July    3  121  Oct.     2 202 

16 165  18 178  18 143  17 203 

Feb.     I 184  May     3 155  Aug.    2 140  Nov.    i 184 

16 219  18 1.132  17 149  17 185 

Mar.    3 203  June    2 114  Sep.    2 162  Dec.    2 139 

18 .189  18 119  17 209  17 156 

In  March  number  of  the  Monthly  Notices  Mr.  E.  W.  Maunder,  another  of 
the  Greenwich  scientists,  has  examined  the  Greenwich  and  Toronto  observations 
and  combined  them.  They  clearly  show  a  maximum  of  disturbances  near  the 
equinoxes  and  a  minimum  at  the  solstices. 

Annual  Distribution  of  Magnetic  Disturbance. 

Number  pf  Moderate  to  Great  Magnetic  Disturbances  in  55  years,  1848-1902. 

The  dates  given  are  the  last  days  of  the  half-monthly  periods. 

JarL  13 132        Apr.    14 218         July  14 146        Oct.  15 204 

28 197  28 171  29 144  30 229 

Feb.  12 .210        May    13 170         Aug.  14 158        Nov.  14 183 

27 235  29 135  30 150  29 .170 

Mar.  14 .208        June  13 108        Sept.  14 204        Dec.  14 153 

28.. 218  28......  122                   30 208                 29 149 

The  period  of  the  sun's  rotation  can  have  no  influence  here  ;  its  period  cannot 
•change  with  the  earth's  seasons  ;  but  if  the  planet's  influence  on  incoming  cosmic 
matter  causes  a  surplus  of  such  matter  to  exist  near  the  ecliptic,  which  it  would 
do  if  the  views  advanced  in  my  former  letters  are  correct,  then  a  surplus  will 
naturally  be  expected  at  that  time,  as  the  earth  passes  through  it  then.  I  can 
see  no  other  cause. 

the    27^  DAY    PERIOD    OF   DISTURBANCE 

Mr.  Maunder  has  shown  that  disturbances  exist  at  periods  27^  days  apart,  or 
multiples  of  that  time  ;  and  he  thinks  he  finds  the  cause  in  the  existence  of 
spots,  which  point  earthward  each  solar  rotation  of  27^  days. 

the   sun's    ROTATION. 

The  sun's  rotation  is  by  no  means  as  simple  a  matter  as  that  of  the  earth,  or 
any  other  solid  body  ;  in  fact,  it  is  not  fcertain  that  it  has  a  solid  nucleus  at  all  ; 
and  its  intense  heat  and  small  specific  gravity  renders  it  probable  that  it  is 
wholly  gaseous.     At  any  rate,  its  surface  with  its  spots  rotates  at  different  rates. 

It  moves  faster  at  the  equator  than  at  the  poles.  Only  two  very  small  belts, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  equator  of  about  14  degrees  in  latitude,  can  move  at  the 
assumed  rate,  the  time  varies  in  every  change  of  latitude ;  and  hence  spots  in 
high  latitudes  move  more  slowly  than  those  on  the  equator. 

The  magnetic  disturbances  caused  by  such  solar  outbreaks  should  show  a- 
corresponding  difference.     When  the  magnetic  disturbance  is  caused  by  a  spot 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  567 

on  the  equator,  the  disturbance  should  be  shorter  than  when  it  is  caused  by 
spots  nearer  the  poles.  The  magnetic  curve  should  show  such  a  difference  if  it 
exists,  and  it  t^hould  be  a  test  to  show  whether  the  magnetic  disturbance  is 
caused  by  solar  spots  or  not  I  do  not  think  such  a  difference  has  been  noticed* 
in  the  magnetic  records,  and  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  rotation  period  to  the  sun 
as  a  whole.  If  the  peri(^d  of  magnetic  disturb  mces  is  always  the  same,  it  cannot 
be  caused  by  sun-spots,  the  periods  of  which  are  not  always  the  same, 

THE    moon's    sidereal    REVOLUTION    THE    CAUSE. 

The  moon  is  known  to  Lxert  an  influence  on  terrestrial  magnetism.  Miss 
Gierke,  in  her  matchless  '*  History  of  Astronomy,"  says  : 

"The  sun  is  not  the  only  one  of  the  heavenly  bodies  by  which  the  magnetism 
of  the  earth  is  affected.  Proofs  of  a  similar  kind  of  lunar  action  were  laid  by 
Kreil,  in  1841,  before  the  Bohemian  Society  of  Sciences,  and  with  minor  correc- 
tions were  fully  substantiated  by  Sabine's  more  extended  researches.  It  was 
thus  ascertained  that  each  lunar  day,  or  the  interval  of  twenty-four  hours  and 
about  fifiy-four  minutes  between  two  successive  meridian  passages  of  our  satellite, 
is  marked  by  a  perceptible,  though  very  small,  double  oscillation  of  the  needle  — 
two  progressive  movements  from  east  to  west,  and  two  returns  from  west  to  east."^ 

1  think  it  liktly  that  the  cause  of  the  27^  day  period  of  magnetic  disturbance 
is  the  passage  of  the  moon  through  a  stream  of  cosmfc  matter  in  its  passage 
sunward.  Both  earth  and  moon  will  move  through  it,  and  the  moon  will  cause 
a  disturbance  as  it  passes  the  point  from  which  the  matter  comes.  This  would 
give  what  we  find,  a  27  ^^  day  period,  which  is  the  period  assumed  as  that  of  the 
sun's  rotation.  All  the  evidence  which  Mr.  Maunder  uses  to  prove  that  the 
disturbance  proceeds  from  the  sun,  so  far  as  the  time  is  concerned,  will  be  the 
same  if  brought  to  prove  it,  to  depend  on- the  lunar  sidereal  period  27.321  days. 
I  hope  to  review  this  question  more  fully  in  a  paper  before  the  Canadian 
Institute  or  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  but  I  hope  I  have  said  enough  on 
this  subject  for  Secular  Thought. 


At  the  Chemist's.   "  I  want  fourpenny  worth  of  glory  divine  "  said  a  chi 
:hemist.     Everybody  laughed  in  the  shop.     "  Are  you  sure  it  s  glory  divij 


lild  to  a 
cnemist.  i!.veryDoay  laughed  in  trie  shop.  "  Are  you  sure  it's  glory  divine  you 
want  ?  "  said  the  chemist.  •'  Yes,  sir."  "  Well,  what  does  your  mother  use  it  for  ?  " 
"  To  throw  around  the  room  and  in  the  back  yard,"  said  the  child.  *'  Ah,  it's 
chloride  of  lime  you  want,"  said  the  chemist. 


A  traveller  in  a  remote  part  of  India— so  Mr.  Haldane  has  told  us— found  the 
natives  offering  up  a  sacrifice  to  an  all-powerful  god  who  had  just  restored  to  the 
tribe  the  land  which  the  Indian  Government  had  taken  from  it.  "What  is  the 
name  of  the  god  to  whom  the  sacrifice  is  offered  up,"  inquired  the  traveller. 
"We  know  nothing  of  him,  but  that  he  is  a  good  god,  and  that  his  name  is  the 
Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,"  replied  the  natives. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


BOOKS  THAT  YOU  SHOULD  BUY 


'I'he    Age  of   Reason.     By  Thomas  Paine.     25c.     Presentation   Edition,  $2.00 

The  Bible.     By  John  E.  Remsburg.   Large  handsome  volume,  500  pages,  $1.25 

The  Riddle  of  the  Universe.     By  E.  Haeckel,  transl'd.  by  J.  McCabe,     $1.50 

Bible  Myths,  and  their  Parallels  in  Other  Religions.     By  J.  W.  Doane.      $2.50 

Adam's  Diary.      By  Mark  Twain.      Fmely  Illustrated  by  F.  Strothmann.    $1.00 

The   Jefferson    Bible.     Selected  from  New  Test,  by  Thomas  Jefferson.     $1.00 

Four  Hundred  Years  of   Freethought.     lUust'd.     By  Samuel  Putnam.     $5.00 

Infidel    Death    Beds.     By  G.  W.  Foote.     25c. 

Self-contradictions  of  the  Bible.     By  W,  H.  Burr.      15c. 

Ingersoll    As    He  Is.     Refutation  of  Slanders.     By  E.  M.  Macdonald.       25c. 

God    and    My    Neighbor.      By  Robert   Blatchford.     Paper,  50c. ;  cloth,  $1.00. 

Confucius  ;  his  Life  and  Moral  Maxims.     By  M.  R.  K.  Wright.      25c. 

Woman  :  her  Glory,  her  Shame,  and  her  God.     By  Saladin.     2  vols.,  cl.,  $2.50. 

God   and    His    Book.     By  Saladin.     $1.25. 

The    Confessional.     By  Saladin.     25c. 

The    Earth^s    Beginning.     By  Sir  Robert  S.  Ball.     Many  illustrations.     $2.00. 


CHEAP  REPRINTS  OF  THE 

RATIONALIST  PRESS  ASSOCIATION. 

Each  with  Portrait.  Finely  printed  on  good  paper. 

Paper,  25c.  ;  cloth  (except  4,  6,  14,  15),  50c. 

1  Huxley's   Lectures    and    Essays    (a    Selection).       With    Autobiography. 

2  The    Pioneers    of   Evolution.     By  Edward  Clodd. 

3  Modern    Science   and    Modern    Thought.      By  Samuel  Lalng.     Illustrated. 

4  Literature   and    Dogma.     By  Matthew  Arnold. 

5  The  Riddle    of    the  Universe.     By  Prof.  Ernst  Haeckel. 

f)  Education  :   Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical.     By  Herbert  Spencer. 

7  The  Evolution  of  the  Idea  of  God.     By  Grant  Allen. 

8  Human  Origins.     By  Samuel  Laing.     Revised  by  Ed.  Clodd.     Illustrations. 

9  The  Service  of  Man.     By  J.  Cotter  Morison.     Introduc.  by  Fred.  Harrison, 
io  Tyndall's  Lectures  and  Essays.     A  Selection.      With  Autobiography. 

f  1   The  Origin  of  Species.     By  Charles  Darwin. 

12  Emerson — Addresses  and  Essays.    A  Selection.    Intro,  by  Dr.  Stanton  Coit. 

13  On    Liberty.     By  John  Stuart  Mill.     With  Biographical  Sketch. 

14  The  Story  of  Creation.     By  Edward  Clodd.     Tables  and  Illustrations. 

15  An  Agnostic's  Apology.     By  Sir  Leslie  Stephen. 

16  The  Life  of  Jesus.     By  Ernest  Renan. 

17  A  Modern  Zoroastrian.     By  Samuel  Laing. 

18  Herbert  Spencer's  Philosophy— Introduction  to.      By  Prof.  Hudson. 

19  Three  Essays  on  Religion.     By  John  Stuart  Mill. 

20  The  Creed  of  Christendom.    By  W.  R.  Greg.     Introduction  by  Dr.  Sullivan. 

21  The  Apostles.     By  Ernest  Renan.     New  Translation  by  W.  G.  Hutchison. 

Order  from   SECULAR    THOUGHT,  Toronto,  Canada. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  S.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS.  Bus.  Mjr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  21.  TORONTO,   NOV!  25,    1905.  roc;  $2  per  ann 

IRaftcb  ^rutb  Bot  Hlwaije  Beet. 


It  is  only  when  digested  in  a  clear  and  natural  order  that 
truths  make  their  proper  impression  on  the  mind,  and  that 
erroneous  opinions  can  be  combated  with  success. — Dugald 
Stewart. 

EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


TORREY  AND  ALEXANDER  IN  TORONTO. 

It  has  been  announced  that  the  well-known  revivalists,  Torrey  and 
Alexander,  intend  opening  their  new  American  campaign  by  a  series  of 
meetings  in  Toronto  next  January.  We  do  not  know  whether  Mr.  Torrey 
has  learnt  wisdom  from  the  lesson  administered  to  him  in  England  by 
Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  and  will  refrain  from  his  customary  false  and  malicious 
attacks  upon  *'  the  infidel  "  in  general,  and  Voltaire,  Paine  and  Ingersoll 
in  particular ;  but  we  are  preparing  some  literature  to  meet  any  such 
attacks,  and  have  sjnt  to  England  for  some  of  Mr.  G.  W.  Foote's  able 
}>amphlet8,  one  of  which  was  the  means  of  convincing  Mr.  Stead  of  the 
falsity  of  Mr.  Torrey's  charges,  and  inducing  him  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
in  support  of  truth  and  honest  treatment  of  opponents. 

Mr.  Torrey  had  not  the  honor  to  admit  that  he  had  done  wrong,  and 
rather  aggravated  his  offence  by  repeating  it  and  utterly  ignoring  plain 
and  irrefragable  facts  and  evidence  ;  and  it  is  possible  that,  in  coming  to 
Toronto,  he  may  imagine  he  is  coming  to  an  out-of-the-way  place  where 
his  old-time  '*  anti-infidel  "  gags  will  pass  muster.  We  hope  to  be  in  a 
position  to  set  him  straight  in  the  matter.  Many  thousands  of  persons 
attending  Torrey's  meetings  must  have  received  much-needed  enlighten- 
ment through  Mr.  Foote's  pamphlets  ;  and  we  hope,  with  the  help  of  our 


570  SECULAU    THOUGHT. 

friends,  to  be  in  a  position  to  impart  similar  enlightenment  to  at  least 
some  thousands  of  Toronto  people,  should  Torrey  begin  his  vindictive 
attacks  upon  Freethinkers  here. 

:o: 

''  DROWNING  MEN  CATCH  AT  STEAWS." 

Professor  Adolph  Harnack  has  been  appointed  Librarian  at  the  Royal 
Library  at  Berlin,  and — forgetful,  apparently,  of  the  fact  that  Professor 
Delitzsche,  the  celebrated  Assyriologist  and  author  of  *'  Babel  and  Bible," 
is  a  personal  friend  of  the  German  Emperpr-r-the  orthodox  theologians 
are  loudly  proclaiming  that  this  fact  proves  the  failure  of  the  new  criti- 
cal theology,  and  that  "  a  conservative  reaction  is  setting  in."  These 
wiseacres  think  the  cause  of  their  alleged  reaction  is  that  *'  radical  theo- 
logy is  too  weak  to  stand,"  as  if  men  became  weaker  as  they  gained 
health  ;  and  that,  to  be  popular,  a  religion  needs  to  be  propped  up  by  a 
large  buttress  of  faith,  as  if  the  modern  critics  were  seeking  to  establish 
a  popular  religion,  and  would  sacrifice  truth  to  attain  their  end. 

They  are  possibly  well  aware  from  experience  that  almost  any  "  reve- 
lation "  supplies  a  better  basis  than  truth  for  a  popular  religion.  The 
acceptance  of  truth  (or  science)  implies  not  only  intelligence,  the  result 
of  a  fair  course  of  education,  but  an  absence  of  prejudice  that  only  comes 
from  some  share  of  general  culture,  both  of  which  are  sadly  deficient  in 
the  classes  that  can  barely  read  and  write.  But  the  idea  that  truth  can 
be  affected  either  through  the  necessities  of  learned  men  or  by  the  pre- 
judices of  the  multitude  is  a  barbarous  or  a  hypocritical  conception. 

The  Toronto  Globe  of  Saturday,  Nov.  11,  quoting  from  the  Evangel- 
Lutherische  Kirchenzeitung,  is  not  above  setting  forth  this  absurd  view, 
and  (accompanying  a  portrait  of  Prof.  Harnack)  says  that  his  acceptance 
of  the  position  in  the  Royal  Library  is  taken  to  mean  that  "  he  has  aban- 
doned his  advocacy  of  advanced  theology.'"  In  the  absence  of  any  positive 
evidence,  this  seems  a  very  hazardous  conclusion  ;  but  in  the  quoted 
article  we  are  told  that — 

"  Prof.  Harnack  is  54  years  of  age,  and  is  the  most  brilliant  representative 
of  advanced  theology  in  Germany.  That  he  should  be  willing  thus  to  discard 
the  cause  of  theology  and  become  the  head  of  a  library  is  taken  to  be  a  clear 
indication  that  he  has  found  no  joy  or  contentment  in  the  theology  he  has 
taught." 

That  **  the  wish  is  father  to  the  thought  "  is  undoubtedly  the  ease 
here,  but  no  reason  is  shown  why  we  should  believe  it  to  be  true.  What- 
ever profit,  or  honor,  or  contentment  the  new  theology  may  have  brought 
to  Professor  Harnack,  the  position  of  head  of  the  Berlin  Royal  Library 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  571 


is  one  that  might  satisfy  tlie  ambition  of  any  literary  man,  theologian 
or  ])hilosopher. 

These  foolish  **  believers"  (for  cash)  might  wait  till  Prof.  Harnack  has 
spoken  before  interpreting  his  movements  in  terms  of  faith ;  and  even 
if  their  wild  guesses  sliould  then  turn  out  to  be  true,  the  work  of  these 
reactionaries  will  only  be  beginning:,  if  they  think  they  can  show  that 
the  thousands  of  followers  of  the  Higher  Criticism  are  retracing  their 
steps  towards  orthodoxy. 

''GLOBULAR'  ARGUMENT. 

The  Globe  quotes  with  approval  Prof.  Kuyper,  of  the  Free  University 
of  Amsterdam,  who  endorses  the  view  that  orthodoxy  is  regaining  its 
lost  ground.  In  an  address  on  "  The  Development  of  Revelation,"  he 
is  said  to  prove — "something  after  the  manner  so  often  adopted  by  Prof. 
Sayce,  of  Oxford  " — "  that  the  recent  archaeological  finds  in  Bible  lands 
undermine  the  whole  subjective  reconstruction  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion  advocated  by  the  critics." 

In  this  piece  of  unblushing  misrepresentation  there  are  two  absurd 
assumptions.  The  first  is,  that  the  Higher  Criticism  is  founded  upon 
"  subjective  "  conceptions  ;  whereas  the  Higher  Criticism — all  that  is 
worthy  of  the  name — is  founded  on  fact,  and  is  simply  an  appeal  from 
blind  faith  and  subjective  evidence  to  cultivated  reason  and  fact.  The 
second  is,  that  the  arehaBological  discoveries  corroborate  the  Bible  story 
and  religion  in  any  of  its  theological  aspects. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  Prof.  Sayce  is  one  of  those  learned  men 
who  have  not  been  above  mistranslating  Assyrian  names  so  as — taking 
advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  most  people  on  the  subject — to  make  them 
appear  to  support  Bible  narratives.  In  one  case,  the  name  Joshua  was 
substituted  for  an  Assyrian  name. 

As  a  mere  niiatter  of  fact,  the  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  records  can  no 
more  be  said  to  support  the  Biblical  legends  and  religion  than  could  the 
New  Testament  be  said  to  support  the  mythology  and  religion  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  because  it  contains  references — however  inaccurate — 
to  those  countries.  Every  mythology  in  the  world  could  be  converted 
into  history  by  the  application  of  the  same  method. 

If  the  Bible  legends  formed  a  consistent  and  possible  history,  corro- 
boration might  be  of  real  validity,  but  no  corroboration  can  convert  the 
Creation,  the  Deluge,  or  the  Exodus  into  credible  history.  What  the 
archaeological  discoveries  really  prove  is,  that  the  myths  and  legends  of 


572  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


the  Bible  were  current  in  Eastern  lands  hundreds  and  even  thousands 
of  years  before  the  time  when  it  is  alletitd  tl  at  the  Bible  was 
written.  They  prove  unmistakably  that,  instead  of  the  Bible  being  an 
inspired  book — a  divine  revelation — it  is  simply  a  collection  of  anony- 
mous and  much-revised  .and  edited  manuscripts,  containing  traditions 
and  miraculous  stories,  with  some  homilies,  proverbs,  songs,  etc.,  that 
have  long  been  current  among  the  Jews  and  other  Eastern  peoples.  It 
is  but  a  selection  from  a  mass  of  such  literature,  much  of  which  has 
been  preserved  by  the  Jews,  and  more  is  being  discovered — with  some 
real  history — in  Egypt,  the  Euphrates  valley,  etc. 

:o: 

"  THE  UNIVERSAL  ELEMENTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY." 

Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  President  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary, which  has  turned  out  many  heretics  under  the  teaching  of  its  late 
President,  Dr. Briggs,  takes  a  very  different  view  of  the  Higher  Criticism. 
Like  many  others,  he  talks  about  a  *'  return  to  primitive  Christianity," 
as  if  such  a  thing  were  even  possible.  We  might  as  well  talk  about  a 
return  to  primitive  science  or  to  primitive  literature.  Unlike  Dr.  Kuyper 
and  the  Kirch eiizeitunr/,  however,  he  thinks  the  Higher  Criticism  is  doing 
its  share  of  the  work  of  reformation.  In  his  new  work,  **  The  Universal 
Elements  of  Christianity  "  (Cole  lectures,  1905),  he  says  that,  though 
he  is  aware  of  some  of  their  faults,  the  liberal  theologians  (the  Higher 
Critics),  in  his  "deliberate  and  reasoned  judgment,"  have  "  manifested 
the  Spirit  of  God,"  which  is  even  now  directing  them  towards  a  goal 
that  is  "  the  recovery  of  the  apostolic  theology,  and  the  creation  of  the 
larger  Church  of  Christ." 

"  When  doctors  disagree,"  etc.  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  each  of  the 
parties  we  have  been  referring  to  is  animated  by  a  spirit  very  different 
from  that  of  its  opponents.  It  is  also  easy  to  see  that  the  point  of  view 
makes  all  the  difference  between  these  two  parties.  While  the  orthodox 
party  move  heaven  and  earth  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  their  creed, 
Dr.  Hall  sees  the  end  to  be  the  creation  of  "  the  larger  church,"  not  as 
a  new  sect,  but  by  "  the  harmonizing  of  the  differences  through  the 
inspiration  of  a  great  principle." 

Which,  again,  goes  to  show  what  a  tremendous  power  inborn  and  in- 
bred faith  still  exerts.  The  faith  needed  to  imagine  the  union  of  Chris- 
tendom by  the  "harmonizing  of  differences,"  is  like  that  of  an  infant 
in  its  parents — it  is  simply  unlimited. 

"  Love" — Christian  love — is  often  said  to  be  the  great  binding  force 
that  will  unite  Christendom  and  cause  men  to  forget  their  differences. 
This  is  reversing  the  natural  order.  Men  will  begin  to  love  each  other 
when  they  get  intelligence  enough  to  see  that  the  things  about  which 
they  have  been  quarrelling  and  fighting  are  simply  creations  of  ignorant 
imaginations,  and  are  of  no  value  whatever  to  man.  Until  then,  men 
of  faith  ma>  talk  of  love  and  union,  but  the  slightest  dispute  will  bring 
out  an  anathema. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  573 


AN  ANTI-SUICIDE  CLUB. 


Torn  L.  Johnson,  now  Mayor  of  Cleveland,  has  appointed  a  commis- 
sion to  devise  a  scheme  to  lessen  the  epidemic  of  suicide  which  has  been 
somewhat  marked  of  late.  Certainly  a  most  laudable  object,  if  by  any 
means  it  can  he  achieved.  Mr.  Johnson  thinks  it  ''  the  grandest  work 
€wer  attempted  here ;  "  and  we  need  hardly  say  that,  if  saving  life  is  a 
f^ood  work,  preventing  deaths  by  suicide  should  be  one  of  its  most  laud- 
cil)le  forms. 

Bat  the  proposed  method  of  practical  work  suggested  for  the  commis- 
sion,— *'  inviting  every  person  in  Cleveland  who  contemplates  suicide  to 
write  a  letter  to  the  commission,"  confessing  his  or  her  trouble,  and 
endeavoring  to  provide  employment  for  needy  persons, — does  not  seem 
to  promise  a  great  harvest  of  success.  Such  schemes  inevitably  depend 
almost  entirely  upon  the  intelligence,  sincerity,  and  sympathy  of  agents, 
and  are  open  to  many  obvious  objections,  among  the  chief  of  which  are 
the  natural  repugnance  of  the  most  deserving  persons  to  publicity  and 
to  asking  for  or  receiving  aid ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  large  army  of 
schemers  always  ready  to  take  advantage  of  such  agencies. 

But  if  the  commission  seriously  tackles  the  question,  and  endeavors  to 
investigate  and  elucidate  the  causes  of  insanity  and  suicide,  some  real 
progress  may  be  made  towards  their  diminution.  For  it  seems  certain 
that  insanity  and  suicide  are  closely  related,  and  depend  upon  large 
L^fftneral  causes  that  are  deeply  affecting  the  health,  physical  and  mental, 
f  the  mass  of  the  most  "  civilized  "  races. 

That  60  per  cent  of  the  suicides  should  be  among  people  of  foreign 
origin  should  be  a  satisfactory  fact  to  Americans.  It  would  seem  to  show 
that  many  of  the  unlit  are  at  all  events  strong  enough  to  "  efface"  them- 
selves before  becoming  a  harden  on  the  community.  There  seems  to  be 
no  reason  why  we  should  deplore  such  suicides  or  try  to  prevent  them. 
They  are  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  conditions  confronting  the  ijami- 
}4)ant  from  foreign  lands  are  not  as  satisfactory  as  he  had  anticipated  ; 
and  his  voluntary  departure  to  other  fields  is  possibly  the  best  thing  that 
could  happen  for  all  parties. 

All  the  facts  seem  to  prove  that  for  an  increasing  number  of  persons 
life  is  becoming  less  worth  living  than  it  was  formerly.  And  we  take  it 
that  this  is  so,  not  so  much  because  the  necessaries  of  life  are  any  more 
difficult  to  obtain  than  they  once  were,  but  because  men's  needs — esthetic 
and  otherwise — have  increased  faster  than  the  means  of  satisfying  them, 
and  that  the  latter  have  become  more  precarious,  even  if  more  plentiful. 

The  means  for  decreasing  suicide  must  be  such  as  will  render  the  em- 
ployment of  the  masses  more  steady,  more  healthful,  and  more  remune- 
rative, so  that  the  workpeople  shall  have  a  fair  share  of  the  enjoyments 
of  society  as  well  as  of  its  hard  work  ;  and  such  an  improvement  in  our 
educational  methods  as  will  develop  the  physical  as  well  as  the  mental 
powers  of  the  laborer,  and  open  the  fields  of  literary  enjoyment  to  those 
to  whom  they  have  b 'en  hitherto  almost  entirely  closed. 

Shorter  hours  of  work,  more  technical  and  night  schools,   libraries, 


574  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


reading  rooms,  museums  and  art  galleries,  open  in  the  evenings  and  on 
Sundays,  more  *'  nature-study"  and  science  in  the  schools  and  less  rote 
learning,  more  attention  to  the  health  and  physical  training  of  children 
and  infants,  and  an  extension  of  the  kindergarten  system  which  would 
render  it  possible  to  take  neglected  infants  out  of  the  hands  of  careless 
and  incompetent  parents, — these  and  other  improvements  would  go  a 
long  way  towards  rendering  life  more  worth  living  than  it  is  to-day  for 
many  of  our  weaker  brethren. 

Ill-health,  monotony  of  life,  and  precariousness  of  employment  are 
doubtless  the  chief  causes  predisposing  to  suicidf,  and  the  efforts  of  our 
Cleveland  friends  should  be  directed  to  their  mitigation. 

:o: 

PENSIONS  FOR  ALL. 

At  one  of  Mr.  Archibald  Campbell's  meetings,  at  Holland  Landing,- on 
Nov.  11,  Mr.  Campbell  told  his  farmer  friends  that  they  worked  every 
day  and  earned  their  own  money,  and  if  they  did  not  save  up  for  them- 
selves they  would  not  get  a  pension.  "  There  is  no  reason  why  Cabinet 
Ministers,  who  get  enoraious  salaries,  should  not  save  up  like  the  rest  of 
us.'*  And  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  pensions  granted  to  Minis- 
ters by  the  Indemnity  Bill  of  last  session  are  a  direct  robbery  from  the 
people. 

We  think  Mr.  Campbell  is  right.  There  is  no  reason  why  any  public 
employee — who,  at  the  best,  has  only  earned  his  pay  and  paid  his  taxes 
like  any  other  citizen — should  be  pensioned  any  more  than  a  bricklayer. 
Rather  the  reverse,  perhaps  ;  for  usually  he  has  had  opportunities  for 
promotion  that  are  not  open  to  most  men. 

The  scheme  proposed  for  pensioning  the  Ontario  school  teachers  is  an 
index  as  to  what  could  be  done  in  the  way  of  a  public  pension  scheme. 

Let  a  Government  Pension  Bureau  be  estabhshed,  and  let  mechanics 
pay  into  its  funds  on  a  similar  basis  to  that  adopted  for  the  teachers. 
There  is  no  earthly  reason  why  such  a  scheme  should  not  be  completely 
successful — unless  the  bulk  of  the  people  have  an  ineradicable  desire  to 
become  either  paupers  or  thieves. 

NO  SALVATION  FOR  MAN  BUT  THROUGH  US. 

The  Boston  Pilot  thus  expresses  its  contempt  for  Protestant  efforts  at 
toleration,  and  from  its  point  of  view  it  is  correct.     *'  Logic  is  logic  :" 

•'  Sectarian  baccalaureate  sermons,  in  the  Protestant  pnlpits  or  from  the 
high  school  platforms,  are  an  abuse  of  the  public  confidence  where  the  public 
schools  are  professedly  non-religious  ;  and  the  Rev.  Francis  J.  Curran,  rector  of 
St.  Mary's  Star  of  the  Sea,  Beverley,  Mass.,  is  well  within  his  rights  in  pro- 
testing against  them.  Platitudinous  prose  and  poetry  about  many  roads  to 
heaven,  or  the  Master's  will  to  save  every  creature,  has  no  relation  to  the  case. 
On  the  very  occasion  on  which  Christ  spoke  of  the  many  mansions  in  his  father's 
house,  he  emphasized  the  need  of  religious  unity  among  his  followers.  But,  as 
religious  divisions  prevail,  and  they  are  made  the  excuse  for  excluding  religious^ 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  575 


teaching  from  the  schools  during  the  year,   they  should  be  just  as  effective  in 
eliminating  the  sectarian  sermon  from  the  closing  exercises.     Logic  is  logic." 

The  Pilot  is  quite  justified  in  protesting  against  the  Protestants  intro- 
ducing what  it  terms  **  sectarian  "  sermons  into  Public  school  exercises. 
We  talk  about  Catholic  bii^otry  rightly  enough,  but  the  Protestants  are 
just  as  persistent  in  their  bigotry,  on)}'  they  are  restrained  to  some  ex- 
tent by  their  divisions,  and  only  occasionally  get  an  opportunity  to  show 
themselves  in  their  true  colors.  It  is  all  very  nice  to  hear  these  gentry 
air  their  alleged  ''  toleration,"  pretending  that  there  are  **  many  roads  to 
heaven  ;"  but  it  is  only  a  sham  toleration.  The  man  who  does  not  want 
to  take  any  one  of  their  alleged  roads  is  denounced  as  vigorously  by  the 
Protestants  as  by  the  Catholics.  All  of  them  say  practically  the  same  thing 
— if  you  don't  want  to  go  on  our  road  to  heaven,  we  will  force  your  chil- 
dren on  to  it. 

**  SOCIETY  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT." 

This  society  has  just  issued  its  twenty-third  annual  report.  Its  head- 
quarters are  at  New  Orleans.  During  its  twenty-three  years  of  activity 
it  has  distributed  three  million  pieces  of  literature ;  and  last  year  sent 
$547  to  its  missionary  priests  for  saying  masses  to  save  the  souls  of  its 
dead  members,  besides  giving  away  40,000  leaflets  "  explaining  briefly 
the  particular  province  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost  as  divine  disseminator 
of  Hght  and  truth,  and  the  sanctifier  of  individual  souls." 

Clearly,  this  means  that  the  Holy  Family  forms  a  sort  of  workir^g 
partnership,  under  which  the  work  to  be  done  by  each  of  its  members 
is  definitely  laid  down.  We  suppose  this  apportionment  is  made  accord- 
ing to  the  special  ability  of  each  member  of  the  firm.  "  From  each 
according  to  his  ability,  to  each  according  to  his  needs,"  is,  we  suppose, 
the  all-inclusive  rule  in  heaven,  as  it  doubtless  will  be  on  the  earth  when 
heaven  is  realized  among  men. 

Our  difficulty,  under  these  circumstances,  is  to  imagine  how  there  can 
be  any  One  or  "  Almighty  "  God,  or  Supreme  Being.  If  God  the  Holy 
Ghost  does  his  special  work  only  as  far  as  his  limited  powers  permit,  he 
can't  be  "the  Almighty;  "  and  the  same  argument  must  also  apply  to 
the  other  members  of  the  firm.  How,  then,  can  even  three  limited,  how- 
ever powerful,  individuals  make  one  almighty  personage?  No  number 
of  limited  beings  can  make  an  infinite  or  almighty  one.  Certainly  three 
cannot.  Logic  may  be  logic,  but  the  Pilot's  logic  is  that  of  the  Irishman 
who  couldn't  find  the  end  of  a  rope  and  swore  that  some  one  must  have 
cut  it  off. 


**  What  makes  it  fly  sn?"  asked  a  little  Boston  maiden  as  her  mother  brushed 
her  hair.  •*  It  is  the  electricity.  Don't  you  know  that  there  is  electricity  in 
your  hair?"  replied  her  mother.  "  Well,  mamma,  aren't  we  wonderfully  made? 
Here  I  am,  with  electricity  in  my  hair  and  grandma  has  ^as  in  her  stomach." — 
LippincotVs. 


576  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


H  1Reveren^  1b^&c^3eft?L 


BY    AN    IDLER. 

:  ;   ,,  ^:o: - 

"  As  an  illustration  Prof.  Jordan  selected  what  he  called  the  most  beautiful 
passage  in  Elohistic  writing,  Genesis  22,  the  story  of  Abraham's  offering  of 
Isaac.  They  must  get  a  critical  basis  to  deal  with  it,  and  from  their  knowledge 
of  Hebrew  literature  they  could  not  now  take  it  as  a  literal  story.  In  the  most 
radical  view  it  was  an  account  of  how  animals  came  to  be  offered  instead  of 
children,  child-sacrifice  being  a  feature  of  Semitic  i-eligion.  What  the  Hebrew 
poets  took  from  earlier  sources  they  gave  back  in  higher  form.  The  Elohistic 
preacher  probably  took  this  story  and  gave  it  back  as  a  polemic  against  sacrifice, 
even  as  Micah  asked  would  he  give  the  fruit,  of  his  body  for  the  sin  of  his  soul. 
He  thought  surely  the  lesson  that  they  should  give  not  the  poorest  but  the 
dearest  thing  they  had,  with  the  possession  of  an  ancestor  like  Abraham,  must 
have  been  an  inspiring  thing  to  the  Hebrew  people.  Nothing  was  lost.  They 
could  take  the  material  which  last  century  was  flung  on  the  dustheap  and  show 
it  to  have  an  everlasting  meaning."  . 

This  is  a  quotation  from  a  report  of  the  address  of  the  Eev.  Professor 
Jordan  before  the  alumni  of  Queen's  Collef^e.  The  rev.  professor  states 
the  most  heterodox  opinions  in  the  most  orthodox  manner.  The  striking 
contrast  between  what  he  says  and  how  he  says  it,  shows  a  most  inte- 
resting case  of  a  dual  personality  existing  in  the  same  person  at. the 
same  time  and  in  regard  to  the  same  subject  matter.  There  is  the  good 
Christian  Professor  and  the  wicked  Afi;nostic  German  Professor.  The 
difference  between  the  Cliristian  who  thinks  and  the  Rationalist  seems 
to  be  that,  while  they  are  agreed  that  there  is  a  large  amount  of  rubbish 
in  the  Bible  fit  only  for  the  junk-heap,  when  the  junk  is  jettisoned- — 
which  they  also  agree  should  be  done— they  differ  on  what  the  residuum 
is.  The  good  Christian  contends  that,  if  you  jettison  the  junk,  the  good 
ship  will  float  on  better  than  ever ;  while  the  Rationalist  contends  that, 
when  you  have  jettisoned  the  junk,  no  ship  is  left — that  shrouds  and 
sails  and  keel  and  spars  alike  have  joined  McGinty. 

Let  us  take  this  story  of  the  unknown  Elohistic  writer.  All  agree 
that  the  incident  never  actually  took  place.  Eliminate  the  truth  of  the 
occurrence,  and  what  can  you  have  left  but  the  short  story  of  an  unknown 
writer?  In  these  days  of  the  power-press  and  the  ten-cent  magazine, 
we  have  short  stories  by  the  million  :  some  by  ktiown  and  some  by  un- 
known writers,  and  some  by  writers  of  whom  we  may  justly  say  that  the 
less  we  know  about  them  the  better  it  will  be  for  us.  That  this  story 
appeared  in  the  Bible  in  place  of  McClure's  or  the  Black  Cat  makes  not 
a  whit  of  difference  ;  it  must  be  judged  by  the  same  canons  of  artistic 
and  literary  criticism.  That  an  Abraham  or  an  Isaac  existed  is  pro- 
bable. The  existence  of  a  ram  and  a  thicket  is  certain.  The  existence 
of  a  god  is  debatable.  But  the  characters  of  .the  story  are  all  fictions  of 
the  unknown  writer. 

It  is  true  there  was  a  Henry  V.,    but    Shakespeare's  Henry  V.  is  as 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  577 

much  a  creation  of  the  dramatist's  brain  as  Falstaff.  It  is  true  there 
was  a  Richard  L,  hut  Scott's  Richard  is  as  much  a  creation  of  the 
novelist's  brain  as  is  Ivan  hoe.  The  characters  of  this  piece  of  ancient 
fiction  are,  then,  only  marionettes  of  the  writer's  imaojination.  He  pulls 
God's  leg,  and  God  makes  sag<:]jestions  to  Abraham.  He  pulls  Abraham's 
arm,  and  up  goes  the  knife.  He  pulls  theTam'stail,  and  it  bounds  into 
the  thicket. 

Considered  from  the  artistic  point  of  view,  the  story  has  undoubted 
merit.  There  is  a  climax  ;  the  ram  butts  in  at  the  proper  psychological 
moment,  and  all  live  happily  thereafter — except  the  ram.  Pick  up  any 
ten -cent  short  story  magazine,  open  it  at  random,  and  the  first  story 
you  read  iR  just  as  artistic. 

Considered  from  an  ethical  standpoint,  the  story  is  poor.  Our  worthy 
professor  thinks  he  has  discovered  the  ethical  aim  of  the  writer,  and  I 
^omehow  suspect  it  was  to  show  his  Sherlock  Holmes  powers  more  than 
t(y  enlighten  his  brethren  that  he  trotted  out  the  yarn.  The  writer^vished 
to  discourage  human  sacrifice.  It  seems  to  me  it  would  be  as  shrewd  a 
guess  to  say  that  he  was  somewhat  of  an  epicure,  and  preferred  mutton 
to  young  boy  for  the  post-sacrificial  lunch. 

In  these  modern  days  the  sanctity  Of  human  life  is  more  regarded 
than  it  \yas  in  the  time  of  the  writer.  We  have  also  an  irresistible  re- 
pugnance to  human  sacrifice.  A  deity  who  would  even  suggest  human 
.sacrifice  is  a  Devil,  not  a  good  god.  Abraham,  the  hero  of  the  story, 
appears  in  very  unheroic  colors.  An  Abraham  who  would  refuse  to 
sacrifice  his  son,  and  would  defy  a  deity  making  such  a  request,  daring 
him  to  do  his  worst ;  an  Abraham,  ^yen  defiant  amid  his  punishment,  a 
second  Prometheus  unrepentant  amid  his  sufferings,  would  at  least  excite 
our  admiration  ;  but  an  Abraham  who  ambles  off  to  ^lay  his  son  to  save 
his  own  worthless  hide,  strikes,  me  as  an  instance  of  colossal  selfishness. 
Even  the  ram  which  in  the  end  was  sacrificed  was  not  his  own  ram.  The 
Professor  calls  this  a  beautiful  story.    His  tastes  are  certainly  abnormal. 


GOLDWIN  SMITH  ON  JESUS. 
The  mighty  and  supreme  Jesus,  who  was  to  transfigure  all  humanity  with  his 
flivjne  wit  and  grace— </i/s  jfesus  has  flowu.  To  my  mind  this  fact  has  no 
terror.  I  believe  the  Legend  of  Jesus  was  made  by  many  minds  working  under 
a  great  religious  impulse—one  man  adding  a  parable,  another  an  exhortation, 
another  a  rhiracle  story.  And  so  Jesus  represents  for  us,  not  a  man,  but  the 
a^irations  of  many  hearts.  If  one  age  can  create  a  Jesus,  another  can.  Our 
age  can.  V'ou  and  I  can  help  in  the  creation.  We  can  join  in  making  not  a 
legend,  but  a  new  idea  of  humanity,  the  figure  of  a  new  man,  a  new  message,  a 
new  prophecy.  All  our  better  thoughts,  all  our  wiser  speech,  and  all  our  truer 
deeds  shall  form  parts  of  this  creation,  which  shall  be  a  gospel  to  those  who 
come  after  us.  —  Guldwin  Smith. 


578  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


IManetar?  an5  Xunar  flDotton. 


:o:- 


BY    A.    ELVINS,    TORONTO 

:o: 

So  far  as  astronomy  is  concerned,  motion    is   the  translation  of  matter  through 
space. 

Matter  in  motion  moves  in  straight  lines  if  not  diverted  by  an  outside  source, 
l.et  us  look  closely  at  a  mass  moving  in  this  nianner.  The  mass  is  composed  of 
parts,  and  each  part  moves  at  the  same  rate,  and  in  the  same  direction,  as  the 
others. 

It  is  probable  that  the  whole  solar  system  is  moving  through  space,  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  planets  are.  The  sun's  action,  however,  causes  them  to  move  in 
curv^es  ;  their  momentum,  or  projectile  force,  k  counteracted  by  the  sun's 
attraction,  and  they  move  in  the  diagonal  ol  the  two. 

But  the  planets,  so  far  as  their  translation. as  a  whole  is  concerned,  move  each 
part  in  the  same  direction  at  the  same  time.  In  the  case  of  planets  the  direction 
i&  from  west  to  east.  This  is  plain  to  all  ;  masses  moving  in  straight  lines  or 
curves  carry  all  their  particles  in  the  same  direction  at  the  same  time. 

THE    PLANETS    REVOLVE. 

But  it  is  possible  that  a  mass  may  remain  stationary  in  space  and  turn  the 
matter  composing  it  around  an  axis  within  itself.  This  is  Rotation.  Here  we 
see  an  essential  diffcjrence  between  the  two  motions.  Whilst  the  revolving  body 
moves  all  its  parts  in  the  same  direction  at  the  same  time,  a  rotating  mass 
always  moves  the  matter  on  opposite  sides  of  the  axis  in  opposite  -directions. 
The  planets  have  both  motions,  which  should  never  be  confounded  with  each 
other. 

Is  it  needful  for  me  to  make  this  clearer  ?  From  past  experience,  1  am  afraid 
it  is.     Let  us  try. 

If  we  place  a  wagon  in  an  east  and  w^t  direction,  and  place  a  grindstone  in 
it,  also  lying  in  the  same  direction,  with  the  axis  on  which  it  turns  north  and 
south,  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  stone,  and  turr^jt  around,  the  grindstone 
as  a  whole  rotates  ;  the  upper  part  goes  eastward,  the  under  part  goes  west. 
The  matter  on  one  side  of  the  axis  always  moves  in  an  opposite  direction  to  that 
on  the  other  side.  The  grindstone  is  stationary  in  space,  but  is  turning  on  its 
own  axis,  moving  neither  forward  nor  backward  ;  the  particles  composing  the 
grindstone  revolve  around  the  axis,  but  tlje  grindstone  is  not  translated  ;  it 
simply  rotates. 

Now,  whilst  it  is  rotating,  drive  the  wagon  eastward.  The  stone  will  now  be 
moving  as  the  planets  do;  the  wagon  is  revolving  around  the  earth's  centre,  and, 
if  its  motion  be  continued,  it  would  return  to  the  same   spot,  having  made  a 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  579 

revolution  of  twenty-four  thousand  miles  in  an  orbit  of  four  thousand  miles 
radius.  The  wagon  and  grindstone  are  both  revolving,  and  the  stone  is  rotating 
also.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  before  the  stone  was  turned  on  its  axis  the  same  part 
always  pointed  downward,  or  toward  the  earth's  centre,  around  which  it  revolved  ; 
b  ;t  turn  it  on  its  axis  either  fait  or  slowly,  and  it  will  do  so  no  longer.  A  planet 
or  moon  revolving  only,  always  has  the  same  part  turned  towards  its  central 
sun,  us  ct  ntre  of  motion  ;  when  it  rotates  also,  it  turns  each  side  in  succession 
toward  the  central  point  of  revolution  at  each  rotation. 

These  are  the  motions  which  the  planets  possess.  They  revolve  around  the 
sun,  causmg  their  year ;  and  rotate  on  an  axis  passing  through  their  centre  at 
the  same  time,  causing  their  day  and  night. 

In  Revolution  all  the  mass  moves  in  the  same  direction  at  the  same  time. 

In  Rotation  the  matter  on  opposite  sides  of  the  axis  move  in  opposite 
directions. 

These  facts  and  conclusions,  I  think,  will  be  admitted  by  all,  but  they  lead  to 
results  which  are  denied  by  almost  all. 

In  relation  to  the  planets  there  is  no  question.  We  all  know  that  the  orbital 
motion  of  the  earth  and  other  planets  carries  all  their  matter  onward  at  the  same 
time  ;  but  we  also  know  that  it  turns  on  an  axis  every  day,  showing  its  different 
sides  to  the  sun  daily,  the  earth  in  twenty-four  hours,  Jupiter  in  about  ten,  and 
so  on.     They  both  revolve  and  rotate. 

But  it  is  different  with  the  moon.  It  moves  all  its  matter  onward  from  west 
to  east,  it  does  not  cause  matter  on  each  side  of  an  axis  passing  through  itself 
to  move  in  opposite  directions  at  the  rame  time.  It  revolves  around  the  earth, 
but  does  not  rotate  on  an  axis  of  its  own,  as  the  text-books  state.  Those  who 
take  the  ordinary  view  have  not  caught  the  real  distinction  between  rotation 
and  rkvolution. 

Rotating  bodies  have  a  tendency  to  cause  matter,  when  it  is  free  to  move,  to 
pass  outward  from  the  centre  to  the  periphery— a  well-known  phenomenon  called 
centrifugal  force,  which  produces  an  oblate  spheroid.  The  flattening  of  the 
earth  and  Jupiter  at  the  poles  are  examples. 

Revolution  likewise  throws  movable  matter  outward  from  its  centre  of  motion, 
hut  as  the  body  does  not  turn  on  its  own  axis,  or  rotate,  it  passes  outward  only, 
and  forms  a  prolate  spheroid.     The  moon  has  doubtless  this  figure. 

LIBRA!  ION. 

Lunar  libration  in  longitude  is  the  result  of  the  elliptical  orbit  of  the  moon. 
The  more  distant  part  of  the  moon  has  a  greater  velocity  than  the  inner  part 
and  has  greater  momentum.  After  it  has  passed  perigee,  the  earth  retards  the 
moon's  motion  ;  bnt  the  earth  attracts  the  nearer  part  of  the  moon  more  than 
the  further  part,  holding  it  back,  while  the  greater  momentum  of  the  outside,  or 
distant  part,  will  carry  it  around  and  show  us  more  of  its  surface. 


180  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

Coronto'6  Cbief  Scbool  llnapector  Scores  tbe 
Xorb'e  5)a?  HlUance* 


:o:- 


The  secretary  of  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance  having  sent  to  Mr.  James  L. 
Hughes  a  resolution  of  that  body  condemning  both  him  and  the  Toronto 
school  teachers  for  travelling  on  Sunday  on  their  return  from  the  Pitts- 
burg convention,  Mr.  Hughes  replies  in  the  following  open  letter.  The 
pity  is  that  the  Lord's  Day  Alliance  men  have  hides  too  thick  to  permit 
them  to  appreciate  the  well-merited  castigation  : 

"  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Ontario  Lord's 
Day  Allianre  in  regard  to  the  trip  of  the  Toronto  teachers  to  Pittsburg. 

"  It  is  difificult  to  treat  such  a  document  seriously.  I  was  at  first  disponed  tj 
overlook  the  impertinence  of  your  socieiy  in  consideration  of  its  earnestness,  and 
drop  yijur  resolution  in  the  waste  paper  basket.  I  have  decided,  however,  that 
it  is  not  doing  my  whole  duty  mere  y  to  forgive  you,  and  with  the  sincere  hope 
of  doing  you  some  little  good  I  venture  to  write  frankly  to  you. 

"  Your  resolution  is  divided  into  two  parts  —  one  of  rrgret  the  other  of  rejoic- 
ing. The  main  portion,  which  expresses  regret,  deserves  little  attention.  It  i> 
only  necessary  to  inform  you,  most  respectfully,  but  most  emphatically,  that  the 
teachers  who  went  to  Pitihburg  believe  in  keeping  the  Sabbath,  and  they  are 
quite  as  wise,  and  honest,  and  moral,  God-loving,  and  as  earnest  in  their  desire 
to  do  good,  and  fully  as  capable  ot  deciding  what  is  right  as  the  society  you 
represent.  .  We  did  not  go  to  Pittsburg,  as  some  people  assume,  for  pleasure. 
We  went  to  secure  broader  development  and  wider  vision. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  be  compelled  to  take  away  even  the  small  amount  of  happi- 
ness your  society  says  it  obtained  from  our  trip.  You  were  informed  that  the 
majority  of  teachers  refused  to  go  because  they  would  not  consent  to  break  the 
Sabbath  in  travelling  home.  Your  informant  told  you  what  was  not  true.  For 
five  years  some  of  the  teachers  have  gone  to  Buffalo,  Detroit  Ottawa,  Guelph 
and  Pittsburg  instead  of  attending  a  convention  in  Toronto.  Hundreds  of  teachers 
remained  at  home  each  year  to  attend  the  conv.  ntion,  even  when  the  excursion 
was  to  a  city  near  Toronto.  I  knew  that  a  smaller  number  would  go  for  a  trip 
to  Pittsburg,  which  would  cost  more  than  any  two  of  the  other  trips  and  take  a 
much  longer  time.  In  making  the  preliminary  arrangements  with  the  railroads 
in  August  I  estimited  the  number  who  would  g  >  to  Pittsburg  at  300.  Our  party 
n  Jmbered  292. 

**  I  called  all  the  teachers  together  who  thought  of  going  to  P.ttsburg  and 
asked  them  whether  they  wished  to  return  on  Saturday  or  Sunday.  At  that 
meeting  onlv  ten  voted  that  they  would  not  go  if  the  excursion  started  back  on 
Sunday,  and  two  of  them  afterwards  changed  their  minds  and  went. 

"  The  contrast  which  your  society  tries  to  make  between  the  teachers  who 
went  and  those  who  did  not  go  to  Pittsbury;  is  baseless,  and  certainly  does  not 
indicate  that  your  society  has  a  very  high  degree  of  honor  or  a  very  clear  sense 
of  justice.  The  teachers  who  remained  in  'I'oronto  for  the  convention  are  n Jt 
self-righteous  enough  to  claim  to  be  better  than  those  who  went  to  Pittsburg. 
Since  they  have  heard  about  what  we  saw  and  learned  at  Pittsburg  there  is  very 
general  and  strong  feeling  of  regret  among  those  who  did  not  go  with  us,  and  if 
the  excursion  were  to  be  held  next  week  the  party  would  be  very  much  larger." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  581 

lis  lit  ail  ? 

:o:- — — 

Reasons  for   Believing   that,  although  Individual  Existence  Cannot 
Continue,  the  Grave  Does  Not  End  All  for  Human  Beings. 

:o: 

BY    GEORGE    ALLEN    WHITE. 

:o: 

II.  {Concluded). 
One  thing  we  know — that  individual  life  cannot  continue  interminably,  an 
isolated  dynamic,  beyond  the  grave.  Beginning  in  timt,  it  ends  perforce  in 
lime.  Christianity  is  untrue.  All  other  religions  and  cults  of  the  ego  are  fatally 
untrue.  Spiritualism  is  untrue.  Theosophy  is  untrue.  Write  it  in  letters  of 
fire  athwart  the  aegis  of  Humanity.  Every  system  assuming  the  persistence  of  a 
unit  of  intelligence  must  be  unequivocally  branded  as  untrue.  From  what  we 
have  so  far  seen,  the  existence  of  a  reservoir  of  supra-intelligence,  steeped  with 
the  brilliance  of  Mysticism,  is  evident  ;  a  reservoir  without  form  or  uttermost 
limit,  out  of  which  we  mortal  beings,  puny  and  frail,  have  been  evolved  under 
certain  established  conditions  of  time,  space  and  matter.  We  do  not  outshine 
the  infinite  and  eternal  Ail  whence  we  came  ;  that  All  which  is,  and  which  also 
governs,  the  universal  cosmic  machine  Product  cannot  overshadow  producing 
agent.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  but  mummering  segments  of  the  All,  without 
place  or  honor  in  the  seats  of  the  mighty,  where  shines  the  new  Valhalla. 

Coming  from  the  All  — using  the  word  in  a  somewhat  constricted  sense — we 
return  to  the  All  when  in  gloom  we  die.  Man  will  not  retain  individuality, 
apartness  ;  that  is  sure.  But  who  shall  say  that  in  realms  behind  the  veil  the 
intellect-laden  fraction  of  the  All  called  Me  shall  not  merge,  or  ind^sed  can 
escape  merging,  with  its  fathomless  forbear  in  endless  beatitudes  of  other- 
consciousness?  Even  unconsciousness,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  conceive  it. 
may  connote  modes  of  enjoyment,  m  unison  with  cosmic  solidarity,  far  higher 
than  those  characterizing  this  fleeting  journey  over  th^  ocean  of  life.  That 
consciousness,  that  existence,  with  which  mankind  are  acquainted,  may  conceiv- 
ably and  for  aught  we  know  be  the  lowliest  of  a  stupendous  diapason  stretching 
in  ecstasy  of  sublimity  from  Alpha  to  Omega  of  all-inclusive  being. 

"  It  appears  possible  then  to  conceive  that  in  this  universe  there  are  innumer. 
able  grades  of  consciousness,  other  than  human  consciousness.  At  times  human 
consciousness  may  become  inherent  parts  of  such  other  forms  of  consciousness  ; 
and  their  existence  miuht  attcct  us  by  resulting  in  an  alteration  of  what  James 
might  call  our  *  feel.' "— 1)k.  Hknrv  Rutgers  Marshall:  "  Forms  of  Con- 
sciousness." 

"  It  is  easy  not  only  to  conceive  that  the  future  and  the  past  should  be  equally 
present  to  intelligent  creatures,  but  to  conceive  of  a  for  ii  of  intelligence  according 
to  which  past  events  would  be  ot)literated  from  the  mind  as  fast  as  they  took 
place,  while  the  future  should  be  as  actually  present  as  to  the  ordinary  human 
mind  the  past  is."  — Ricward  A.  Procior  :  "  Other  Worlds  than  Ours,"  ch   13. 


582  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


"That  the  infinite  universe  contains  forms  of  existence  transcending  ours  in 
inconceivable  ways  and  in  almost  infinite  degrees  is,  beyond  question,  a  rational 
supposition  ;  but  any  attempt  to  image  such  superior  forms  must  still  be  circum- 
scribed by  what  we  know  of  mtelligencein  the  hijihest  manifestations  in  which  it 
has  yet  been  revealed  to  us."— William  Henry  Hudson:  "An  Introduction 
to  the  Philosophy  of  Herbert  Spencer,"  ch    6. 

"  And  so,  from  this  region  of  darkness  and  mystery  which  surrounds  us,  rays 
may  now  be  darting  which  require  but  the  d(;velopinent  of  the  proper  intellectual 
organs  to  translate  them  into  knowledge  as  far  surpassing  ours  as  ours  surpasses 
that  of  the  wallowing  reptiles  which  once  held  p  issession  of  this  planet." — John 
Tyndall  :  "  Scientific  Materialism,"  Essay. 

"  Jesus  teaches  deliverance  from  individual  life,  and  this  deliverance  he  places 
in  the  exaltation  of  the  '  Son  of  Man  '  and  in  union  with  God.  Blending  his 
own  teaching  with  that  of  the  jews  concerning  the  conning  of  the  Messiah,  Jesus 
speaks  of  the  restoration  of  the  Son  of  Man  to  life — meaning  not  the  carnal  and 
individual  resurrection  from  the  dead,  but  the  awakening  of  life  in  (xod.  As  to 
carnal  and  personal  resurrection,  Jesus  never  s.iid  a  word  about  it." — Count  Leo 
Tolstoy's  Interpretation  of  Christ  :  "  What  I  Believe,"  ch.  8. 

"  Is  it  not  just  possible  that  there  is  a  mode  of  being  as  much  transcending 
intelligence  and  will,  as  these  transcend  mechanical  motion  ?  It  is  true  that  we 
are  totally  unable  to  conceive  any  such  higher  mode  of  being.  But  this  is  not  a 
reason  for  questioning  its  existence  ;  it  is  rather  the  reverse." — Herbert  Spen- 
cer :  '•  First  Principles,"  ch.  5 

"One  conclusion  was  forced  upon  my  mind  at  that  time,  and  my  impression 
of  its  truth  has  ever  since  remained  unshaken.  It  is  that  our  normal  waking 
consciousness,  rational  consciousness  as  we  call  it,  is  but  one  special  type  of 
consciousness,  whilst  all  about  H,  parted  from  it  by  the  flimsiest  of  screens,  th'  re 
lie  potential  forms  of  consciousness  entirely  different  " — William  James  ;  "  Va- 
rieties of  Religious  Experience,"  p.  388. 

"  In  particular,  the  individual's  consciousness,  as  we  know  it,  must  be  regarded 
as  a  fragment  of  a  wider  whole,  by  which  its  origin  and  its  ( hanges  are  deter- 
mined. As  the  brain  forms  only  a  fragmer.tary  portion  of  the  total  system  of 
material  phenomena,  so  we  must  assume  the  stream  of  individual  consciousness 
to  be  in  like  manner  part  of  an  immaterial  system." — Dr.  Stout  :  "  Manual  of 
Psychology,"  ch.  3,  sec.  4. 

"  You  attribute  personality  and  consciousness  to  God,  but  what  do  you  call 
personality  and  consciousness?  That,  no  doubt,  which  you  have  found  in 
yourself,  become  cognizant  of  in  yourself,  and  distinguished  by  that  name." — 
Fichter. 

"  We  have  no  right  whatever  to  speak  of  really  unconscious  nature,  but  only 
of  uncommunicative  nature,  or  of  nature  whose  mental  processes  go  on  at  such 
different  time-rates  from  ours  that  we  cannot  adjust  ourselves  to  a  live  apprecia- 
tion of  their  inward  fluency,  although  our  inward  consciousness  does  not  make 
us  aware  of  their  presence.  My  hypothesis  is  that,  in  case  of  nature  in  general, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  portions  of  nature  known  as  our  fellow-men,  we  are  dealing 
with  phenomena  of  a  vast  conscious  process,  whose  relation  to  time  varies 
vastly,  but  whose  general  characteristics  are  throughout  the  same." — Joseph 
Royce  :  "  The  World  and  the  Individual,"  vol.  2,  p.  225. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  583 


"  But  I  do  believe  that,  if  existence  is  to  be  divided  into  conscious  and  un- 
conscious, the  division  is  inaccurate.  The  word  *  unconscious  '  merely  expresses 
the  absence  of  consciousness,  while  the  sphere  which  is  called  unconscious  may 
embrace  a  greater  region  than  the  conscious,  and  may  have  modes  of  [)ein^ 
among  which  some  greater  than  consciousness  may  have  a  place  — something 
better  than  the  poet's  vision  of  beauty,  than  the  lover's  paradise,  the  enthusiast's 
rapture,  than  the  sage's  peace." — Alfred  Thompson  :  "  Magic  and  Mystery." 

Objections,  however,  may  be  offered  to  this  hypothesis  of  a  higher  and  nobler 
unity  after  the  dissolution  of  Death.  Life  is  simply  an  efflorescence  or  a  blos- 
soming of  clodding  matter,  it  may  be  said,  as  when  we  experiment  prettily  with 
sulphuric  acid  and  chlorate  of  potash,  and  there  ensues  a  puff,  a  burning,  and 
silence.  The  ephemeral  manifestations  of  matter,  however  momen:ous  or 
attractive,  are  to  all  appearance  gone  for  all  time.  No  agency  can  bring  them 
back. 

But  the  doctrine  of  the  Conservation  of  Energy  declares  it  to  us  plainly  that 
nothing  is  lost,  nothing  annihilated ;  that  the  chlorate  of  potash  and  the  acid 
have  merely  united  to  form  new  combinations  whose  phenomenal  wanderings, 
solid,  liquid  and  gaseous,  ran  be  traced  by  the  chemist  inexorably  and,  as  it 
were,  eternally.  Consciousness  and  intellect- are  they  in  just  this  category? 
Who  has  yet  named  their  equivalent?  As  they  are  admittedly  part  and  parcel 
of  the  universal  functionings,  we  have  two  previsional  suppositions  authorized  us 
here— and  only  two.  Either  consciousness  and  intellect  are  an  unsuppressible 
verity  in  their  present  forms,  or  they  are  amenable  to  change  into  something 
else,  as  yet  utterly  impossible  of  definition  or  comprehension  by  man.  Undoubt- 
edly after  the  death  of  the  human  body  they  are  metamorphosed— as  must  be 
the  case  partially  during  life  into  a  subtile  Otherness  which  in  our  ignorance  we 
term  *'  the  Unknown  :  "  united  under  another  aspect  into  an  infinite  reservoir  of 
Power  that  works  and  weaves  its  sinuous  ways  through  the  lights  and  gloamings 
of  infinity  forever. 

^  Light  is  tranhforn^af)le  into  heat.  Heat,  in  turn,  gives  us  electricity.  Electricity 
changes  to  magnetism.  Magnetism  is  a  well-known  precedent  to  the  develop- 
ment of  mechanical  force.  The  latter  once  again  means  light.  All  is  traceable. 
It  is  a  circle,  "  vicious  "  enough  to  the  world-delver.  But  when  consciousness 
and  intellect  are  presented  for  man's  study,  what  then  ?— aye  f  what  then? 
Where  is  the  nexus?"  Bring  forward  your  equivalent.  Search  the  type-cases  for 
the  parallel  bars  of  equality.     Produce  the  preceding  and  the  succeeding  stages.. 

All  this  eludes  the  focus.  The  thing  cannot  be  done.  Protoplasm  averages 
52.55  per  cent,  of  carbon,  21.23  P^r  cent,  of  oxygen,  15. 17  per  cent,  of  nitrogen, 
6.7  per  cent,  of  hydrogen,  and  1.2  percent,  of  sulphur.  How  much  per  cent,  of 
intelligence  ?  Let  us  follow  the  equations  through  Nature  back  to  cosmic 
genesis.  You  cannot  ?  Then,  pray,  let  us  not  pour  contempt  on  the  unkpown 
cause,  maintaining  glibly  that  we  know  everything  worth  the  solving.  Let  us  be 
reasonable,  and  frona  now  on  strictly  honest. 


584  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


*'  But  the  gulf  between  consciousness  and  the  movements  of  the  molecules  of 
nerve-matter,  measurable  as  these  are,  is  impassable  ;  we  can  follow  the  steps  of 
the  mechanical  processes  of  nerve-changes  till  we  reach  the  threshold  which 
limits  the  known,  and  beyond  that  barrier  we  cannot  go.  We  can  neither  affirm 
nor  deny  ;  we  can  only  confess  ignorance." — Edward  Clodd  :  "  The  Siory  of 
Creation,"  ch.  7. 

"But  to  repeat  what  I  have  more  than  once  taken  pains  to  say  in  the  most 
unadorned  of  plain  language,  I  repudiate,  as  philosophical  error,  the  doctrine  of 
['know-it-all']  materialism.  It  seems  to  me  pretty  plain  that  there  is  another 
thing  in  the  universe,  to  wit,  consciousness,  which  I  cannot  see  to  be  matter  or 
force,  or  any  conceivable  modification  of  either,  however  intimately  the  manifes 
tation  of  the  phenomena  of  consciousness  may  be  connected  with  the  phenomena 
known  as  matter  and  force." — Thomas  H.  Huxley  :  "  Science  and  Morals," 
Fortnightly  Review,  November,  1886. 

"Similarly,  though  the  analysis  of  mental  processes  may  finally  bring  him  [the 
man  of  science]  down  to  sensations,  as  the  original  materials  out  of  which  all 
thought  is  woven,  yet  he  is  little  forwarder ;  for  he  can  give  no  account  either  of 
Sensations  themselves  or  of  that  something  which  is  conscious  of  sensation." — 
Herbert  Spencer,  "  First  Principles,"  ch.  3. 

*'  But  it  is,  I  believe,  admitted  by  those  who  hold  the  automaton  theory,  that 
states  of  consciousness  are  produced  by  the  marshalling  of  the  molecules  of  the 
brain  ;  and  this  production  of  consciousness  by  molecular  motion  is  to  me  quite 
as  inconceivable  on  mechanical  principles  as  the  production  of  molecular  motion 
by  consciousness.  If,  therefore,  I  reject  one  result,  I  must  reject  both.  I,  how- 
ever, reject  neither,  and  thus  stand  in  the  presence  of  two  Incomprehensibles, 
instead  of  one  Incomprehensible.  While  accepting  fearlessly  the  facts  of  materi- 
alism dwelt  upon  in  these  pages,  I  bow  my  head  in  the  dust  befcre  that  mystery 
of  mind  which  has  hitherto  defied  its  own  penetrative  power,  and  which  may 
ultimately  resolve  itself  into  a  demonstrable  impossibility  of  self-penetration." — 
John  Iyndall  :  "  Apology  for  the  Belfast  Address. ' 

'*  Were  our  minds  and  senses  so  expanded,  strengthened,  and  illuminated,  as 
to  enable  us  to  see  and  feel  the  very  molecules  of  the  brain  ;  were  we  capable  of 
fallowing  all  their  notions,  all  their  groupings,  all  their  electric  discharges,  if  such 
there  be  ;  and  were  we  intimately  acquainted  wijh  the  corresponding  states  of 
thought  and  feeling  ;  we  should  be  as  far  as  ever  from  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem. '  How  are  these  physical  processes  connected  with  the  facts  of  conscious- 
ness?' The  chasm  between  the  two  classes  of  phenomena  would  still  remain 
intellectually  impassable."— John  Tyndall  :  "Scientific  Materialism,"  Essay. 

Another  apparently  weighty  reason  why  universal  good  cannot  ever  be  in 
«tore  for  our  race  is  found  in  the  awful  conditions  encountered  on  earth,  now  as 
always,  by  sentiency. 

This  is  not  to  be  wholly  explained  by  any  exegetical  rsasoning  of  man.  But 
•shall  we  deny  with  absolute  certainty  that,  when  merged  with  the  stupendous  All, 
everything  now  disparate  will  make  for  an  everlasting  flow  of  rapture,  without 
check  and  without  hiatus  ?  that  earthly  misery  may  be  but  the  necessary  result 
of  individuation  and  of  the  clashing  of  egos  running  riot  out  of  their  authentic 
element  ?  or  that,  seeing,  as  we  have,  the  amazing  development  from  mud-strata 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  585 

of  virtues  and  appealing  graces  even  under  the  auspices  of  that  individuation 
evoked  by  disjoined  sun  and  earth,  the  eternity  ahead  of  us  may  prove  saturated 
in  a  limitless  Love  of  limitless  Good  ? 

It  is  supposable,  too,  that  present  alignments  may  be  a  degradation.  Perchance, 
when  earth  joins  the  parental  sun  and  our  system  in  its  entirety  reverts  to  the 
gaseous  tenuity  of  pre-nebulous  eras,  that  impalpable  phase  of  the  All  shall  prove 
the  highest  heaven  toward  which  humankind  have  yearned  in  blindness  for  so 
many  millenniums.  Possibly  we  are  in  an  interregnum  of  cosmic  well-being. 
We  do  not  know.     We  cannot  see  through  the  shadows. 

"  I  cannot  penetrate  the  black  curtain  that  falls  behind  the  footlights  of  mortal 
life  and  hides  the  arcana  of  Being.  But  I  feel  that  I  am  in  the  guardian  hands 
of  Eternal  Love,  and  that  my  head  reclines  safely  on  the  bosom  of  a  God  [Good] 
such  as  the  glory  of  Dream  never  drew  and  the  splendor  of  Vision  never  hmned." 
—  W.  Stewart  Ross  :  "  God  and  His  Book,"  ch.  40. 

Let  us  presume  upon  the  tolerance  of  dry-as-dust  scientific  orthodoxy,  and 
continue  for  a  moment  on  the  breezy  mountain-peaks  of  speculation. 

Astronomers  concur  that  our  particular  universe,  the  universe  exhibiting  itself 
to  magnifying  instruments  on  a  luminous  winter  night,  is  limited  in  extent.  It 
may  be,  with  all  its  terrific  spatial  abysms,  but  an  atom  in  an  infinite  whole  of 
universal  extension.  Most  of  those  exploring  problems  of  the  cognizable  sky 
opine  that  other  universes  in  boundless  succession  dot  space  throughout  post- 
telescopic  regions,  reaching  out  and  on  without  bourne  or  suggestion  of  definitive 
end. 

But  why  ?  Why  should  it  not  be  that  this  world-whirling  universe  phenomenon 
of  ours  is  after  all  only  a  petty  phase  out  of  untold  billions  of  variant  modes  of 
material  activity,  persisting  to-day,  awe-inspiring,  away  beyond  depths  of  approxi- 
mate vacancy  ?  Or,  assuming  world-whirling  now  to  mark  all  points  of  space, 
why  may  it  not  be  an  infinitely  extended  but  disappearing  phase  of  an  infinite 
forward-evolving  procession  to  some  far-off  supreme  event  ? — but  only  a  phase  of 
the  obdurate  riddle  ? 

Again,  the  dream  of  the  chemist  is  to  out-do  one  day  his  despised  predecessor, 
the  alchemist  of  human  dream-time,  and  transmute  every  one  of  the  seventy 
elements  into  a  single  primal  base.  As  to  what  that  significant  element  may  be 
like,  none  have  offered  as  much  as  a  satisfactory  intimation  ;  but  the  necessity  of 
postulating  it  is  now  admitted.  Again  employing  the  interrogation-point,  the 
question  arises,  Why  may  it  not  be  a  passport  to  the  Unknown,  the  All,  the 
everywhere-permeating  power  of  which  man  and  finite  intelligence  and  thought 
are  mere  chips,  so  to  speak,  chips  from  the  block  of  the  infinite  ?  May  it  not  be 
thought-power  itself?  Indeed,  can  we  doubt  that  were  the  discovery  of  it  pos- 
sible to  sense, — as  it  probably  never  can  be, — we  should  approach  near,  indeed, 
very  near,  the  outer  arcanum  of  fundamental  things? 

"Or,  to  say  the  same  thing  in  other  words,  the  reality  external  to  our  minds 


.^86  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


which  is  represented  in  O'Jr  minds  as  matter  is  in  itself  mind  siuff  The  universe, 
then,  consists  entirely  of  mind-stuff.  Some  of  this  is  woven  inio  the  <  omplex 
form  of  human  minds  containing  imperfect  representations  of  the  mind-stuff  out- 
side them,  and  of  themselves  also,  as  a  mirror  reflects  its  own  image  in  another 
mirror,  ad  infiyiitum.  Such  an  imperfect  representation  is  called  a  material 
universe.  It  is  a  picture  in  a  man's  mind  of  the  real  universe  of  mind-stuff." — 
William  Kingdon  Clifford:  "On  the  Nature  of  Things  in  Themstlves," 
Essay. 

'•  The  materiality  of  existence  and  the  mechanical  display  of  nature's  forces 
are  the  appearance  only  as  which  existence  represents  itself.  Existence  is 
spiritual  all  through,  and  the  evolution  of  mind  is  not  a  mere  incident,  a  happy 
chance,  but  a  necessary  outcome  of  the  very  nature  of  being." — Paul  Carus, 
Editor  Monist  :  "  Primer  of  Philosophy,"  p.  20. 

Or,  once  more,  the  ether,  that  omnipresent  but  fundamentally  unimagined 
other-matter,  out  in  the  deeps  and  here  among  us,  which  science  has  to  suppose 
in  fitting  together  its  phenomenal  synthesis,  may  be  \\Ad  to  contain  even  now 
feeling  and  life  incomparably  above  the  sensory  functionings  known  to  creatures 
of  the  matcrial-whrrl  surface.  The  sun  itself,  heated  thousands  of  degrees  above 
a  temperature  supportable  by  man,  may  embrace  an  order  of  existence  exceeding 
an> thing  of  which  we  can  so  much  as  vaguely  picture. 

'*  Therefore,  in  examining  the  circumstances  of  other  worlds  than  ours,  it  will 
not  be  sufficient  to  prove  that  certain  orbs  would  obviously  not  be  habitable  by 
the  races  subsisting  on  the  earth,  in  order  to  force  the  conclusion  that  no  Hving 

creatures  subsist  at  all  upon  their  surface Here,  then,  is  our  third  lesson. 

We  are  taught  by  the  analogy  of  our  earth  that  it  is  not  even  sufficient  to  show 
that  a  planet  would  be  an  abode  quickly  fatal  to  all  the  living  creatures  subsisting 
on  our  globe  to  prove  that  it  is  therefore  uninhabited."  — Richard  Proctor: 
"  Other  Worlds  than  Ours,"  ch.  i. 

If  part  of  the  organic  life  rising  primordially  out  of  the  surface  of  this  earth 
can  be  demonstrated  to  live  in  water,— something  incredible  to  us  did  we  not 
see  it, — and,  as  in  the  case  of  bacteria,  in  temperatures  higher  than  the  boiling- 
point,  clear  it  is  that  only  flagrant  quackery  can  feel  sure  of  the  inert  essential 
sluggishness  of  that  universe  outside  our  ken,  whose  possible  modes,  try  as  we 
will,  we  cannot  even  picture  to  ourselves. 

1  hen,  finally,  there  is  Telepathy,  the  acme  of  intercourse.  It  is  a  fact  that 
can  no  more  be  questioned  by  the  intelligent,  modern  investigator  than  catalogued 
naiurai  law  or  the  diff"erential  calculus.  By  it,  attained  through  the  instrument- 
ality of  extra-normal  states  of  consciousness,  some  people  are  enabled  to  com- 
municate in  psychic,  subsensory  wireless  telegraphy  with  minds,  distant  thou- 
sands of  miles,  that  are  attuned  to  catch  the  language  universal.  This  gift  is 
possessed  in  even  more  pronounced  degree  by  animals,  the  speechless  myriads 
of  the  Fifth  Estate.  As  we  descend  "  lower"  still  it  occupies  a  place  more  and 
more  predominant  and  widely  spread  ;  until,  as  some  believe,  when  inorgan'C 
matter  and  below  is  reached,  every  tiniest  atomic  fraction  of  the  limitless  All  is 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  587 


ever  instantaneously  en  rapport  with  itself,  sdns  space  and  time  and  the  clogging 
restraints  of  sense. 

'*  O  that  we  had  only  the  candor  to  know  that  we  do  not  know,  that  we  are 
agnostic.  We  have  gone  on  the  wrong  track  to  find  God  and  his  ethics.  We 
shall  never  find  them  in  any  Bible,  or  literary  revelation.  We  shall  yet,  in  the 
infinitely  remote  history  of  our  higher  selves,  find  them  in  what  are  now  the 
unfathomed  esoterics  of  our  own  soul  or  essential  being.  Our  racial  hope  lies  ir> 
psychopathy,  and  in  a  telepathy  in  direct  communication  with  the  aggregate 
universe  We  shall,  in  the  process  of  evolution,  establish  wireless  telegraphy 
with  heaven,  thai  is,  with  ideals  and  rtalities  to  which,  at  present,  we  but  dimly, 
vaguely  and  insanely  aspire." — W.  Stewart  Ross. 

It  is  time  to  close  We  are  here  and  we  know  little  or  nothing.  As  children 
of  the  mist,  we  see  in  part.  Across  the  sky  of  the  eternal  Is,  portents  flash  but 
few  and  dim. 

That  matter  once  thought  low  and  of  the  brute  brutish  is  coming -ft)  its  invio- 
lable own — comirg  to  its  own  to-day.  The  to-morrow  of  ihe  centuries  will  turr> 
the  page. 

Once  it  was  but  a  despised  flooring  for  an  Edenic  couple.  Then  a  little  while 
and  it  portended  more  ihan  that ;  it  was  viewed,  however  contemptuously,^  as  the 
pristine  vehicle  of  life,  the  temporal,  inferior  sheath  of  infinite  power.  And  ir> 
the  early  years  of  this  twentieth  century  we  are  according  it  a  sort  of  nascent  life  ; 
a  simple,  ever-vibrating  form  of  unincarcerate  intelligence  generating  our  mortal 
existence  that,  like  lightning-spark,  flashes  between  the  darksome  clouds  of  two 
Forevers. 

But  it  is  more  than  that.  It  is  incomprehensibly  supernal  It  is  a  part  of  the 
immeasurable  All.  It  is  the  AIL  All  in  All — yes,  All  in  All.  The  breakers  of 
a  shoreless  Eternity  are  crashing  in  the  atom.  A  far  flung  melody  comes  weird 
and  taciturri  frc^m  out  the  Infinite  Forever,  and  plays,  namieless,.  restless,  bound- 
less, glorious,  on  the  bafSrng  keys  of  the  everlasting. 

Somethir>g  '•  stronger  than  Death  arxi  strong  as  Good  "  teHs  me  that  it  is  welt 
and  fraught  with  bliss  celestial  and  bewildering  beyond  the  showing  and  the 
seeming.  Behind  the  Great  Unknown  standeth  Good  in  the  regal  radiance  of 
essential  things,  keeping  vigil  o'er  its  own. 

Nothing  is  dead.  There  is  no  Oblivion,  no  clogging  rust  insensate.  The 
rock  and  the  sod,  the  sand,  the  rnarl  and  the  metal,  are  all  bubbling  over  with 
veiled  resplendence,  alt  deathiessly  and  paramountly  transcendental  in  the 
heavens.  The  air  and  the  ether,  the  prothyl  and  the  X  of  X's  beyond  the  flux 
of  time,  intoxicate  us  in  their  oneness  with  the  unsolved  rhythm  of  the  ages. 

Hope  for  one  and  hope  for  all  may  be  seen  pulsating  high  in  the  sunset  tint* 
of  life's  nether  horizon.  Through  atoms  and  electrons ;  through  the  soils  and 
rocks  ;  through  water  of  ocean  and  of  trickling  rivulet  lost  by  verdant  hillsides  } 
through  bacilli  and  saurians,  amphibia  and  uptoiling  humanity  ;  through  worlds 
and  systems  ;  through  universes  and  sidereal  infinities,  voiceless  and  all  untold ; 


,588  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

through  the  amorphous  interstices  of  the  overpowering  Unknown,— runs  the  fine, 
unsevered  thread,  the  gleaming  earnest  of  subh'me  and  deathless  glory  from  ihe 
ion  to  the  suns. 

I  expect  to  walk  the  Inner  Temple — in  the  sweet  by-and-bye.  I  expect, to 
sweep  in  beauty  through  a  glimmering  of  quenchless  radiance  to  the  bosom  of 
the  All — some  day  by-attd-bye. 

I  expect  to  share  with  tree  and  with  atom,  with  dust  ai»d  with  empyrean  stars, 
a  grand  coalescence  of  wondrous  Love — some  great  day  by-and-bye. 

I  expect  to  stream  with  swelling  Nature  through  the  splendor  of  the  All  in 
All,  from  Pleiades  to  Ultima  Thule,  for  ever  and  ever  and  ever  and  aye — some 
glory-crowned  and  eternal  day  in  the  mighty  by-and-bye. 

If  the  world  must  have  a  religion,  I  give  it  this— the  Religion  of  Eternal  ty  ; 
the  faith  that  flickers  never,  that  rests  on  the  Rock  of  Ages  cleft  for  all. 

In  that  we  find  a  si^re  repose.  In  that  is  peace  and  rest  for  all  the  weary  souls 
pf  earth.  For  there  is  joy,  superb,  surpassing,  deathless — -in  the  cryptic  "  Over 
There." 

''  To  reach  out  to  the  glittering  stars— to  know 
Some  little  thing  about  the  upper  deep  ; 
Xo  drift  adown  the  shoreless  blue — to  sweep 
A-wlng  above  the  Universal  Flow  ; 
To  walk  upon  the  bursting  suns,  and  go 

Urtscorched  amid  their  flames— to  scale  the  steep 
Into  the  sunless  Silence,  and  to  leap 
Beyond  it  all  into  the  Darkness — oh  !  " 

— John  Clark  Ridpath. 

"  I  am  the  mote  in  the  sunbeam,  and  I  am  the  burning  sun  ; 
'  Rest  here  ! '  I  whisper  the  atom  ;  I  call  to  the  orb  :  '  Roll  on  ! ' 
*  ♦  ♦  ♦  *  ♦  * 

"  I  am  both  Good  and  Evil  ;  the  deed  and  the  deed's  intent, 

Temptation,  victim,  sinner,  crime,  pardon,  punishment. 
"I  am  what  was,  is,  will  be  ;  creation's  ascent  and  fall  ; 
The  link,  the  chain  of  existence  ;  beginning  and  en,id  of  all." 

— Translated  from  the  Dsehalaleddin  Rumi,  by  RlTTER. 
"  God  is  Love,  and  God  is  Beauty  ; 
God  is  Music,  Truth  and  Light  ; 
God  is  Hope,  and  God  is  Duty  ; 
God  is  Morning,  Noon  and  Night ; 
'  God  is  Joy,  and  God  is  Sorrow  ; 

God  is  Pleasure,  God  is  Pain  ; 
God  is  Yesterday  and  Morrow  ;  ' 

:..  God  is  Loss  and  God  is  Gain. 

-'  '*' God  is  Patience,  Trust  and  Trial  ; 

God  is  Waiting,  God  is  Zest  ; 
,  Xlod  is  Promise  and  Denial  : 


SECULAE   THOUGHT.  589 

Purity  and  Peace  and  Rest  ;  . 

God  is  Star  and  Mount  and  Valley  ; 

God  is  River,  Lake  and  Sea  ; 
God  is  Field  and  Crowded  Alley  ; 

God  the  Lily  on  the  Lea." 


—Paul  Carus. 


"  Like  tides  on  a  crescent  sea  beach, 

When  the  moon  is  new  and  thin, 
Into  our  hearts  high  yearnings 

Come  welling  and  surging  in  — 
Come  from  the  mystic  ocean 

Whose  rim  no  foot  has  trod  — 
Some  of  us  call  it  longing, 

And  others  call  it  God. 

"  Glimmering  water  and  breakers, 
Far  on  horizon's  rim. 
White  sails  and  sea-gulls  glistening 

Away  till  the  sight  grows  dim  ; 
And  shells  spirit-painted  with  glory, 
Where  sea-weeds  beckon  .and  nod 
Some  of  us  call  it  ocean, 
And  others  call  it  God." 
Kraniingharn,  Mass. 


SCIENTIFIC  CHRISTIANITY. 

"  We  cannot  recall  a  modern  '  higher  critic  '  of  the  Scriptures  who  has  given 
niu£h  evidence  of  literary  perception  or  appreciation,"  remarks  the  Watchman 
(Bapt.)  of  Boston.  "Taking  the  higher  critics  as  a  whole  they  are  simply  gram- 
marians, philologists.  There  is  not  one  of  them  with  whom  we  are  acquainted 
whose  judgment  about  Wordsworth  or  Shakespere  or  Tennyson  would  carry 
with  it  any  special  weight.  And  yet  these  are  the  men  who  assume  to  split  up 
the  sublime  poetry  of  Isaiah  into  fragments  composed,  as  they  assert,  by  different 
authors.  What  we  would  like  to  see  is  not  less  but  more  literary  criticism  by 
men  who  have  the  capacity  to  appreciate  poetry  and  eloquence  Much  of  what 
passes  for  literary  criticism  of  the  Scriptures  is  by  men  who  would  be  unable  to 
detect  poetry,  if  it  were  not  arranged  in  metrical  form.  And  for  trustworthy 
literary  criticism  of  the  Scriptures  a  high  degree  of  spiritual  insight  is  requisite. 
The  critic  must  be  able  to  enter  into  the  spiritual  atmosphere  of  his  author, 
occupy  his  point  of  view,  and  grasp  his  purpose.  It  is  marvellous  how  much  a 
good  interpreter  of  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays  enables  you  to  see  in  it  what  you 
have  never  discerned  before.  The  Bible  remains  a  curious  compilation  of 
various  literature,  to  be  appreciated  by  a  knowledge  of  grammar,  history,  and 
archaeology,  until  spiritual  insight  is  brought  to  its  pages  ;  then  its  power  and 
authority  are  revealed.  The  dry-as-dust  critic  talks  patronizingly  of  the  devout 
man  who  finds  in  the  word  that  which  feeds  his  soul.  Such  study  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, he  says,  is  not  scientific.  On  the  contrary,  we  should  hold  that  it  is 
pre-eminently  scienliflc." 


^90  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 


XTbe  ITbomas  patne  /IBemortal  at  f^ew  IRocbelle,  1R.13. 

:o: 

LETTER  FROM  MR.  MONCURE  D.  CONWAY. 

Hotel  de  Strasbourg.  Rue  de  Richelieu,  Paris,  Sept.  22,  1905. 
To  the  Friends  at  Paine  MoHument  Ceremonies  in  New  Rochelle,  Oct.  14. 

A  greeting  to  tho>e  who  assemble  around  the  monument  of  Paine,  October 
14,  ought  no  doubt  to  be  brief,  for  it  may  be  cold  or  wet  weather.  In  any  case 
1  hope  that  wise  managers  will  use  their  discretion  about  this  missive  of  mine, 
and  read  as  little  of  it  as  they  find  fit  for  the  occasio  1.  My  regret  at  inabihty  to 
be  among  you  personally  is  softened  by-the  altruistic  reflectioT  that  though  you 
can  skip  a  letter  it  is  not  so  easy  to  abridge  a  speaker — especi  illy  one  fresh  from 
scenes  and  events  that  vividly  recall  the  memory  of  that  wonJer  ol  his  time  and 
of  ours,  Thomas  Paine.  I  often  pass  the  houses  and  the  places  associated  with 
Paine  in  Paris, — that  where  he  retreated  when  the  Revolution  grew  murderous, 
and  wrote  the  first  part  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason  "  beneath  the  suspended  blade 
of  the  guillotine  ;  the  hotel  where  be  was  arrested  ;  the  Luxembourg  palace 
where  he  was  imprisoned  ;  the  house  where  Monroe  and  his  wife  carried  him 
from  prison  and  nursed  him  back  into  life,  and  where  he  wrote  the  second  part 
of  the  "  Age  of  Reason  ; "  the  house  where  it  was  published  by  the  widow 
Gorsas,  whose  husband  had  been  guillotined  ;  the  home  of  the  Bonnevilles  where 
he  resided  after  the  Monroes  left,  and  during  the  five  years  preceding  his 
departure  for  America.  The  house  where  the  widow  pabli^hed  Paine's  "Age 
of  Reason"  is  only  two  or  three  doors  from  me;  it  is  a  government  bureau  of 
tobacco,  superintended  by  an  enterprising  woman,  who  sells  honest  cigars 
When  I  told  her  and  her  husbarKi  the  history  of  their  house  they  were  amazed  ; 
though  fairly  intelligent  people,  they  hid  never  heard  o^  either  Paine  or  Gorsas. 
For  Paiiie,  although  interesting  to  French  historians  and  students,  cannot 
possibly  be  a  figure  of  popular  importance  in  a  country  which  knows  nothing  of 
the  Protestant  dogmas.  Infallibility  of  the  Pope,  authority  of  the  church,  cere- 
njonial  usages,  are  here  in  discussion,  but  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  depravity, 
atonement.  Sabbath,  are  of  no  interest.  When  my  history  of  Paine  was  being 
done  into  French,  my  translator,  Felix  Rabbe, — an  ex-priest  who  had  become 
rationalist  and  married, — advised  me  against  quotations  of  Paine's  arguments 
against  Protestant  dogmas,  as  being  without  point  or  interest  in  France.  There 
is  thus  no  Paine  question  here,  and  historians  are  able  to  look  at  his  public 
services  and  his  writings  just  as  everybody  did  before  the  *'  Age  of  Reason  " 
appeared  and  when  Congress  presented  him  with  the  farm  at  New  Rochelle: 
And  the  estimate  of  him  is  very  high.  Louis  Blanc  in  his  History  of  the 
Revolution,  Robinet  in  his  work  on  Danton,  and  others  have  recognized  his 
courage  and  power ;  and  the  great  Taine  himself,  who  in  his  work  on  the 
Revolution  finds  so  few  to  praise,  prints  a  letter  of  Paine  to  Danton  which  he 
declares  to  be  unique   for  its  practical   good  sense. 

But  the  average  French  revolutionist  of  Paine's  time  could  not  comprehend 
his  idea, —a  peaceful  revolution.  Danton  said  to  him,  "Monsieur  Paine, 
revolutions  are  not  made  with  rose-water."  But  Paine  insisted  on  the  forces  of 
sunshine  which  gently  supplant  winter  with  spring.  As  the  lute  is  drowned  by 
the  drum,  Paine's  pen  was  unable  to  compete  with  that  of  Camile  Desmoulins, 
whose  statue  I  saw  unveiled  to-day  in  the  Palais  Royal  garden.  Camille  was  a 
brilliant  young  genius,  and  it  was  he  who  summoned  the  people  to  destroy  ttie 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  591 


Bastile  and  to  take  up  arms.  VVhen  the  trial  of  the  king  took  place,  he  and 
Paine  were  both  in  the  Convention,  where  Paine  made  his  pica  for  the  king's 
life,  — a  speech  unparalleled  for  argument  and  art  and  eloquence.  It  nearly 
carried  the  majority,  but  Camile  declared  the  king's  death  necessary  for  the 
honor  of  the  Convention.  A  year  later  Paine  and  Camille  were  fellow-prisoners 
in  the  Luxemb  )urg.  Their  last  parting  was  when  Camille  Desmoulins  was 
carried  off  to  be  decapitated  by  the  same  guillotine  to  which  he  had  helped  to 
send  the  king.  When  he  arrived  at  the  block  he  shouted  :  "  People  !  poor 
People  !  they  deceive  you  !  they  are  killing  your  friends  !  Who  led  you  to  the 
Bastile?  Who  gave  you  your  cocarde  ?  I  am  Camille  Desmoulins  !  "  The 
bronze  figure  unveiled  today  (anniversary  of  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic) 
represents  the  young  leader  climbing  on  a  chair  to  make  his  appeal  (1789)  ta 
the  thousands  on  that  same  spoc.  "  To  arms  !  To  arms  !  "  The  face  and  the- 
form  are  noble,  but  I  would  I  ke  it  better  had  Camille  been  shown  beside  the- 
gui  lotine. 

It  was  a  memorable  scene  to-day.  In  front  of  the  bronze  figure,  decorated' 
officials  sat  in  boxe->  of  purple  velvet  fringed  with  gold,  and  the  orators  in  full 
dress, — the  colonial  minister  wore  white  kid  gloves, — the  elegant  ladies,  alF 
admitted  by  ticket,  would  have  elicited  from  the  bronze  man,  had  he  come  to 
life,  '•  Down  with  those  aristocrats!"  It  was  ali  a  ceremony  in  the  cult  of  the 
Revolution, which  never  ends.  Paine  warned  those  victims,  about  to  kill  Louis  the 
Sixteenth,  that  if  they  once  began  shedding  blood  there  was  no  knowing  where 
they  would  stop.  He  lived  to  see  that  method  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  military 
despot — an  emperor  a  thousand  fold  more  oppressive  than  the  slain  king, — 
and    France  chained  by   that  militarism  which  endangers  its  liberty  to  this  day. 

The  American  Revolution  gave  to  the  word  "revolution"  its  connotation  of 
violence  and  bloodsh  d.  Paine  was  never  a  revolutionist  in  this  modern  sense. 
He  did  his  best  to  persuride  the  American  statesmen  not  to  take  up  arms  o  a 
mere  point  of  taxation,  and  to  secure  their  independence  by  peaceable  evolution  ; 
and  when  the  collision  at  Lexington  made  peace  impossible,  he  raised  the 
struggle  to  the  aim  of  entire  independence  as  the  only  means  of  preventing  war 
between  the  countries  from  becoming  chronic.  He  did  the  same  in  France  ;  he 
tried  to  persunde  the  repub'icans  that  if  they  obtained  a  republic  in  substance 
it  made  no  dfference  whether  they  called  its  ornamental  head  president  or  king. 
He  was,  he  declared,  personally  opposed  to  both  presidency  and  royalty,  but  if 
the  one-man  p  )wer  wis  withdrawn  peiple  ought  not  to  sacrifice  human  lives  on 
an  abstraction  Paine  Wcjs  one  of  the  few  men  since  Jesus  who  knew  that  they 
who  take  to  the  sword  perish  by  the  sword,  in  one  way  or  another  ;  a  truth  of 
which  poor  Japan  is  just  now  a  salient  example.  A  few  years  ago  it  defeated 
China  and  only  succeeded  in  quadrupling  the  taxes  of  its  own  people.  And 
now  having  defeated  Russia  it  finds  itself  pauperized,  a  hundred  thousand  men 
laid  low,  and  on  its  hands  some  sterile  tracts  of  land  and  a  port  of  which  it  can 
only  be  the  janitor  for  other  powers  Russia,  comparatively  unharmed,  has 
hippily  lost  its  military  prestige  which  drew  on  it  so  much  hatred,  and  is  now 
the  better  off  for  its  defeat.  When  will  the  world  learn  that  the  sword  has  two 
edges,  the  sharpest  being  for  the  conqueror  ?  Thomas  Paine,  who  had  witnessed 
the  terrible  recoils  of  violence,  anticipated  by  more  than  a  century  all  these 
recent  movements  for  international  peace  and  arbitration.  And,  in  fact,  no 
brain  ever  lived  who  more  completely  incarnated  the  principles  of  justice,  liberty, 
peace,  and  humanity  than  that  of  which  I  send  you  a  little  remnant  to  be  en- 
shrined in  his  monument.  M.  D.  Conway. 


592  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Suppreeeton  of  ifree  Speecb  in  tbe  'lUnitet)  State0^ 

:o: 

BY  JAMES  F.  MORTON,  JR. 

:o: 

The  procedure  and  rulings  of  the  Post-office  Department  in  the  case  of  Moses 
Harnian  should  arouse  the  most  callous  to  a  realization  of  the  extent  to  which 
our  liberty  is  invaded  by  a  postal  autocracy  in  America.  For  publishing  simple 
^arguments  on  the  marriage  question,  Mr.  Harman  has  been  convicted  of  mailing 
obscene  literature,  and  now  awaits  the  result  of  appeal  to  a  higher  court. 
Meanwhile,  three  entire  issues  of  his  paper,  Lucifer^  have  been  confiscated  as 
unmailable  by  the  postal  authorities,  the  pretext  being  an  extract  from  Dr.  Alice 
Stockham's  well-known  work,  "  Tokology,"  and  articles  by  women,  advocating  a 
high  degree  of  self-control.  Only  a  buzzard  could  scent  "  obscenity  "  in  any 
one  of  them.  Protest  having  been  made  against  the  outrage,  R.  P.  Goodwin, 
Assistant  Attorney-General  for  the  Post-office  Department,  makes  the  following 
monstrous  ruling  :  *'  Any  and  all  discussion  upon  the  sex  question  is  obscene 
and  unmailable.  The  only  occasion  for  any  talk  of  suoh  matters  is  in  the  private 
conversations  of  physicians  with  patients."  This  marks  the  extreme  limit  of  a 
tyranny  unparalleled  even  in  Russia.  Its  infamy  defies  adequate  comment.  If 
this  ruling  holds,  free  speech  in  America  is  dead.  Is  it  possible  that  any 
American  can  be  blind  or  mdifferent  to  this  deadly  conspiracy  against  our  dear- 
est liberties?  If  the  term  "obscenity"  can  be  stretched  to  cover  all  discussion 
of  the  sex  question,  what  cannot  "sedition"  be  made  to  include?  Socialists, 
Single  Taxers,  trades  unionists  and  other  minority  advocates  need  not  flatter 
themselves  that  the  administrative  process  will  stop  here.  The  time  to  protest 
is  NOW,  before  all  liberty  of  expression  is  hopelessly  crushed  and  buried 
under  a  mass  of  precedent.  Those  who  remain  silent,  because  they  differ  from 
the  views  of  Moses  Harman  and  oiher  victims,  or  because  the  sex  question  does 
not  particularly  interest  them,  are  responsible  for  the  consequences,  and  deserve 
nothing  better  than  to  be  the  basest  of  slaves.  Be  sure  the  old  lesson  of  history, 
that  encroachment  ever  succeeds  encroachment,  wmH  prove  true  here  as  elsewhere. 

In  spite  of  the  fearful  danger,  there  is  only  one  organized  movement  to  con- 
front it.  The  Free  Speech  League,  composed  of  men  and  women  of  every 
shade  of  personal  belief,  united  only  in  their  loyalty  to  the  vital  issue  of  the 
preservation  of  our  most  fundamental  liberties,  has  been  founded  to  arouse 
public  sentiment,  and  to  defend  freedom  of  speech,  press,  assemblage  and  mails, 
whenever  and  wherever  assailed.  Before  this  issue,  all  other  immediate  national 
problems  pale  into  insignificance.  A  hundred  years  ago,  the  Federalist  Party 
w.is  wiped  out  of  existence  by  an  indignant  people,  for  attacking  free  speech 
through  the  "  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws."  Are  we  of  to-day  miserable  degene- 
rates, that  we  look  with  indifference  on  a  far  worse  state  of  affairs  ? 

Let  all  who  care  for  freedom  send  a  dollar  to  E  B.  Foote,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  120 
Lexington  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  Treasurer  of  the  Free  Speech  League,  for  a 
year's  membership  in  the  League,  and  as  rpuch  more  as  can  be  spared  to  fight 
the  present  battle.  Much  money  is  needed  for  printing,  postage  and  for  legal 
expenses  in  the  defence  of  Moses  Harman,  in  whose  cause  our  own  is  bound  up. 
Dr.  Foote  will  be  glad  to  send  printed  matter  giving  detailed  information  of  this 
latest  assault  on  liberty.  -  Good  Health  Clinic. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  593 

TLbc  Supernatural  an5  tbe  Spiritual. 

:o: 

BY    GOLDWIN    SMITH,    IN    N.  Y.  "  SUN." 

:o: 

T  HAVE  received  a  sympathetic  letter  from  one  who  has  come,  apparently 
through  mental  tribulation,  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  give  up  "supernatu- 
ralism."  Bui  so  have  we  all,  if  by  the  supernatural  is  meant  anything  above  or 
contrary  to  nature  ;  that  is,  to  the  order  of  the  universe.  If  there  is  supreme 
power  at  work,  it  works  in  everything  and  its  workings  in  all  things  are  alike 
natural      As  was  said  long  ago  by  a  Roman  poet  : 

As  far  as  eye  can  range  or  feet  can  rove, 
Jove  is  in  all  things,  all  things  are  in  Jove. 

In  giving  up  the  supernatural,  therefore,  my  correspondent  is  not  giving  up 
the  spiritual  or  anything  implied  in  its  existence.  What  he  probibly  means  to 
give  up,  and  if  he  is  true  to  reason  must  give  up,  is  miracle.  Simultaneously 
with  his  letter  I  get  the  det.laration  of  a  simple  soul  who  has  been  converted,  or 
reconverted,  to  the  faith  by  witnessing  the  miraculous  liquefaction  of  the  blood 
of  St.  Januarius.  He  says  that  he  actually  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  solid 
suddenly  become  liquid.  Unquestionably  the  simple  soul  did.  There  is  another 
periodical  miracle  of  the  same  kind  at  Amalfi,  where  the  bones  of  a  saint  exude 
on  a  certain  day  in  each  year.  Djes  American  Catholicism  believe  in  these 
miracles  ? 

To  a  Galilean  peasant  living  before  the  dawn  of  science  miracle  was  natural, 
and  belief  in  its  occurence,  even  in  such  a  case  as  the  demoniac  miracle  at 
Gadara,  would  not  interfere  with  his  moral  perceptions  or  destroy  his  trust- 
worthiness as  a  moral  and  general  reporter. 

I  am  not  sure  whether  1  ever  referred  in  your  columns  to  a  case  which  fell 
under  my  own  notice.  Many  years  ago  a  convent  in  the  Tyrol  was  the  alleged 
scene  of  a  miracle  wrought  upon  the  persons  of  two  nuns.  The  Addolorata  bore 
the  stigmata  ;  the  E^tatica  was  miraculously  raised  from  the  ground  in  prayer. 
There  was  great  controversy  about  the  case,  in  which,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
Lord  Shrewsbury,  the  leading  Catholic  layman,  took  part.  I  happened  to  allude 
to  the  case  in  print  as  probably  one  of  hysteria.  Thereupon  I  received  a  visit 
from  a  fellow  of  a  college  at  Oxford,  who  afterward  became  a  Roman  Catholic, 
but  who  was  a  man,  I  should  have  said,  not  only  of  superior  cultivation,  but 
of  remarkable  good  sense  in  ordinary  matters,  and  certainly  of  the  highest 
character.  He  assured  me  that  he  and  two  companions,  also  fellows  of  colleges 
and  in  every  respect,  exce[)t  that  of  their  extreme  High  Church  bias,  en)inently 
trustworthy,  had  actually  witnessed  the  miracles  and  had  seen  the  blood  run 
upward  on  the  Addolorala's  forehead.  Those  miracles  were  in  the  end  com- 
pletely exposed  and  withdrawn. 


Rastus — Ephraim,  what  am  yo'  idee  ob  heben  ? 

Ephraim— A  place  wh^r  de  animiles  hab  de  body  ob  a  melon,  de  laigs  ob  a 
'possum,  an'  de  wings  ob  a  chicken. 

Father  (to  daughter's  young  man,  at  11.55  pm.)— I  beg  your  pardon,  young 
man,  but  would  you  mind  letting  Helen  go  to  bed  and  having  me  to  keep  you 
company  for  the  rest  of  the  night  ? 


594  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Xtttle  Jobnn^  on  jEvolution, 

:o: 

BY    AMBROSE    BIERCE. 

:o: 


1  SED  wot  for  did  the  ephalent  have  a  trunk,  and  Uncle  Ned  he  said,  VVel» 
Johnny,  I  ain't  much  of  a  theogolar,  but  that  pius  natcherlist,  Ohfer  Gold  Smith, 
he  xplains  it  this  way.  The  ephalent  has  got  such  a  short  neck  that  Profidence 
has  kindly  beslode  a  proboscus  on  him  so  that  he  can  reach  his  food,  wich  shoes 
how  good  Profidence  is  to  evry  creepin  thing 

I  thot  a  wile  and  bime  by  I  sed,  VVy  dident  Profidence  give  him  a  longer 
neck  ? 

Uncle  Ned,  he  jumpt  up  out  of  his  chair,  real  mad,  and  came  at  me  like  I 
had  sassed  him,  and  I  run  away  cryin.  Uncle  Ned  he  cot  me  and  sed,  You 
gum  dasted  little  infiddle,  don't  you  kno  that  fellers  wich  asks  such  queshtons  as 
that  is  a  athiest,  and  aihiests  is  a  thief? 

But  bime  by  he  sed,  Never  mind,  Johnny,  I  spo^e  yu  have  ben  a  readin 
some  of  them  sintificle  books,  wich  is  rote  by  such  blasfeemers  as  that  munky 
feller  Dar^'in.  Now  yu  take  this  ten  cents  and  go  and  fil  yure  self  up  with  candy, 
jest  like  yu  was  a  millonair,  then  yu  wil  have  faith  for  to  beleeve,  same  as  Mister 
Rockyfcllow  and  Mister  Morgan  and  Mister  Macurdy  and  Mister  Macol  and  the 
rest  of  the  biethren.  Remember  that  a  umble  and  contright  hart  is  the  ritch- 
est  and  ripest  fruit  of  prosperrity. 

But  wot  Uncle  Ned  ment  by  ol  that  rigmy  role  is  wot  flores  me  and  Billy. 

The  giraft  is  a  long  necker,  but  the  hipotamus  he  wolks  the  wotters  like  a 
thing  alive  and  hollers  hooray  !  If  I  was  a  hi  1  rather  be  a  buttygoat  and  leep 
from  crag  to  crag  and  meat  the  litening  i  to  i  !  Cos  the  Bible  it  ses  every  livin 
thing  shal  bring  40urth  after  it  is  kind. 

I  ast  Uncle  Ned  was  the  ostridge  always  sech  a  tall  feller,  and  he  sed.  Uncle 
Ned  did.  No,  indeed,  wen  he  was  new  he  was  de  fishent  in  statcher,  like  the 
dodo,  and  wod<lly.  *  But  one  day  Addam  was  up  in  a  aple  tre,  a  pruning  it,  wen 
he  herd  the  dinner  bell  ring.  So  he  stuck  his  nife  in  a  limb  and  got  down  and 
went  to  dinner,  meanin  to  come  back  and  finnish  his  wurk.  But  he  never 
come  back,  and  he  forgot  wot  he  done  with  his  nife.  One  time  the  ostridge  he 
past  that  way  and  se  the  nife,  and  it  had  a  bone  handel,  jest  the  kind  wich  he 
liked  for  to  eat,  so  he  yernd  for  it  real  hard  and  invontary  stretcht  his  self  upperd 
in  his  yern.  Evry  time  he  past  that  way  he  done  the  same  way,  and  evry  time 
he  done  it  his  laigs  and  his  neck  they  streched  a  little  longer,  til  about  a  year 
later  he  reetched  the  nife  and  puld  it  out  of  the  limb  and  swollered  it.  Prety 
t^oon  after  that  he  met  Addam,  and  Addam  he  sed,  Addam  did.  Hello,  whare 
was  yu  wen  I  give  names  to  ol  the  beasts  of  the  feeld  and  fouls  of  the  air  and 
the  fishes  of  the  se  and  the  creepy  things  ?     I  don't  seem  for  to  remember  you. 

The  herd  it  sed,  Ime  the  ostridge. 

Addam  he  was  a  stonnish,  and  he  sed,  Wei,  wel,  I  never  se  sech  a  change  in 
eny  other  yuman  bein  !  Wot  under  the  sun  do  yu  feed  on  wich  makes  yu  gro 
like  that  ? 

The  OS  he  sed,  I  ain't  pertickler  in  my  diet,  cos  it  dont  seem  to  be  wot  a 
feller  eats  which  makes  him  gro,  but  wot  he  hankers  after. 

And,  Johnny,  I  ges  thats  wot  that  feller  Emmerson  means  wen  he  ses  a  man 
is  the  creashun  of  his  hopes,  and  I  ges  ole  Mister  Brily,  wich  is  the  fat  butcher, 
he  hankers  after  the  horrizon  line  at  every  pint  of  the  cumpas. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  595 


But  if  me  and  Billy  was  fat  like  that  we  wuld  run  away. 

The  OS,  it  is  a  quodped  and  eats  hard  wair,  and  wen  yu  chase  it  it  hides  its 
hed  in  the  sand  and  its  laughter  wrings  out  over  the  dezert  like  distant  thunder  ! 
But  ihe  natif  nigger  he  goes  up  to  it  and  puis  out  ol  its  plewms  for  to  addorn 
his  whife,  and  ses,  Wei,  ole  man,  you  are  mity  nice  hid,  but  1  ges  this  is  about 
as  good  as  findin  yu. 

Jack  Brily,  wich  is  the  whicked  sailor,  he  ses.  Jack  does,  that  one  time  wen 
he  was  ca?ttd  away  in  Araby  he  made  friends  with  the  Arabs  and  thay  made  him 
thair  king.  One  time  he  went  on  a  six  munths  jurny  for  to  visit  a  ulher  king, 
wich  was  a  naiif  nigger.  Jack  he  njde  the  finest  Arab  horse  wich  was  in  the 
world,  but  the  natif  nigger  king  he  come  out  for  to  meet  him,  a  ridin  a  ostridge. 
Wen  thay  met  the  natif  nigger  king  he  sed,  Howl  you  swop  horses  ? 

King  Jack  he  was  a  stonnish,  but  bime  by  he  sed,  I  think  I  ot  to  have  som- 
think  to  boot. 

The  natif  nigger  king  he  turned  to  his  priminister  and  said,  Them  Arabs  isent 
never  happy  less  thay  are  bootin  something. 

Then  he  sed  to  Jack,  Wei,  yure  maggesty,  if  yu  wil  swop  yu  may  have  my  hed 
queen  and  the  crown  prince  and  the  priminister  and  7  of  my  dotters  by  a  fucher 
marridge,  and  if  that  aint  enuf  for  to  keep  yure  laig  in  xersize  lie  thro  in  the  hi 
preest  and  the  guverners  of  my  three  provinches. 

But  Jack  he  sed  he  gest  he  wuld  swop  even,  come  to  think,  cos  he  had  the 
gout  in  both  feets. 

Gout  is  a  disease,  but  the  ostridge  he  is  a  mollusk. — N.  Y.  American. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


MR.  E.  C.  REICHWALl). 

It  is  some  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  ruffians  who  assulted  Mr.  Reichwald 
and  destroyed  his  left  eye  have  been  found  guilty  by  the  jury  which  tried  them. 
We  have  not  learned  as  yet  what  the  sentence   is,  but  it   ought  to  be  the  limit. 

Mr.  Reichwald  is  getting  well  as  fast  as  he  can,  and  we  hope  that  he  will 
soon  be  able  to  get  about  and  resume  his  secretary  work  for  the  Secular  Union. 
Delay  on  the  Union  Report  has  been  caused  by  his  illness,  as  well  as  considera* 
tion  of  holding  this  year's  congress.  It  was  the  intention  to  hold  the  Congress 
in  Chicago,  as  being  the  most  convenient  point  for  the  largest  number  of 
members,  and  this  may  be  done  later.  Meanwhile  his  brother,  Mr.  W.  G. 
Reichwald,  will  answer  communications  directed   to  the  Union  and  Federation. 

One  fact  has  come  out  during  the  hunting  down  of  the  convicted  thugs.  Il 
is  that  for  his  activity  in  the  proceedings  against  the  Catholic  churches  which. 
hold  property  exempt  from  taxation  he  has  become  a  marked  nf>an,  and  that  it 
was  this  general  enmity  which  probably  induced  the  thugs  to  return  and  assault 
him.  It  is  difficult  to  absolutely  prove  it,  but  facts  have  come  out  sufficient  to 
make  the  suspicion  well  grounded.  Both  assailants  are  Roman  Catholics. — 
N.Y.  Truth  Seeker. 


MR.  C  C.  MOORE,  OF  THE  BLUE  GRASS  BLADE. 

We  are  sorry  to  note  that  our  somewhat  erratic  editorial  friend,  of  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  is  seriously  ill.     We  wish   him  a  speedy  recovery.     The  Freelhought 


596  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


world  will  miss  a  unique  personality  when  his  light  ceases  to  sh'ne.  His  edi- 
torial duties  are  being  ably  performed  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Wilson,  who  would  make  a 
competent  and  very  acceptable  successor  to  his  friend  Chailie  Moore,  if  the 
latter  should  *'  happen  out  "  sooner,  than  expected. 


LIGHT  ON  BIBLE  LITERATURE 

Dr.  Koldewey,  the  head  of  the  German  Exploring  Expedition  to  the  site  of 
ancient  Babylon,  where  he  has  been  operating  for  the  last  two  ^ears  has  made 
some  very  important  archaeological  finds,  which  throw  additional  light  on  that 
old-time  civilization.  The  throne  room  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  a  majjnifinent 
-structure,  51^  feet  wide  and  169  feet  long,  has  been  opened.  A  niche  where 
-stood  the  throne  is  well  preserved  with  magnificently  colored  decorations  on 
the  walls,  telling  of  the  glory  of  ancient  art.  An  abundance  of  new  tabl  ts  have 
been  found  with  important  inscriptions,  containing  psalms,  letters,  contracts, 
word  lists,  and  other  records.  In  the  near  future  excavations  will  be  extended 
to  what  is  believed  to  be  the  Babylonian  pantheon,  the  temple  of  all  their  gods. 
Says  a  semi-Christian  daily:  "This  new  find  will  add  to  the  material  for  the 
interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  both  historically  and  Imguistically."  , 

Yes,  it  will  do  just  what  all  other  discoveries  in  ancient  ruins  have  done,  aid 
in  demonstrating  that  the  historical  features  of  that  pretended  old  Jew  book 
are  but  a  collection  and  adaptation  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  literature  to 
Hebrew  mythology,  now  received  as  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ! " — Progres- 
sive Thin  her. 


VICAR  IN  DISGUST  LEAVES  "SPIRITUALLY  ASLEEP"  CURE. 

London,  Oct.  21  — Rev.  VV.  N.  Dingwall,  vicar  of  Hook,  near  Kingston-on- 
Thames,  has  thrown  up  the  care  of  his  parishioners  and  has  fled  in  despair  to 
«etk  rest  in  the  West  Indies  because  his  peop'e  are  such  pagans.  The  village, 
in  fact,  is  known  as  Pagan  Hook,  because  the  people  will  not  go  to  church. 

Before  sailing  this  week  the  broken-hearted  vicar  said  to  an  interviewer,  "  I 
have  worked  hard  here  for  n  arly  three  years,  and  it  seems  in  vain.  I  have 
spoken  to  them  personally,  and  I  have  implored  them  fiom  the  pulpit,  but  they 
will  not  come  to  the  church.  No  effort,  either  spiritual  or  material,  no  concert, 
■whether  high  class  or  extremely  popular,  no  branch  of  church  activity  that  I  have 
been  able  to  devise  or  carry  on,  will  induce  the  people  of  Hook  to  come  to 
<:hurch. 

**  There  is  a  population  of  about  1.700,  but  only  a  few  attend  the  chu-ch,  and 
these  are  not  Hook  people.  The  fact  is,  the  village  is  spiritually  asleep.  They 
-do  not  go  to  the  nonconformist  places  of  worship  nor  do  they  go  golfing  or 
automobiling.  They  have  simply  gone  to  sleep,  and  they  do  not  give  a  thought 
to  spiritual  things." 


The  Latest  Shade:  When  on  earth  I  was  an  automobilist.  His  Satanic 
Majesty:  Ah  !  then  please  be  kind  enough  to  crawl  under  that  furnace  and  see 
what's  the  matter  with  the  grate,  it  seems  to  get  kindled  up.  -  Milwaukee 
Wisconsin. 


After  hearing  about  the  insurance  company  frauds  and  bank  failures,  the  old 
couple  who  for  many  years  had  kept  their  savings  in  a  teapot  on  the  top  shelf 
concluded  that  they  were  "pretty  smart,  after  all." 


SEC  QL AE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bu5.  lAgr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  22.  TORONTO,   DEC.  9,    1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann. 

Itbe  IDalue  of  Self*»H)eniaL 

:o: 

And,  do  you  know,  sometimes  I  have  asked  myself  the  ques- 
tion :  Is  this  world  worth  any  self-denial  ?  Is  it  worth  while 
to  try  and  lift  mankind  from  the  dens  and  caverns  of  savagery 
and  superstition  up  to  the  heights  and  palaces  of  civilization  ? 
Is  it  any  use  ?  And  when  I  read  the  creeds,  and  sometimes 
a  sermon  on  Monday  morning,  I  kind  of  lose  confidence,  and 
say.  Well,  is  it  worth  while  ?  And  then,  maybe,  I  hear  a 
great  piece  of  music,  into  which  has  passed  the  soul  of  some 
great  transfigured  man  ;  or  I  look  at  a  painting  filled  with  all 
that  is  noble  and  tender  and  beautiful  ;  or  I  read  a  little  from 
Shakespeare,  a  few  pages  from  Darwin  ;  and  I  say.  These 
men  were  prophesiers  of  what  the  world  can  be,  and,  after  all, 
maybe  it  is  worth  while  to  keep  on,  and  if  you  dont  civilize 
the  worlds  you  will  civilize  yourself, — Ingersoll,  in  address^ 
at  Foote  and  Watts  reception^  New  York^  i8g6, 

EDITORIAL    NOTES. 


THE  FREE  TRADE  SUPERSTITION. 

Next  to  religion,  politics  is  the  subject  upon  which  there  is  the  least 
certain  knowledge  and  the  largest  amount  of  belief,  prejudice,  and 
dogmatism  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  men  pin  their  faith  to 
so-called  "  principles,"  and  sec  m  ready  to  fight  and  die — or  even  to 
starve — for  them,  though  those  principles  may  really  have  little  to  do 
with  either  their  welfare  or  their  misfortunes.     The  present  agitation  in 


698  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

reference  to  Mr.  Chamberlain's  proposal  for  the  consideration  of  a  limited 
measure  of  inter-Imperial  protection  is  one  instance  that  amply  justifies 
our  remarks. 

Although,  as  a  practical  and  general  principle,  Free  Trade  seems  not 
only  justifiable  as  far  as  it  can  be  advantageously  adopted,  but  a  final 
principle  to  the  universal  adoption  of  which  all  our  efforts  should  be 
directed  ;  it  by  no  means  follows  that  it  is  a  principle  that  should  be 
adopted  by  any  one  nation,  and  blindly  carried  out  at  all  costs,  even 
when  itns  repudiated  by  all  others. 

Freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  speech,  and  freedom  of  trade  are 
principles  the  universal  adoption  of  which  must  always  be  the  goal  of  all 
intelligent  well-wishers  of  hnman  progress  ;  but  we  thing  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  they  are  principles  that  can  only  be  fully  adopted  in  nations 
of  the  very  highest  and  most  civilized  type.  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  if 
there  is  any  nation  at  present  existing  in  which  they  could  be  adopted 
without  any  restriction. 

The  traffic  in  alcoholic  drinks  is  one  case  in  which  restriction  is  uni- 
versally admitted  to  be  not  only  advisable,  but  absolutely  necessary,  if 
the  public  welfare  is  to  be  considered.  How  far  restriction  should  be 
carried  may  very  well  be  debated,  but  Free  Trade  in  whisky  is  simply 
impossible  under  present  social  conditions. 

The  arguments  used  in  religion  have  their  counterparts  in  political 
economy.  Western  civilization  has  advanced  during  the  existence  of 
Christianity ;  therefore  Christianity  is  the  cause  of  Western  civilization. 
Britain  has  prospered  since  the  adoption  of  her  Free  Trade  policy  : 
therefore  Free  Trade  is  the  cause  of  Britain's  prosperity. 

But  the  whole  of  the  factors  involved  in  the  two  statements  need  ex- 
planation before  they  can  have  any  value.  W^hat  is  Christianity  ?  What 
is  civilization,  and  what  are  its  true  causes  ?  What  has  British  Free 
Trade  really  been?  What  does  British  prosperity  amount  to?  What 
does  national  prosperity  mean  ?  What  are  the  true  causes  of  a  nation's 
prosperity?  All  of  these  questions  are  settled  off-hand  by  men  like 
Prof.  Shortt  and  Prof.  Long,  but  are  never  really  touched  by  them  at  all. 

:o: 

NATIONAL  PROSPERITY. 

Is  Britain  really  prosperous  ?  is  a  question  that  calls  for  much  eluci- 
dation. If  its  chief  city  is  the  largest  in  the  world,  it  must  also  be 
owned  that  London's  pauperism  is  unequalled  by  that  of  any  other  city, 
even  if  its  vice  and  crime  are  overmatched  by  those  of  New  York  and 
Chicago. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  599 

If  a  nation  is  prosperous,  would  its  people  be  so  ready  to  leave  their 
homes  to  seek  a  liveliliood  in  other  lands? 

Is  it  not  a  spurious  prosperity  that  annually  forces  thousands  of 
families  to  desert  the  homes  and  scenes  to  which  they  for  the  most  part 
are  very  deeply  attached  ? 

Is  it  a  sign  of  prosperity  that  the  land  of  a  country  should  be  diverted 
from  agriculture  and  devoted  to  game  preserves  and  parks,  so  that  the 
great  bulk  of  the  food  of  the  people  has  to  be  imported  from  other  lands? 

Is  it  a  sign  of  prosperity  that  the  recruiting  sergeants  for  the  army 
find  a  marked  degeneracy  in  the  ph;  s 'que  of  the  recruits  ? 

Is  it  a  sign  of  prosperity  that  thousands  of  starving  women  should 
march  through  the  streets  of  London  asking  for  work?  That  thirty  of 
them  should  wait  on  the  British  Premier  as  a  deputation  with  the  same 
object ;  and  that  this  so-called  "  head  of  the  Government  "  should  be 
unable  to  suggest  any  practicable  way  of  relieving  the  alarming  distress 
except  charity? 

Surely  '*  prosperity  "  is  a  misnomer  for  a  condition  of  things  in  which 
the  most  important  fact  of  all  is  that  millions  of  laborers  are  in  a  state 
of  starvation,  and  many  more  millions  but  a  day's  march  away  from  it. 

:o: 

IS  FREE  TRADE  THE  CAUSE  OF  ENGLAND'S  GREATNESS? 

The  statisticians  certainly  show  that  the  wealth  of  the  country  is  in- 
creasing, that  savings  bank  deposits  are  increasing,  and  even  that  the 
general  health  and  longevity  are  improving.  It  is  easy  to  compute  that 
the  workman  of  to-day  has  luxuries  that  were  not  attainable  by  princes 
a  few  centuries  ago.  But  go  into  the  slums  of  London  or  any  large  city 
in  Britain,  and  see  ten,  twelve,  or  fourteen  people  sleeping  in  a  garret 
or  a  cellar  ;  go  into  the  rural  districts  and  see  the  tumble-down  and 
insanitary  cottages  of  the  farm  laborers.  These  are  facts  that  admit  of 
no  palliation  by  any  sort  of  comparison. 

These  things  may  be  as  bad  or  worse  in  other  countries  ;  but  if  Britain 
is  to  be  singled  out  as  a  shining  example  of  the  wonderfully  good  effects 
of  Free  Trade,  she  is  the  very  nation  where  they  should  not  be  found. 

The  fact  is,  the  modern  industrial  developments  gave  Britain  an  ex- 
traordinary start,  owing  partly  to  the  concentration  of  her  mineral  re- 
sources, and  partly  to  the  enterprise  of  her  people  ;  but  it  is  only  now, 
owing  to  the  competition  of  other  nations,  which  have  profited  by 
Britain's  example,  that  the  supposedly  good  effects  of  Free  Trade  are 
being  tested  in  the  fire  of  actual  experience. 

Britain's  adoption  of   Free  Trade  no  doubt  temporarily  relieved  the 


600  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 

distress  of  the  laboring  classes  by  opening  her  ports  to  the  importation 
of  foreign  food  products ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  she  would 
not  have  prospered  equally  well  had  a  moderate  amount  of  taxation  been 
imposed  upon  food  as  well  as  upon  other  industrial  products,  withou  t 
increasing  the  total  burden  of  taxation  upon  the  people. 

At  all  times  a  considerable  amount  of  taxation  has  been  imposed 
upon  the  necessaries  of  life  in  Britain,  though  a  great  portion  of  the 
revenue  may  have  been  raised  by  taxes  upon  alcohol,  tobacco,  and  other 
*'  luxuries."  Free  Trade  in  Britain  itself  has  never  been  anything  but 
partial. 

Britain  has  prospered  under  Free  Trade,  but  the  prosperity  has  been 
chiefly  that  of  the  plutocrats  and  the  aristocratic  landlords,  the  factory 
owners,  the  railway  and  ship  owners,  and  the  banks.  The  prosperity 
has  mainly  arisen  from  the  faet  that  Britain's  manufacturers  and  traders 
were  the  first  in  the  field  in  the  new  era  of  machinery  development  and 
invention.  Now  that  other  nations  are  taking  a  hand  in  the  business. 
Free  Trade  is  being  tested  by  new  conditions.  It  gives  the  workman — 
other  things  being  considered — cheap  goods  and  cheap  food,  but  it  also 
brings  still  cheaper  goods,  produced  under  a  protective  policy,  to  com- 
pete with  his  Free-trade  products,  and  is  thus  taking  away  his  means  of 
earning  a  livelihood. 

Instead  of  supporting  a  free,  happy,  contented,  and  prosperous  people. 
Free  Trade  has  converted  Britain  into  a  great  workshop,  the  people  of 
which  are  rather  economic  slaves  than  free  men,  making  goods  for 
foreign  markets  while  they  themselves  are  living  from  hand-to-mouth, 
and  becoming  paupers  in  increasing  numbers  from  year  to  year,  while 
their  employers  are  becoming  multi-millionaires  and  aristocrats. 

The  women  who  interviewed  Premier  Balfour  repudiated  the  idea  that 
they  or  their  husbands  wanted  charity.  They  asked  for  work  to  enable 
them  to  earn  a  livelihood  ;  and  it  is  evident  enough  that  coarse  food 
and  coarse  clothing  are  all  that  they  meant  or  expected. 

There  may  be  a  great  and  increasingly  wealthy  church,  a  great  and 
growing  aristocracy  and  plutocracy ;  but  when  a  large  section  of  the 
people  are  starving,  when  the  gaols,  the  hospitals,  and  the  asylums  are 
full,  when  an  immense  revenue  is  being  extracted  from  the  pockets  of 
the  people  and  squandered  upon  royalty,  upon  an  army  of  Government 
officials  and  pensioners,  and  upon  vast  stores  of  war  material,  it  is  an 
abuse  of  words  to  call  the  country  **  prosperous." 

As  we  have  said.  Free  Trade  is  unobjectionable  as  a  general  principle. 
The  question  is,  is  the  world — are  we — ripe  for  it  to-day  ? 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  601 

PROGRESS  OF  SABBATARIANISM  IN  ONTARIO. 

The  Executive's  report  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Ontario  Lord's 
Day  Alliance  asserts  that  its  outlook  is  brighter  tlian  ever  before;  which 
means,  we  suppose,  that  it  is  duller  for  most  other  people.  In  other 
words,  the  Alliance  has  been  appreciably  successful  in  its  efforts  to  stop 
people  enjoying  the  beauties  of  nature  on   their  weekly  rest-day. 

The  Alliance  says  it  has  not  been  the  plaintiff  in  a  single  case,  though 
there  have  been  five  hundred  successful  efforts  to  stop  "  Sabbath  dese- 
cration" in  various  parts  of  the  province  ;  and  expresses  its  gratitude  to 
the  Ontario  Attorney-General  for  having  assumed  the  expense  of  the 
prosecutions.  It  thus  seems  that,  while  the  Hon.  Mr.  Oliver,  Dominion 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  asserts  that  it  is  not  the  duty  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  prosecute  a  dishonest  official  who  happens  to  be  of  the  right 
political  stripe,  the  Attorney-General  of  Ontario  uses  the  public  funds 
in  prosecuting  all  sorts  of  minor  infractions  of  the  Blue  Laws  of  Canada, 
such  as  selling  a  dish  of  ice-cream  on  a  Sunday. 

It  seems  that  the  new  Temiscaming  and  Northern  Ontario  Railway 
has  been  consulting  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  recently- 
opened  district  by  running  Sunday  trains  ;  but  these  aids  to  relieving 
the  monotony  of  life  in  a  newly-settled  country  are  to  be  stopped,  and 
police  constables  are  to  be  appointed  to  patrol  the  remoter  parts  of  the 
provinces  in  order  to  spy  out  infractions  of  the  law. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Ontario  Government  are  unable  to  disregard  the 
pressure  put  upon  them  by  the  clericals.  The  life  of  the  Dominion 
Parliament  seems  to  depend  upon  the  Catholic  vote  ;  the  Ontario  Go- 
vernment upon  the  votes  of  the  most  bigoted  Protestants  as  well  as  the 
Catholics;  and  the  Liberals  of  Canada  seem  afraid  to  call  their  souls 
their  own. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Toronto  Lord's  Day  Alliance,  Sunday 
church  parades  came  in  for  denunciation,  though  several  prominent 
preachers  are  chaplains  of  militia  regiments  ;  but  the  parades  give  both 
soldiers  and  civilians  an  enjoyable  Sunday  afternoon,  and  hence  they 
are  wicked  and  must  be  stopped.  And  the  Ontario  school  teachers  who 
came  back  from  Pittsburg  on  a  Sunday  train  are  also  anathema. 

The  Toronto  Alliance  shows  receipts  of  $2,115.64,  of  which  it  paid  to 
the  Ontario  Alliance  $1,727.36.  It  had  initiated  148  prosecutions,  and 
these  had  been  carried  on  by  the  public  officials  at  public  expense.  Wi  h 
the  aid  of  its  contribution,  the  Ontario  Alliance  had  converted  a  deficit 
of  $1,200  into  a  surplus,  and  calls  itself  prosperous.  Certainly,  it  is 
prospering,  if  inducing  the  Government  officials  to  do  its  dirty  work  can 


602  SECULAK    THOUGHT. 


be  so  called  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  tbe  bulk  of  the  sinews  for  this  fana- 
tical warfare  is  supplied  by  a  few  Toronto  bigots,  led  by  half  a  dozen 
preachers  and  lawyers. 

It  is  time  the  Liberals  woke  up  to  their  duty  in  this  matter.  If  they 
do  not,  Ontario  will  soon  be  in  the  hands  of  the  priests. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  (Nov.  10)  of  the  Ontario  Alliance,  the  Presi- 
dent, J.  K.  Macdonald,  complained  of  the  failure  of  the  Ontario  Govern- 
ment to  give  the  legislation  demanded,  and  sketched  the  legislation  the 
Alliance  desired.  It  did  not  accept  the  decision  of  the  Privy  Council, 
and  wished  the  Ontario  Legislature  to  ignore  it  and  to  enact  "  a  clear- 
cut  Provincial  statute  freed  from  every  combination,"  etc.  In  other 
words,  it  wants  a  law  strictly  prohibiting  all  Sunday  work  or  recreation 
except  such  as  might  meet  the  approval  of  the  Sabbatatians,  and  carried 
into  effect  by  public  officials  at  public  expense.  With  such  a  law,  and 
with  officials  ready  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  clericals  who  would  set  them 
to  work,  the  people  of  this  province  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  every  pious 
Paul  Pry  who  might  happen  to  be  in  their  neighborhood. 

:o: 

PROTESTANT  SCHOOL  TEACHERS    NEEDED  IN  QUEBEC. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Protestant  Committee  of  the  Quebec  Council  of 
Education,  Nov.  25,  Mr.  J.  C.  Walker,  of  Lachute,  asked  for  a  relaxa- 
tion of  the  rules  under  which  teachers'  certificates  were  granted,  for  at 
present  it  was  impossible  to  fill  vacancies.  Rev.  Dr.  Shaw  held  that 
there  were  sufficient  teachers  with  diplomas  if  the  people  could  be  in- 
duced to  pay  decent  salaries,  but  at  present  the  average  teacher's  pay  in 
rural  districts  was  $150  or  less  per  annum. 

While  the  Hon.  Sydney  Fisher  and  the  Hon.  J.  C.  Corkhill  told  the 
committee  that  its  duty  was  to  tell  the  people  that  they  should  provide 
proper  salaries  for  the  school  teachers,  Mr.  Walker  asserted  that  the 
farmers  in  the  eastern  townships  were  poverty-stricken  and  were  leaving 
for  more  inviting  fields.  One  case  he  knew  of  where  a  farmer  had  sold 
his  land  and  buildings  for  $800,  though  the  farmhouse  alone  was  worth 
$1,200,  and  in  payment  had  accepted  $100  in  cash  with  a  promise  of  a 
small  annual  instalment,  without  interest,  for  the  remaining  $700. 

Such  a  state  of  things  as  this  is  a  natural  result  of  the  Quebec  school 
system,  under  which  the  Catholic  schools  of  the  minority  are  totally 
nnfit  for  any  but  Catholic  children,  even  where  anything  else  than  the 
Catholic  Catechism  is  pretended  to  be  taught.  The  Protestant  minority 
are  compelled  either  to  pay  excessive  taxes  to  support  separate  schools, 
to  allow  their  children  to  be  converted  to  Catholicism,  to  try  to  educate 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  603 

their  children  themselves  or  totally  neglect  them,  or  to  sell  up  and  seek 
a  more  civilized  community. 

Eeligion  in  the  schools  is  an  abomination,  but  while  the  Protestants 
insist  upon  it  in  their  own  schools,  they  will  deserve  whatever  treatnaent 
in  this  line  they  get  from  their  Catholic  neighbors. 

:o: 

RUSSIA,  TURKEY,  AND  JAPAN, 

One  of  the  most  grotesque  incidents  of  the  present  troublous  time  in 
Eastern  Europe  is  that  of  the  participation  of  Russia  in  the  attempt  to 
force  the  Sultan  to  do  some  sort  of  justice  in  Macedonia.  Whatever  has 
the  Russian  Government  to  do  with  justice?  A  more  diabolically  cruel, 
unjust,  unscrupulous,  and  oppressive  Government  than  that  of  Russia 
has  never  been  heard  of  in  the  whole  range  of  history.  Not  only  has 
its  treatment  of  its  own  people — serfs  whose  lot  until  recently  was  of  the 
most  abjectly  miserable  and  pitiable  character— been  harsh  and  soulless 
in  the  extreme,  but  its  treatment  of  its  Jewish  people  has  been  simply 
fiendishly  bloodthirsty. 

A  strange  feature  of  the  present  trouble  is,  that  the  very  men  who 
are  fighting  for  their  own  liberty  are  among  those  who  are  robbing,  vio- 
lating, torturing,  and  murdering  the  poor  Hebrews,  with  every  accom- 
paniment of  brutish  savagery.  Little  news  is  allowed  to  leak  out,  but 
what  does  come  out  shows  that  a  chaotic  and  revolutionary  condition  of 
things  exists  over  large  sections  of  European  Russia.  Even  the  Man- 
churian  army  is  said  to  be  full  of  mutiny. 

Imagine  the  Russian  Government,  with  Finland,  Poland,  and  the 
Caucasus  upon  her  hands,  with  a  mutinous  army  and  navy,  and  an 
anarchistic  and  revolutionary  peasantry  burning,  looting,  and  murder- 
ing, sending  ships  to  force  the  Sultan  to  give  good  government  to  his 
people  and  to  compel  them  to  pay  their  debts  ! 

Mr.  Conway  told  us  the  other  day  that,  while  Japan  had  suffered 
seriously  in  both  men  and  money,  and  was  practically  exhausted  by  the 
recent  war,  Russia  was  nearly  unharmed,  her  credit  was  good,  and  she 
would  be  all  the  stronger  for  her  ugly  experience.  His  prognostication 
seems  to-day  to  be  about  the  reverse  of  the  truth,  though  it  is  impossible 
to  say  what  the  ultimate  outcome  will  be.  Russia's  revolution  has  just 
begun  ;  Japan's  seems  to  be  over. 

:o: 

MONTREAL'S  PERPETUAL  LOAN. 

In  1808,  Montreal  borrowed  a  sum  of  a  little  more  than  half  a  million 
dollars,  and  agreed  to  pay  seven  per  cent,  per  annum  upon  the  loan  in 
perpetuity.  The  city  has  paid  this  interest  ever  since,  and  still  owes  the 
original  loan.  Nothing  wonderful — except  the  want  of  common  business 
ability  and  prudence  on  the  part  of  the  officials  who  raised  the  loan. 

Toronto  has  been  placed  in  almost  exactly  the  same  position  by  the 
agreement  with  the  Consumers'  Gas  Company,  with  possibly  immensely 
greater  risk  of  an  expensive  final  settlement. 


604  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Montreal  could  have  got  rid  of  her  incubus  at  any  time  by  paying 
the  market  price  of  the  seven  per  cent.  loan.  At  the  time  the  money 
was  borrowed,  seven  per  cent,  was  no  doubt  in  Montreal  a  very  moderate 
rate  of  interest ;  and  as  interest  has  decreased — as  it  inevitably  will  do 
in  all  prosperous  countries — the  purchase  price  of  the  loan  has 
necessarily  increased. 

It  has  served  the  purpose  of  Montreal  to  continue  to  pay  seven  per 
cent,  instead  of  purchasing  the  bonds  at  the  market  price.  It  may  pay 
Montreal  to-day  to  continue  to  pay  seven  per  cent,  instead  of  purchasing 
the  bonds;  just  as  it  may  pay  Toronto  to  let  the  Gas  Company  receive 
ten  per  cent,  on  its  capital  instead  of  buying  it  at  240  or  250. 

The  fault  was  in  not  stipulating  in  the  original  bargain  that  the 
borrowed  money  should  be  repaid  at  par  at  a  stipulated  time.  Of 
course,  such  stipulations  make  a  difference  in  the  terms  on  which  money 
may  be  borrowed ;  but,  just  as  a  good  general  always  makes  provision 
for  defeat,  so  a  good  financier  always  makes  provision  for  the  equitable 
repayment  of  a  loan. 

In  the  case  of  the  Gas  Company,  no  doubt  the  investors  thought 
there  was  some  risk  attending  their  investment,  and  hardly  dared  to 
hope  that  ten  per  cent,  interest  would  be  regularly  paid  on  their  capital ; 
and  had  a  stipulation  been  insisted  upon  that  at  a  certain  time  the  city 
should  repay  their  capital  at  par  if  it  chose  to  do  so,  and  assume  posses- 
sion of  the  plant,  there  is  little  doubt  the  original  investors  would  have 
considered  it  a  valuable  guarantee. 

But  times  change,  interest  decreases,  and  in  each  case  the  investors 
find  themselves  possessed  of  a  security  far  exceeding  their  most  sanguine 
anticipations ;  and  the  borrowing  city  has  to  foot  the  bill  entailed  upon 
it  through  the  incompetence — culpable  or  otherwise — of  their  agents. 
And,  in  the  end,  we  find  that  we  have  been  unconsciously  developing  a 
race  of  boodlers  and  grafters  and  corruptionists,  to  rid  society  of  whom 
it  will  be  necessary  to  begin  a  new  crusade  in  favor  of  honesty  and 
righteousness. 

:o: 

NEW  MENNONITE  COLONY  IN  SASKATCHEWAN. 

It  is  said  that  the  Mennonites  of  Manitoba  have  purchased  a  tract  of 
forty  thousand  acres  of  land  north  of  Melfort,  Saskatchewan,  with  the 
object  of  starting  a  new  Mennonite  colony.  We  do  not  agree  with  the 
policy  which  encourages  such  settlements  as  this.  It  is  a  policy  which 
will  fill  Canada  with  a  number  of  foreign  colonies,  and  put  off  for  many 
years  the  time  when  the  settlers  in  these  colonies  will  become  Canadian 
citizens.  When  small  settlements  are  made  in  English-speaking  dis- 
tricts, the  children  almost  necessarily  lea,rn  English  as  their  mother 
tongue  ;  but  in  these  large  foreign  settlements,  the  foreign  languages 
and  customs  will  be  long  maintained  by  school,  newspaper,  and  church. 

Instead  of  tending  towards  the  development  of  a  united  people,  with 
a  common  humanitarian  sentiment,  these  large  foreign  settlements  will 
necessarily  tend  to  create  divisions  on  political,   social,  and   religious 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  605 


lines,  and  to  perpetuate  them  for  several  generations,  with  all  the  risks 
accompanying  such  conditions,  already  pronounced  enough  in  the  case 
of  Quehec. 

By  all  meant,  let  the  incoming  settlers  establish  themselves  in  such 
communities  as  will  prevent  their  members  from  encounteriug  all  of  the 
hardships  resulting  from  living  among  an  entirely  strange  people ;  but 
to  encourage  the  formation  in  our  midst  of  practically  smdll  foreign 
States,  with  language,  manners  and  customs  entirely  diverse  from  those 
of  the  bulk  of  the  Canadian  people,  will  be  a  suicidal  policy.  Doukhobor 
marches  to  "  find  Jesus,"  naked  and  through  the  snow,  are  one  of  the 
outcomes  of  the  policy  already  seen. 

"  Death  is  a  mistake,"  says  Miss  Martha  Craig,  the  Labrador  ex- 
plorer, varying  the  Christian  Science  and  Spiritualistic  dictum,  ''  There 
is  no  death."  Miss  Craig  is  lecturing  upon  the  subject,  and  incidentally 
expresses  her  doubts  of  the  truth  of  Newton's  and  Darwin's  theories. 
We  have  not  heard  that  Miss  Craig  is  infallible,  though  she  may  be,  of 
course,  as  she  must  have  been  "  behind  the  veil,"  to  find  out  all  she 
knows  about  death  ;  and,  if  so,  we  may  expect — if  we  are  also  immortal 
— to  live  long  enough  to  know  that  she  has  not  made  the  same  mistake 
as  all  other  poor  humans.  For  our  own  part,  we  must  confess  that  w^e 
have  committed  so  many  other  mistakes,  that  we  cannot  hope  to  escape 
mnking  the  same  final  blunder  that  appears  to  be  so  inevitable  to  human 
fallibility. 

:o: 

A  Seattle  jury  has  given  a  verdict,  with  $6,000  damages,  in  favor  of 
a  lady  in  an  action  for  breach  of  promise  against  the  mayor  of  Ballard, 
who  refused  to  marry  her  upon  finding  that  she  was  a  consumptive. 
There  may  be  special  circumstances  not  stated  that  would  justify  this 
verdict,  but,  on  general  grounds,  we  should  not  only  consider  the  mayor 
to  be  justified,  but  we  think  it  should  be  treated  as  a  crime  for  consump- 
tive patients  to  marry  at  all. 

**  You'd  be  surprised  to  know  how  many  grafters  there  are  among  the 
clergy,"  said  a  New  York  undertaker  the  other  day,  when  somebody 
expressed  astonishment  at  the  fact  that  the  undertaker  allowed  clergy- 
men a  "  rake-ofif "  of  10  per  cent,  on  the  cost  of  all  funerals  they  send 
to  him.  Why,  "  graft  "  is  only  a  fair  description  of  the  whole  preaching 
business.  Like  plumbers,  bakers,  carpenters,  and  other  tradesmen,  the 
preachers  are  simply  "out  for  the  stuff,"  and  all  who  have  to  do  busi- 
ness with  them  soon  find  this  out.  "  The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire," 
of  course.     So  also  the  grafter,  and  ho  should  get  it. 

:o: 

"  Daniel  Not  a  Grafter"  was  the  title  of  a  recent  sermon  by  Mr.  Esler 
at  Cooke's  Church,  Toronto.  We  are  glad  to  hear  it.  Now  we  shall  be 
able  to  find  out  whether  Adam,  Noah,  Moses,  Elijah,  David,  and  other 
Bible  heroes  were  grafters.     Mr.  Esler  knew  them  well. 


606  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


4< 


Zion''  in  s:oronto. 


:o:- 


BY    AN    IDLER. 

The  other  Sunday  morning,  two  smiling  young  ladies  called  at  my  house.  The 
bell  rang,  and  the  person  who  answered  the  ring  and  opened  the  door  was  met 
by  the  exclamation  :  "  The  peace  of  the  Lord  be  upon  this  house  ! "  One  of 
the  young  ladies  then  handed  in  a  couple  of  pamphlets,  on  the  smaller  of  which 
was  stamped  : 


:  Zion  in  Toronto,  34  Pembroke  Street.  : 

:  Eld.  E.  Brooks  in  charge.         Res.  y]  Winchester  St.   ! 

I  quote  a  passage  from  the  smaller,  so  that  no  one  will  think  I  am  lying  : 

"  In  a  darkened  room  a  man  lay  dying. 

'*  The  physician  had  given  up  hope  and  had  gone  away. 

"  The  minister  had  offered  his  last  prayers  and  had  left  the  house  of  mourn- 
ing. 

"  Already  the  stupor  of  unconsciousness  from  which  his  loved  ones  expected 
no  awakening,  had  fallen  upon  him.  His  stricken  wife  bowed  with  breaking 
heart  in  the  agonized  silence  of  her  great  grief.  His  young  children  wept  in 
bitter  woe  as  they  saw  their  beloved  father  slowly  sinking  into  the  grave. 

"A  number  of  mourning  friends  had  gathered  and  were  sadly  waiting  the  end, 
ready  to  perform  the  last  melancholy  offices  for  the  deceased. 

•'For  eleven  long  years  that  man  had  suffered  the  indescribable  tortures  of 
cancer. 

'•  That  filthy,  foul,  and  unutterably  defiling  disease  had  fastened  itself  upon 
his  throat. 

'•  Poisonous  drugs  and  surgeons'  knives  had  been  resorted  to,  but  all  in  vain. 
VV^ith  occasional  slight  improvements,  he  had  continually  grown  worse. 

"  And  now  that  terrible  disease  was  about  to  win  its  final  victory. 

"  So  far  as  human  power  was  concerned,  his  long  years  of  suffering  were 
about  to  end  in  death. 

•'  Then  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door. 

"  A  simple,  earnest,  unassuming,  but  persistent  man  asked  to  see  the  dying 
husband  and  father. 

"  At  first  he  was  refused  admittance.  But  he  was  importunate,  and  at  last  was 
allowed  to  enter  the  sickroom. 

"  He  began  to  tell  the  weeping  wife  of  Jesus  the  Healer. 

"  As  he  quietly  but  earnestly  proceeded  she  began  to  listen. 

"  What  wonderful  news  he  brought ! 

"  While  they  were  talking  together,  suddenly  there  came  a  voice  from  the  sick- 
bed, "  VVho  are  you  ?  " 

"  Turning  to  the  dying  man,  who  had  aroused  from  his  stupor  at  the  sound  of 
the  stranger's  voice,  he  told  him  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Zion  Seventies, 
and  that  he  had  come  to  tell  him  that  it  was  not  (iod's  will  that  he  should  die, 
but  that  God  would  heal  him  if  he  fully  trusted  Him. 

"  Unable  to  speak,  the  sufferer  indicated  that  he  believed  God  would  heal  him, 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  607 


and  that  he  was  ready  to  trust  Him.  The  General  Overseer,  God's  Messenger 
to  Zion,  was  requested  by  telephone  to  pray  at  a  certain  time. 

"  When  that  time  came  the  quiet  man  kneeled  in  the  sick  room  and  joined 
his  prayers  with  those  of  the  General  Overseer,  on  the  other  side  of  the  city. 

"  Instantly  God  answered. 

"  Instantly  His  Holy  Spirit's  power  flowed  through  that  dying  frame,  infusing 
it  with  new  life. 

"  The  man  who  had  been  on  the  very  verge  of  the  grave  sat  up  and  demanded 
food. 

"  A  mighty  miracle  had  been  performed. 

•*The  same  Jesus,  who  had  '  healed  all  manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of 
disease  among  the  people,'  when  here  on  earth  in  flesh,  had  fulfilled  the  Word 
of  God,  '  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday  and  to-day,  yea  and  forever.' 

•*  He  had  fulfilled  his  own  pining  promise  to  His  disciples,  *  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  all  the  days,  even  unto  the  Consummation  of  the  Age.' 

"  His  gentle,  compassionate  Presence  had  entered  the  death  chamber,  and 
given  life  for  death. 

"That  man  is  the  happy  Witness  whose  picture  is  given  on  the  front  page. 

'*  Restored  to  life  and  health  and  strength,  he  is  now  able  to  work  every  day 
at  his  trade. 

'•  His  wife  and  family,  who  were  once  mourning  him  as  all  but  dead,  now 
rejoice  in  the  father's  love  and  care  and  support. 

"Three  years  have  passed  away  since  he  felt  that  Healing  Touch. 

"  They  have  been  three  years  of  joyful  service  and  ever-increasing  strength 
and  prosperity. 

"  Simply  and  truthfully  he  tells  the  wonderful  story  of  the  Miracle  of  Healing 
which  God  wrought  in  his  body. 

"  The  case  is  complete  in  every  detail. 

**  He  had  the  witness  of  the  physician  to  the  fact  that  the  disease  from  which 
he  was  suffering  was  cancer. 

"  He  had  the  witness  of  the  physician  that  all  hope  was  past,  and  that  his 
death  was  a  matter  of  a  few  hours. 

"  We  have  his  own  bodily  presence  in  health  and  strength,  as  shown  by  his 
photograph,  as  witness  to  the  fact  that  God  healed  him. 

"  Such  evidence  is  incontrovertible. 

"  May  the  heartfelt  prayer  of  this  Witness  that  many  another  sick  and  dying 
one  may  be  led  to  trust  God  alone  for  healing,  be  answered." 

The  front  page  even  contains  a  cut  of  Mr.  Anderson,  his  wife,  three 
daughters,  and  a  son  ;  and  on  the  last  two  pages  is  a  letter  from  Mr.  Anderson, 
confirming  the  statements  already  made. 

There  is  not  a  single  clergyman  in  the  City  of  Toronto  who  will  believe  this 
statement,  and  I  am  in  accord  with  them.  Why  ?  Simply  because  science  tells 
us  it  is  an  impossibility. 

We  would  be  entirely  in  accord  if  they  would  be  so  sweetly  reasonable  as  to 
employ  the  same  touchstone  to  alleged  miracles  in  the  first  century  as  they  do 
to  those  of  the  succeeding  ninetevin.  Can  I  ask  anything  more  simple,  more 
reasonable,  or  more  logical  ? 

But  the  flaming  torches  and  the   mountebank  costume  are  not   the  serious 


608  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

business  of  the  fakir  ;  they  are  only  the  scare  headhnes,  the  two-sheet  posters, 
ihe  small  handbills,  the  advertisements  by  which  he  collects  his  audience.  So 
the  prayers,  hymns  and  miracles  of  Alexander  Dowie,  Priest,  Prophet,  Divine 
Healer,  and  Real  Estate  Dealer,  are  only  the  flaming  torches  and  the  mountebank 
costume,  to  advertize  more  profitable  ways  of  benefiting  mankind. 

Pamphlet  number  two  contains  the  *'  Prospectus  of  Zion  Paradise  in  the 
Republic  of  Mexico  "  ;  and  from  it  I  again  quote  : 

"ZION's    proposed    possessions    in    MEXICO 

will  eventually  comprise  at  least  Three  Million  acres  of  land. 

''  A  large  tract  has  already  been  optioned  in  the  beautiful  State  of  Tamaulipas. 
It  is  wondrously  attractive  in  majestic  mountains,  beautiful  valleys  and  streams, 
and  is  bordered  by  many  miles  of  Gulf  Coast,  .... 

"  Zion's  General  Estate  (now  estimated  at  more  than  twenty  million  dollars 
above  all  liabilities)  will  be  immensely  increased  in  value  through  the  operation 
of  Zion  Paradise  Plantation. 

"  That  increase  will  result  largely  from  the  activities  of  the  desirable  populations 
that  will  soon  occupy  the  Plantation. 

"Early  settlers,  therefore,  are  entitled  to  and  will  receive  exceptional  advan- 
tages and  opportunities  for  profitable  investment  when  the  land  is  opened  for 
settlement. 

"Gold  Seven-per-cent.  Interest-bearing  Land  Warrants  are  now  offered  to 
investors  in  denominations  of  Twenty  Dollars  ($20),  Fifty  Dollars  ($50),  One 
Hundred  Dollars  ($100),  Five  Hundred  Dollars  ($500),  One  Thousand  Dollars 
($1,000),  and  Five  Thousand  I>ollars  ($5  000).  Tnese  may  be  held  as  an  in- 
vestment, or  exchanged  for  land  in  Zion  Paradise  Plantation  under  the  following 
regulations  : 

"  First.  Warrants  are  numbered  in  the  order  of  their  purchase  with  a  Special 
Selection  Number,  and  purchasers  will  have  the  right  to  choose  in  the  different 
allotments  according  to  the  Special  Selection  Number  of  the  Warrant  which  they 
hold. 

^^  Second.  When  the  particular  tracts  of  land  belonging  to  each  Series  are 
ready  to  market,  Warrant-holders  will  be  furnished  maps  showing  locations,  and 
will  be  invited  to  file  a  list  of  their  preferences  on  a  special  form  provided  for 
that  purpose.  After  a  stated  time  allotments  will  be  made  and  announced  to 
each  investor. 

"  Third.     "Ihe  land  will  probably  be  divided  into  four  kinds,  as  follows  : 

(a)  City  lots  of  large  size. 

(b)  F'ruit  and  vegetable  lands  in  tracts  of  10  to  40  acres. 

(c)  Field-crop  lands  in  tracts  of  40  to  160  acres. 

(d)  Grazing  land  in  tracts  of  500  acres  or  more. 

*'  Fourth.     The  first  prices  of  land  will  probably  be — 

City  lots    ...    Price   according  to  location. 

Fruit  and  vegetable  lands $25  per  acre. 

Field-crop  lands $15  per  acre. 

Grazing  lands $5  to  $8  per  acre. 

"  Fifth.  A  Special  Discount  of  Twenty  per  cent,  from  first  prices,  as  stated 
above,  will  be  allowed  to  Warrant-holders  who  make  selections  in  the  first 
allotment,  the  exact  date  of  which  will  be  announced  later.  The  amount  of 
this   discount    thus  represents  a  profit  of  Twenty-five  per  cent,  upon  the  sum 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  609 


actually  invested  by  early  purchasers  of  the  land,  and  it  is  expected  that  a  further 
profit  will  also  be  realized  through  the  rapid  increase  of  values.  Intending  in- 
vestors are  informed  that  the  '  first  prices  '  above  quoted  are  likely  to  be  in- 
creased soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Plantation. 

**  Title  Will  Be  Conveyed  to  purchasers  under  the  same  general  conditions 
and  restrictions  contained  in  the  eleven-hundred-year  Lease  used  in  Zion  City, 
Illinois,  United  States  of  America,  but  put  into  such  form  as  will  fully  accord 
with  the  laws  of  Mexico.  Every  legal  advantage  will  be  seized  to  enforce  Zion's 
position  against  the  great  evils  that  are  driving  humanity  on  to  destruction. 
Intoxicating  liquors,  tobacco,  poisonous  drugs,  swine's  flesh,  theatres,  gambling 
dens,  and  all  other  unclean  abominations  will  be  kept  out." 

The  prospectus  does  not  state  the  price  for  which  the  land  is  to  be  bought 
from  the  Government  of  Mexico,  nor  where  the  profit  between  the  price  paid 
and  the  price  at  which  it  is  sold  will  go.      I  think  I  can  make  a  shrewd  guess. 

Suppose  the  Government  of  Mexico,  which  is  long  on  land  and  short  on  cash, 
should  charge  $i.oo  per  acre,  and  the  selling  price  should  be  on  an  average 
$15  per  acre ;  and  allowing  $2,000,000  for  expenses,  there  would  be  a  net  profit 
to  some  one  of  $40,000,000. 

Very  craftily  a  red  herring  is  drawn  across  the  scent  : 

"  Zion's  General  Estate  (now  estimated  at  more  than  twenty  mi'lion  dollars 
above  all  liabilities)  will  be  immensely  increased  in  value  through  the  operation 
of  Zion  Paradise  Plantation. 

"  That  increase  will  result  largely  from  the  activities  of  the  desirable  populations 
that  will  soon  occupy  the  Plantation  " 

The  land  is  not  sold,  but  leased  for  eleven  hundred  years,  so  the  unearned 
increment,  over  and  above  the  purchase  price,  "from  the  activity  of  the  desirable 
populations,  etc.,"  will  be  in  a  sense  an  asset  for  Zion  General  Estate  ;  but  as 
the  reversion  does  not  take  place  for  eleven  hundred  years,  it  is  scarcely  likely 
to  benefit  present  purchasers. 

I  can  see  no  other  purpose  in  this  valueless  reversion,  this  promise  of  profit  in 
eleven  centuries  to  his  followers,  long  after  they  are  "  dust  to  dust "  and  "  ashes 
to  ashes,"  but  to  conceal  his  own  immediate  profits. 

At  present,  his  only  investment  is  his  august  autograph.  After  he  has  collected 
$15  00,  he  expends,  say  $1  00,  in  buying  an  acre  of  land,  and  puts  the  balance  — 
where  no  doubt  it  can  be  drawn  by  his  own  cheque 

Invested  Capital $00,000,000  00 

Profit $40,000,000  00 

McKenzie  &  Mann's  financing  of  the  Toronto  Street  Railway,  or  Senator 
Cox's  financing  of  the  Canada  Life,  are  not  in  the  same  class  with  this. 

Ignorance,  carefully  cultivated  for  nineteen  centuries,  alike  by  Priest,  Pastor, 
Patriarch,  and  Pope,  has  produced— civilization,  culture,  tolerance,  universal 
happiness  ?  No.  Only  a  Mrs.  Eddy  and  a  John  Alexander  Dowie.  It  saddens 
one  to  think  that  the  great  prizes  of  religion  have  fallen,  not  to  the  learned,  the 
wise,  the  devout,  the  profound  thinkers,  or  the  zealous  workers,  but  to  the 
ignorant,  unscrupulous,  and  greedy.  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  produced 
only  wealth  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice  for  two  of  the  shallowest  fakirs  the 
world  has  ever  known. 


610  SECULAE  THOUGHT. 


flDat)  flDurJ)ocft'0  Hntmal  Storlee 


THE  ASS. 
Ours  is  an  old  family, — perhaps  the  oldest  in  the  world, — and  we  are  en  itledto 
great  respect  because  we  founded  the  first  college  of  which  history  makes  mention. 
One  of  our  professors  spake  with  tongues  before  there  was  any  Oxford,  Cam- 
bridge, Harvard,  Yale,  Aberdeen,  Edinburgh,  Queen's,  or  Toronto.  "Am  I  not 
thine  ass  upon  which  thou  hast  ridden  ever  since  I  was  thine  unto  this  day  ?  " 

The  rider  was  a  high  priest  of  Divination  for  a  fee,  and  had  no  difificulty  in 
understanding  his  nieghbor,  but  seemed  to  have  the  best  of  the  argument  as  the 
right  to  ride  him  involved  the  right  to  strike. 

There  are  more  professors  in  our  family  than  in  any  other  in  the  animal  king- 
dom. They  are  of  the  tribe  called  Humanas  Ignoramus  Ecclesiasticus.  Their 
office  is  to  bray  and  chew  the  cud  of  content.  They  generally  ride  on  the  shoulders 
of  another  tribe  called  Ignoramus  Humanas.  Their  duty  is  to  find  the  material 
for  the  cud.  They  are  true  beasts  of  burden,  but  move  about  on  their  hind  legs 
only.  The  tribe  Ecclesiasticus  are  very  kind  to  the  others,  and  often  visit  them 
in  the  cold  season  so  that  any  of  them  who  are  poor  may  be  helped  to  food  and 
fire.     For  say  they,  "Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn." 

They  claim  to  have  something  revealed  to  them  that  common  Asses  do  not 
understand.  It  is  about  one  they  call  Creator,  who  made  all  things  but  not 
himself.  They  say  he  was  all-wise  and  all-knowing,  yet  made  a  blunder  at  the 
start  and  admitted  it.  They  say  he  is  kind,  loving,  vengeful,  hates  sin,  yet  in- 
vented it.  Much  else  they  say  of  the  Revelation  that  appears  to  common  Asses 
contradictory,  therefore  is  their  calling  provided.  They  are  termed  Doctors  of 
Divinity,  and  on  account  of  the  many  ailments  of  their  Divinity  are  in  constant 
practice.  Their  coat  is  sleek  and  black,  in  marked  contrast  to  the  coats  of  those 
they  ride.  When  not  riding  they  walk,  with  ivory  or  gold-headed  canes,  and 
they  call  it  laboring.  They  fear  the  effects  of  education,  because,  say  they,  "  A 
little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  but  it  is  believed  by  those  who  are  not  Asses, 
but  being  stubborn  are  called  Mules,  that  the  tribe  Ecclesiasticus  fear  the 
education  of  the  other  Asses  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  it.  They  fought 
Science  until  to  fight  it  longer  would  be  to  lose  their  job,  then  they  reconstructed 
the  Revelation  made  to  them.  It  is  conficently  expected  that  they  will  continue 
to  reconstruct  it  as  occasion  and  personal  gain  may  require. 

To  satisfy  ihe  common  Asses  their  riders  quote  from  their  BOOK,  that  thorns 
would  be  plenty  and  thistles  would  be  sure,  and  it  is  so,  yet  the  order  Eccle- 
siasticus never  attempt  to  eat  the  thistles,  but  in  the  fulness  of  their  generosity 
leave  them  to  the  common  herd. 

As  an  indication  of  their  scope  of  mind,  let  us  quote  from  their  Canticles, 
when  in  meeting  assembled.  After  a  "  Hee  Haw  "  or  two,  one  of  the  black 
coated  says  : 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  611 

*'  Let  us  endeavor  to  praise  God  by  singing  to  his  praise  in  Hymn  550.'* 

"  Rejoi-sand-beeg-Iad,  for-theb-lud-dath  been  shed, 
Redemshun-nis  finisht-dthe  price  hath  ben  paid. 
Sound-is-sprayses,  tell-lhees-tory  of-fim-00  was-lain, 
Sound-dis-sprayses,  tell  with  gladness-e  hv-eth  a-gain. 

"  Rejoi-sand-beeg-Iad.     Now  theep-ardon-nis  free, 
Theej-ust  for  the  unjustas-dideon  thut-ree,"  etc. 

After  that  they  pass  a  dish  about  into  which  the  common  herd  put  coins  that 
they  get  from  the  sale  of  thistles  that  the  unwary  buy  from  them.  These  coins^ 
are  divided,  the  first  part  going  to  him  of  the  black  coat,  and  the  balance  gomg 
to  keep  the  roof  from  leaking. 

Then  the  chief  Ass  raises  his  front  legs,  from  which  a  cloak  depends  like  the 
wings  cfa  big  bat,  and  he  says, 

"  Let  us  bray,"  and  they  do  so. 


a  prince  of  poete* 

:q; 

BY    ERNEST    PACK,    IN    "AGNOSTIC   JOURNAL." 


:o:- 


Those  who  are  under  the  impression  that  only  believers  in  the  Bible  are  capable 
of  writing  what  may  truly  be  called  poetry,  may  soon  undeceive  themselves  by 
turning  over  the  pages  of  Shelley,  Schiller,  Byron  and  Burns,  or  the  great  Persian 
Omar  Khayydm — to  name  but  a  few.  And,  in  my  opinion,  the  Persian  is 
prince  of  them  all.  He  is  not  one  of  those  who  have  the  sublime  way  of  writing 
— nothing — at  a  very  great  length.  No  man  rising  from  a  perusal  of  Omar  can 
say,  "Yes;  what  a  sublime  effort;  what  a  magnificent  mastery  of  language! 
But — What  is  it  all  about  ?  "  In  all  that  Omar  has  written,  there  is  not  only 
great  beauty  but  great  thought.  His  are  the  kind  of  lines  that  one  may  read  a 
thousand  times  and  tire  not  of.  I  know  of  no  poet,  living  or  dead,  who  in  four 
brief  lines,  has  ever  compressed  so  much  and  so  beautifully.  The  following 
love  verse,  selected  at  random,  will  serve  to  shew : 

*•  Here,  with  a  loaf  of  bread,  beneath  the  bough, 
A  flask  of  wine,  a  book  of  verse,  and  thou 
Beside  me,  singing  in  the  Wilderness, 
And  Wilderness  is  Paradise  enow.  " 

But,  listen  ;  the  poet  speaks  again — and  this  time  of  Rulers,  whose  sceptres^ 
sway  not  over  the  King  of  Terrors  : 

"  Think,  in  this  battered  caravanserai, 
Whose  doorways  are  alternate  Night  and  Day, 
How  Sultan  after  Sultan,  with  his  pomp. 
Abode  his  hour  or  two— and  went  his  way." 

'•  But,  there,  let  us  not  think  of  death  too  much,"  says  the  poet ;  "  Of  this  life 
we  are  cognizant,  of  another  we  know  nothing." 


612  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


"  Ah,  my  beloved,  fill  the  cup  that  clears 
To-day  of  past  regrets  and  future  fears  : 
To-morrow  ?  Why,  To-morrow  I  may  be 
Myself,  with  Yesterday's  sev'n  thousand  years. 

"  Ah,  make  the  most  of  what  we  yet  may  spend, 
Before  we,  too,  into  the  dust  descend, 
Dust  into  dust,  and  under  dust  to  lie, 
Sans  wine,  sans  song,  sans  singer,  and  sans  End." 

Then,  turning  to  the  "  wise  "  men  who  knew  so  much  of  another  world,  and 
so  little  of  this,  the  poet  continues  : 

"  Why,  all  the  Saints  and  Sages  who  discussed 
Of  the  two  worlds  so  learnedly,  are  thrust. 
Like  foolish  prophets,  forth  ;  their  words  to  scorn 
Are  scattered,  and  their  mouths  are  stopt  with  dust." 

And  how  like  a  loving  father,  speaking  to  his  son,  is  the  following  : 

"  Oh,  come  with  old  Khayydm,  and  leave  the  wise 
To  talk  ;  one  thing  is  certain — that  Life  flies  ; 
One  thing  is  certain,  and  the  rest  is  lies ; 
The  flower  that  once  has  blown  for  ever  dies." 

And  then  one  sees  him  with  his  arm  round  the  boy's  shoulder,   saying,  in 
merrier  mood  : 

"  Myself,  when  young,  did  eagerly  frequent 
Doctor  and  Saint,  and  heard  great  argument 
About  it  and  about  :  but  evermore 
Came  out  at  the  same  door  as  in  I  went. 

With  them  the  seed  of  wisdom  did  I  sow, 
And  with  my  own  hand  labour'd  it  to  grow. 
And  this  was  all  the  harvest  that  I  reaped — 
'  I  came  like  water,  and  like  wind  I  go.'  " 

Fancy,  turning  from  passages  like  these  to  read  — 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood 
Drawn  from  Emmanuel's  veins, 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

Such  lines  are — more  or  less — "inspired,"  but  these  from  Omar  Khayyam 
are  not : 

"  There  was  a  door  to  which  I  found  no  key, 
There  was  a  veil  past  which  I  could  not  see  ; 
Some  little  talk  awhile  of  Me  and  Thee, 
There  seem'd — and  then  no  more  of  Thee  and  Me." 

Space  does  not  permit  me  to  quote  as  extensively  as  I  should  like  ;  but  there 
be  those  who  would  do  well  to  mark  well  the  lines  that  follow  : 


The  moving  finger  writes,  and,  having  writ, 
Moves  on  ;  nor  all  thy  piety  nor  wit 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  613 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  line, 
Nor  all  thy  tears  wash  out  a  word  of  it." 

Referring  to  the  "  potter  "  who  "  has  power  over  the  clay  to  make  one  vessel 
to  honor  and  another  lo  dishonor,"  he  says  : 

"  And,  strange  to  tell,  among  the  earthen  lot, 
Some  could  articulate,  while  others  not. 
And  suddenly,  one,  more  impatient,  criec^ 
'  Who  is  the  Potter,  pray  and  who  the  Pot  ?  ' " 

And,  a  little  further  on  : 

''  None  answered  this  ;  but,  after  silence,  spake 
A  vessel  of  a  more  ungainly  make  : 
'  They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning  all  awry  ; 
What !  did  the  hand,  then,  of  the  Potter  shake?'  " 

Then  a  sly  little  Pot  speaks  thus  : 

**  Then  said  another,  with  a  long-drawn  sigh, 
'  My  clay,  with  long  oblivion,  has  gone  dry  : 
But  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar  juice, 
Methinks  I  might  recover  by-and-by ! '  " 

But,  a  wave  of  the  poet's  magic  wand,  and  his  mood  changes  to  the  grand 
sweeping  style  that  suits  him  so  well  : 

"  Alas,  that  Spring  should  vanish  with  the  rose, 
That  Youth's  sweet-scented  manuscript  should  close ; 
The  nightingale  that  in  the  branches  sang, 
Ah,  whence,  and  whither  flown  again,  who  knows  ? 

'•  While  the  rose  blows  along  the  river  brink, 
With  old  Khayydm  the  ruby  vintage  drink  ; 
■  And  when  the  angel,  with  h's  darker  draught, 
Draws  up  to  thee — take  that,  and  do  not  shrink." 

Thus  calmly  wrote  the  Persian  poet  on  the  subject  of  the  grave,  and  thus, 
beautifully,  he  leaves  us  all  to  contemplation  of  that  which  has  perplexed  the 
mind  of  man  from  the  earliest  years  until  now.  In  this  way  the  Stoics  breathed 
their  last,  and  the  lesson  is  one  for  all  to  learn.  But  it  will  be  a  sorry  day  for 
the  priesthood  when  these  last  words  of  the  great  Persian  poet  are  properly 
understood. 

'•  And  when  thyself,  with  shining  foot,  shalt  pass 
Among  the  guests,  star-scattered  on  the  grass, 
And.  in  thy  joyous  errand,  reach  the  spot 
Where  I  made  one — turn  down  an  empty  glass." 


The  Swiss  village  of  Zofingen,  in  the  canton  of  Aargua,  was  decorated  with 
flags  recently  in  honor  of  a  hen  which  has  laid  her  thousandth  egg.  Five  adja- 
cent villages  sent  deputations,  accompanied  by  bands,  which  serenaded  the 
industrious  hen. 


614  SECULAR  THOUGHT, 


Hrcba^ologtcal  Discoveries  at  Bntinoe. 

Recent  archaeological  work  was  interestingly  shown  in  the  exhibition  lately 
held  in  Paris  by  the  Society  of  Archae  jlogical  Restarch,  a  comparatively  new 
assv">ciation  which  nevertheless  counts  many  well-known  savmts  among  its 
members.  The  exhibit  of  the  eminent  Egyptologist,  iM.  Gayet,  of  some  of  his 
latest  discoveries  at  Antmoe,  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  features.  This 
highly  important  collection  will  be  placed  in  the  Louvre,  where  special  quarters 
are  to  be  prepared  for  it. 

M.  Gayet  has  been  engaged  within  recent  years  in  making  excavations  at  the 
ruins  of  Antinoe,  the  city  founded  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian  to  commemorate 
the  death  of  his  favorite,  Antinous.  These  discoveries  were  principally  of 
different  forms  of  tombs  and  embalmed  bodies  and  objects  which  they  contained. 
In  these  tombs  the  bodies  are  clothed,  generally,  in  the  garments  which  the 
person  was  accustomed  to  wear.  In  other  cases  the  bodies  are  wrapped  in 
several  winding  sheets,  which  are  held  in  place  by  cloih  bands.  Over  this  is 
placed  a  mask  of  painted  stucco  or  a  portrait  of  the  deceised.  Often  a  single 
garment  with  a  design  of  flowers  covers  the  body.  Embroidered  cushions  filled 
with  feathers  support  the  head.  Around  the  body,  general  y  at  the  head  and 
feet,  are  placed  objects  which  the  person  used  in  life.  Different  methods  were 
employed  for  preserving  the  mummies.  We  find  the  black  mummy,  prepared 
with  bitumen  but  not  embalmed,  wrapped  in  sheets  and  wound  around  with 
bands.  The  head  and  breast  are  often  covered  by  a  mask  or  plate  of  decorated 
plaster.  Then  we  find  the  bodies  which  are  embalmed  and  clothed  in  their 
accustomed  garments. 

Among  the  most  interesting  tombs  is  that  of  the  singer  Khelmis.  The  sepul- 
chre was  built  of  masonry  and  contained  the  remains  of  a  plaster-covered 
wooden  case  which  inclosed  the  body.  At  the  head  and  feet  were  fragments  of 
wood  slabs  which  were  covered  with  paintings  of  the  Egyptian  ritual.  In  these 
an  image  of  Isis  appears,  accompanied  by  inscriptions,  the  greater  part  of  which 
has  been  badly  copied  and  were  illegible.  This  is  often  •  the  case  in  similar 
relics  of  this  epoch  of  the  Greek  sepulchres,  when  the  person  was  interred 
according  to  the  Pharaonic  rites  merely  because  of  his  employment.  Only  the 
signs  which  represented  the  name  and  titles  of  the  person  had  been  reproduced 
distinctly,  and  this  so  that  there  should  be  no  mistake  as  to  his  identity  in  the 
other  world.  The  name  is  thus  found  to  be  "  Khelmis,  the  precious  singer  of 
the  Osiris  Antinous."  The  body  of  the  young  woman  is  admirably  preserved, 
and  no  doubt  all  the  resources  of  the  embalmer's  art  were  brought  into  requisi- 
tion. The  body  is  clothed  in  the  long  veil  of  Isis,  which  closely  resembles  the 
drapery  we  find  on  the  Tanagra  statuettes.  The  veil,  draped  over  the  lower 
half  of  the  face,  is  quite  Qharacteristic,  though  this  was  the  first  time  that  it  had 
been  found  at  Antinoe.  The  s'ufTis  a  kind  of  silk  tissue,  dyed  a  pale  yellow, 
while  the  robe  is  of  the  same  color.  A  diadem  of  leaves  surrounds  the  forehead, 
while  a  garland  starts  from  the  neck  and  descends  to  the  feet,  after  being 
wrapped  several  times  around  the  body. 

In  the  case  had  been  placed  different  objects  relating  to  the  employment  of 
the  deceased.  At  the  head  was  a  statuette  of  Isis- Venus,  of  painted  plaster, 
and  hollow  in  the  interior  The  hair  is  tinted  a  light  red  and  is  surmounted  by 
asdiadem  with  the  attributes  of  the  goddess.     At  the  feet   was  a  pair  of  crotales 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  615 


in  bronze,  of  rather  large  diameter,  and  joined  by  a  leather  thong.  The  pottery 
which  accompanied  the  mummy  consists  of  red  and  black  figured  Greek  vases, 
and  a  number  of  small  alabaster  perfume  flasks. — Scientific  American. 


Zhc  llconoclaet 


BY  y    E     REMSBURG. 

:o: 

The  work  of  Freethinkers  is  not  destructive  alone  ;  neither,  is  it  wholly  con- 
structive. The  social  architect  and  the  iconoclast  each  have  a  work  to  do ;  and 
while  we  admire  the  noble  building  of  the  one,  we  should  not  ignore  the  labors 
of  the  other  who  clearr^d  the  ground  and  rendered  possible  this  work.  As  we 
wander  with  rapturous  delight  through  gardens  filled  with  trees  and  plants, 
laden  with  Pomona's  treasures  and  bright  with  Flora's  gifts,  let  us  not  forget 
that  these  delightful  spots  were  once  covered  with  wild  trees,  thorns  and  noxious 
weeds,  and  that  the  axe,  the  spade  and  the  hoe  of  the  rude  laborer  made  these 
Edens  possible. 

In  surveying  the  Protestant  Reformation,  that  prelude  to  our  glorious  work^ 
I  recognize  our  indebtedness  to  that  gentle  spirit,^  Phihp  Melancthon  ;  but  a 
greater  debt  is  due  the  rude  defiant  Luther.  I  gaze  with  reverential  wonder 
upon  that  magnificent,  albeit  imperfect,  structure  reared  by  August  Comte ;  but 
1  dwell,  too,  with  infinite  delight  upon  the  ruins  of  priestcraft  wrought  by  that 
fierce  iconoclast,  Voltaire.  I  allow  no  one  to  surpass  me  in  admiration  of  that 
grand  system  of  social  ethics  formulated  in  the  mighty  brain  of  Herbert  Spencer; 
but  atlhe  same  time  I  cannot  undervalue  the  effect  of  the  terrible  blows  that 
tyranny  and  bigotry  received  at  the  hands  of  that  sturdy  giant,  Charles  Bradlaugh. 
I  witness  with  feelings  of  profound  gratitude  the  constructive  efforts  of  such  men 
as  Felix  Adler,  but  I  cannot  view  with  indifference  the  destruction  of  supersti- 
tion's idols,  swept  away  before  the  torrent  of  wit,  of  satire  and  invective  that  fell 
from  the  wondrous  lips  of  Robert  Ingersoll. 

Supernatural  religion  is  a  tyrant  that  must  be  dethroned.  This  work  of 
demolition  must  go  on,  and  he  who  would  retard  it  is  an  enemy  to  our  cause. 
Wl.ile  a  single  being  wears  the  livery  of  a  priest.  Freedom's  battle  is  not  fully 
won,  and  Freedom's  champions  cannot  sit  with  folded  arms,  even  though  the 
Quakers  of  Freethought  persist  in  shouting  "  Peace." 

Upon  the  broad  sea  of  thought  we  are  too  prone  to  drift  on,  each  in  his  own 
narrow  current,  and  to  regard  as  tempest-tossed  and  doomed  to  shipwreck  all 
who  do  not  chose  to  follow  in  the  same  course  with  us.  We  cannot  think  alike, 
we  cannot  work  alike  ;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  we  should.  Let  each,  then,  in 
his  own  peculiar  way,  work  on  in  the  manner  in  which  his  nature  and  his 
education  have  best  fitted  him  to  work.  But  let  us  never  repudiate  an  honest 
effort,  nor  ask  to  have  Truth  veiled  behind  ambiguous  sentences  of  honeyed 
words,  however  hideous  she  may  seem  to  those  who  know  her  not  ; 

"  For  men  in  earnest  have  no  time  to  waste 
In  patching  fig  leaves  for  the  naked  truth." 

We  are  all  working  for  one  common  end;  we  are  all  striving  to  hasten  the 
time  when  Universal  Love  and  Universal  Liberty  shall  reign  supreme.  The 
gentle  and  the  loving  can  labor  best  to  place  Love  on  her  throne  ;  but  staunch 
hearts  and  brawny  arms  are  needed  yet  to  break  the  claims  that  bind  the  limbs, 
of  liberty. — Ingersoll  Beacon. 


616  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


IHttbat  1F0  Socialism  ?    Ibow MillTIt  Morft  ? 

These  are  questions  about  which  Goldwin  Smith  writes  as  follows  in  the  Toronto 
Weekly  Sun  • 

'•  What's  in  a  name  ?  Much.  Therefore,  when  a  name  is  playing  a  great  part 
in  politics  as  a  watchword,  a  battle  cry,  or  a  bugbear,  it  is  time  to  call  for  a 
definition.  What  is  Socialism  ?  The  word  surely  imports  a  fundamental 
transformation  of  society.  But  we  find  it  applied  both  in  the  way  of  com- 
mendation and  in  that  of  antagonism  to  such  things  as  State-ownership  of 
public  services  or  graduated  taxation,  which  imi)!y  no  fundamental  change  what- 
ever. The  countries,  including  ail  save  England,  France,  and  the  United 
States,  in  which  the  railways  are  owned  by  the  State,  are  not  on  that  account 
the  more  Socialistic.  Nor  is  co-operation,  whether  productive  or  distributive, 
or  joint  stock  in  any  form,  such  as  the  Amani  Community  in  Iowa,  which  aims 
at  no  general  revolution,  in  the  true  sense  Socialistic.  German  Socialism  seems 
to  consist  mainly  in  opposition  to  a  military  system  from  which  a  social  con- 
servative might  equally  desire  to  be  free  Italian  Socialism  is  apparently  little 
more  than  agitation  against  an  oppressive  land  law.  In  Russia,  on  the  other 
hand,  what  is  styled  Socialism  is  displaying  itself  in  a  murderous  anarchy.  The 
Socialist  proper  undertakes  apparently  to  abolish  inequality  and  competition, 
thus  making  the  world  fraternal  and  happy,  by  putting  all  the  instruments  of 
production  and  absolute  power  of  industrial  regulation  into  the  hands  of  the 
Government.  We  are  waiting  to  hear  from  him  what  this  Government  is  to 
be  and  how  it  is  to  he  called  into  existence.^' 

We  have  the  greatest  sympathy  with  the  aspirations  of  the  Socialist  party,  but 
the  practical  side  of  their  propagandism  is  seldom  much  attended  to.  The 
question  asked  by  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  is  one  that  needs  clear  elucidation  if 
'■  Socialism  "  is  to  mean  anything  bat  a  general  arraignment  of  present  conditions. 

It  is  clear  that,  under  any  system  whatever,  and  even  if  all  the  members  of 
society  are  intelligent  and  cultivated  to  the  very  highest  pitch  of  mental  and 
physical  efficiency,  some  sort  of  organization  —we  need  not  call  it  '*  govern- 
ment" — will  be  needed,  unless  all  modern  inventions  and  improvements  are  to 
bs  abandoned  and  society  is  to  return  to  primitive  conditions.  How  is  this 
organization  to  be  inaugurated  and  maintained  unless  by  a  system  more  or  less 
like  that  we  now  possess  ?  Or  do  the  Socialists  possess  the  secret  of  a  new  and 
perfect  one?     Mr.  Smith's  question  is  a  pithy  one. 


Sun&ai?  Xaw  Claeeificatlon  of  States* 

:o: 

A  compilation  of  the  "  Sabbath  Laws  in  the  United  States  "  has  been  issued 
recently  by  the  National  Reform  Association,  one  of  the  oldest  and  the  most 
incorrigible  of  the  American  Sunday-enforcement  organizations.  The  hook 
"  gives  first,  for  each  state,  a  text  of  the  law,  then  the  judicial  decisions  uphold- 
ing its  constitutionality  or  interpreting  its  provisions."  A  chapter  at  the  close 
summarizes  and  reviews  the  whole.  Accompanying  the  book  is  a  map  illus- 
trating by  white  vertical  shading,  horizontal  shading,  and  black,  a  rude  classifi- 
'Xation  of  the  States  according  to  the  stringency  with  which  they  penalize  Sunday 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  617 


work  and  play.  According  to  this  map  the  States  which  have  the  most  rigid 
''Sabbath  "  laws  are:  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, Delaware,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Tennessee,  Ohio> 
Indiana,  Michigan,  Iowa,  Missouri.  Arkansas,  North  and  South  Dakota,  Kansas, 
and  Utah.  With  these  are  Oklahoma  and  Indian  Territory,  A  second  group 
has  rigid  laws  but  with  many  nuUifying  exceptions.  With  these  are  included  on 
the  map  those  whose  laws  are  **  mherently  weak  "  The  States  of  this  second 
classification  are  :  Vermont,  Ncw  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Louisiana.  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Wyo- 
ming Montana,  Washington,  Oregon,  and  Nevada.  Two  States,  California  and 
Idaho,  iiave  no  '*  Sabbath  "  laws. 

With  regard  to  the  first  group  of  States,  the  Churchman  (Episcopalian),  well 
observes  that  "  many  of  them  are  not  conspicuous  for  their  social  or  educational 
advancement  "  ;  that  "  indeed,  it  would  seem  in.  some  cases  that  rigid  Sunday 
laws  and  the  lack  of  child  labor  laws  went  together."  The  Churchman  also 
says  that  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  "the  stringent  laws  are  not 
enforced  in  many  of  these  States  ;"  and  it  might  have  added  that  the  States  in 
which  these  laws  are  most  enforced  are  the  most  backward  of  the  whole  lot  in 
social  and  educational  advancement.  It  was  in  some  of  these  States  that  Seventh- 
day  Adventists  have  been  persecuted  and  imprisoned  by  means  of  the  "  Sabbath  " 
laws,  and  we  have  no  less  an  authority  than  that  incorrigible  National  Reformer 
and  advocate  of  Sunday  enforcement.  Dr.  Wilbur  F.  Crafts,  that  those  States  are 
"backward  states."  Mr.  Oafts  so  stated  in  a  communication  to  the  Washington 
(D  C.)  Post  last  spring,  but  he  was  so  intent  upon  another  object  that  he  did 
not  realize  the  implication  of  his  statement  when  he  wrote  it. 

A  map  making  the  above  classification,  wiih  the  usual  method  of  having  white 
to  represent  the  best,  and  black  the  worst  States,  should  of  course  present  the 
States  of  California  and  Idaho  in  white  and  the  group  of  States  with  the  rightly 
termed  "  rigid  "  Sunday  laws  in  black.  But  of  course  it  is  just  the  opposite  on 
this  "  National  Reform  "  map,  which  goes  to  show  that  in  this  matter  the  Na- 
tional Reformers  are  looking  backward  and  not  forward,  and  do  not  represent 
the  spirit  of  the  times  when  theology  was  bolstered  up  and  enforced  by  political 
authority. — N.  Y.  Truth  Seeker. 


Stealtng  jfrom  llnQcraolL 

One  Marcus  M.  Brown  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  recently  wrote  a  life  of  John  D. 
Rockefeller.  We  have  not  seen  the  book,  but  we  have  the  authority  of  Wm.  J. 
Bryan's  Commoner  for  saying  that  many  of  its  eulogistic  phrases  are  stolen  from 
the  lectures  of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  on  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Thomas  Paine. 
Literary  cribbing  is  bad  enough  in  any  case,  but  in  this  instance  it  is  so  bold, 
evident  and  extensive  as  to  make  it  astonishing — even  sensational,  considering 
that  it  occurs  in  the  life  of  the  wealthiest  "Christian  "  and  one  of  the  greatest 
monopolists  in  the  world.  But  this  is  not  the  most  wonderful  feature  in  the 
case,  or  the  one  that  will  most  interest  Freethinkers.  This  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  J.  D.  Rockefeller's  biographer  pilfered  some  of  the  most  eloquent  periods 
from  the  writings  of  the  greatest  Agnostic  of  the  age,  and  some  of  them  from 


618  SECULAK   THOUGHT. 


his  eulogy  of  Thomas  Paine,  also  an  unbeliever  and  a  man  greatly  despised  by 
Christians  of  the  Rockefeller  type. 

We  wonder  what  the  man  with  both  a  rocky  name  and  a  rocky  heart  will 
think  when  he  learns  that  his  panegyrist  is  also  a  plagiarist,  that  the  purloined 
words  are  those  of  IngersoU,  and  that  some  of  them  were  used  to  describe  the 
character  of  "  Tom  Paine  !  " 

We  give  below  the  words  of  IngersoU  and  also  the  quotations  from  Brown's 
book.  By  comparing  paragraphs  having  corresponding  numbers  the  reader  will 
see  the  striking  similarity  : 

Ingersoll  on  Lincoln. 

I. — He  was  severe  with  himself  and  for  that  reason  was  lenient  with  others. 
2. — He  appeared  to  apologize  for  being  kinder  than  his  fellows. 

3.  —  He  did  merciful  things  as  stealthily  as  others  commit  crimes. 

4. — He  said  and  did  the  noblest  words  and  deeds  with  that  charming  confu- 
sion, that  awkwardness  that  is  the  perfect  grace  of  modesty. 

5. — He  was  as  patient  as  destiny. 

6. — He  knew  no  fear  except  the  fear  of  doing  wrong. 

7.  —  Hating  slavery,  pitying  the  master,  seeking  to  conquer  not  persons  but 
prejudices  he  was  the  embodiment  of  self-denial,  the  courage,  the  hope,  and  the 
nobility  of  the  nation. 

8  — He  spoke  not  to  infiame,  not  to  upbraid,  but  to  convince. 

9. —  He  raised  his  hands  not  to  strike,  but  in  benediction. 

10. — He  longed  to  pardon.  He  loved  to  see  the  pearls  of  joy  on  the  cheeks 
of  a  wife  whose  husband  he  had  rescued  from  death. 

II.  — Lincoln  was  the  grandest  figure  of  the  fiercest  civil  war. 

12.—  He  is  the  gentlest  memory  of  our  world. 

Ingersoll  on  Paine. 

13. — If  to  love  your  fellow  men  more  than  self  is  goodness,  Thomas  Paine 
was  good. 

14. — If  to  be  in  advaft'  e  of  your  time,  to  be  a  pioneer  in  the  direction  of 
right,  is  greatness,  Thomas  Paine  was  great. 

15  — If  to  avow  your  principles  and  to  discharge  your  duty  in  the  presence  of 
death  is  heroic,  Thomas  Paine  was  a  hero. 

Brown  on  Rockefeller. 

I. — He  was  rigid  with  himself  and  so  easy  with  others. 

2. — He  is  inclined  to  apologize  for  being  kinder  than  his  associates. 

3. — He  does  merciful  things  as  much  under  cover  as  others  commit  crimes. 

4.  — He  says  the  noblest  words  and  does  the  noblest  deeds  with  the  most 
delightful  unconsciousness  and  perfect  grace  of  modesty. 

5.  —  He  is  as  patient  as  destiny. 

6. — He  is  acquainted  with  no  fear  except  the  fear  of  God  and  of  doing  wrong. 

7. — Hating  oppression,  pitying  the  oppressed,  seeking  to  overcome,  not  men, 
but  evil,  he  is  the  embodiment  of  the  self-denial,  the  courage,  the  hope,  the 
nobility  of  the  world. 

8. — He  speaks  not  to  anger,  not  to  accuse,  hut  to  convince. 

9- — He  raises  his  hands  not  to  wound,  but  in  benediction 

10. — He  longs  to  forgive.  He  loves  to  see  the  radiance  of  joy  on  the  cheek 
.of  those  he  has  been  able  to  relieve. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  619 

II. — Mr.  Rockefeller  is  the  grandest  figure  of  the  fiercest  industrial  combat 
that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

12.  — He  will  be  one  of  the  greatest  and  sweetest  memories. 

13. — If  to  love  others  more  than  one's  self  is  goodness,  John  D.  Rockefeller 
is  good. 

14. — If  to  live  in  advance  of  one's  time,  to  be  the  first  upon  the  grouud  in  the 
direction  of  progress,  is  greatness,  John  D.  Rochefeller  is  great. 

15. — If  to  follow  one's  faith  and  do  one's  duty  in  the  presence  of  threatening 
death  is  heroic,  John  D.  Rockefeller  is  a  hero. 


Claimant0  to  Divtniti?^ 


:o: 

The  amazing  imposture  and  elaborate  farce  recently  enacted  at  the  precious 
institution  known  as  the  Abode  of  Love  [the  establishment  of  "  Messiah  "  Pig- 
gott  at  Spaxlon,  England]  recalls  the  fact  that  there  have  been  many  similiar 
attempts  to  impose  upon  the  fanatical  and  credulous. 

Perhaps  the  movement  of  this  kind  which  attracted  the  greatest  attention  was 
that  initiated  by  Joanna  Soulh(ott  at  the  latter  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
This  extraordinary  woman  was  a  domestic  servant  in  the  early  part  of  her  career  : 
but  becoming  probably  a  victim  of  religious  mania,  she  announced  herself  as  a 
prophetess,  and  very  soon  by  dint  of  her  extraordinary  claims  and  writings,  she 
obtained  no  fewer  than  100,000  followers. 

Joanna  announced  in  all  seriousness  that  she  was  about  to  become  mother  of 
the  divine  Sliiloh,  and  named  October  19,  1814,  as  the  date  upon  which  the 
event  would  take  place.  As  showing  the  perfect  faith  her  followers  had  in  her 
claims,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  they  subscribed  for  and  bought  a  silver  cradle 
which  cost  ^200,  and  that  ;£^ioo  was  spent  in  papspoons.  As  the  date  ap- 
proached she  shut  herself  up  in  a  house  especially  bought  for  the  interesting, 
event,  and  the  fever  of  excitement  which  reigned  may  be  better  imagined  than> 
described,  for  Joanna  was  over  sixty  years  of  age.  Instead,  however,  of  the 
divine  spirit  appearing  the  venerable  prophetess  herself  died  on  the  29th  of 
October,  or  ten  days  after  the  date  she  had  herself  fixed  for  the  birth  of  the 
Messiah. 

But  Joanna  is  by  no  means  the  only  example  of  a  human  being  arrogating 
divine  powers  to  himself  or  herself. 

When  George  III.  was  King  one  Richard  Brothers,  a  master's  mate  in  the 
Royal  Navy,  suddenly  announced  that  he  was  *'  Prince  of  Hebrews  and  Ruler 
the  World,"  and  that,  therefore.  King  George  should  give  up  the  crown  in  his 
favor.  His  claim  met  with  scant  courtesy.  He  was  imprisoned  as  a  criminal 
lunatic — though  he  could  not  have  been  madder  than  the  poor  old  King — and 
kept  in  captivity  for  eleven  years. 

The  navy  seems  to  have  been  a  happy  hunting  ground  for  this  class  of  im|)0s- 
tor  at  this  period,  for  the  next  to  appear  was  '*  Zion  "  Ward,  an  ex-shoemaker, 
who  had  served  in  the  navy.  In  1828  he  had  the  impudence  to  announce 
himself  as   the  divine  Shiloh,   who   had  been   expected   by    Joanna   Southcott. 

People  were  credulous  then,  as  they  are  now,  and  "  Zion  "  got  quite  a  res- 
pectable following,  and  died  a  wealthy  man  some  years  after. — London  Answers. 


620  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


TWELVE  HUSBANDS  POISONED   IN   HUNGARIAN  TOWN. 

"  Kicking  Mule"  writes  : 
Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir  : — Please  find  attached  a  newspaper  cutting  reporting  twelve  poisoned 
husbands  at  one  place  in  Hungary.  This  much  for  the  land  where  they  have 
no  Moses  Harman  to  fight  for  women's  rights,  and  where  they  also  have  no 
divorce  laws.      What  a  bliss  married  hfe  must  be  there  ! 

"Vienna,  Sept.  i. — Twelve  women  were  arrested  in  Zenta,  Hungary,  to-  ay, 
charged  with  poisoning  their  husbands.  The  who'e  plot  was  discovered  by  a 
man  who  suspected  that  his  wife  was  trying  to  kill  him.  Believing  she  had 
placed  poison  in  his  soup,  he  compelled  his  wife  to  drmk  it,  and  she  died.  This 
started  an  investigation,  and  the  police  found  an  old  woman  named  Sivacky,  who 
confessed  that  she  had  sold  poison  to  several  women.  She  gave  the  names  of  a 
number,  who  are  charged  with  killing  their  husbands  to  marry  other  men.  The 
authorities  have  ordered  that  the  bodies  of  several  men  believed  to  have  been 
poisoned  by  their  wives,  be  exhumed  and  txamined.  Nine  husbands  are  now 
critically  ill  from  the  effects  of  poison." 


THE  KAISER'S  "IRONSIDES." 

The  Kaiser,  it  would  appear  from  a  speech  delivered  by  him  at  the  swearing 
in  of  recruits  for  the  Potsdam  garrison  on  Satur  lay,  is  desirous  of  raising  a 
corps  which  shall  be  swayed  by  the  spirit  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides.  According 
to  the  "  Lokalanzeiger,"  the  Kaiser  advanced  towards  the  altar  and,  pointing  to 
it,  said  : — "  You  see  here  an  altar  and  on  it  the  Cross,  the  symbal  of  all  Cliris- 
tians.  As  such,  you  have  sworn  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  colors,  and  1  hope 
and  wish  that  you  will  ever  be  mindful  of  this  oath.  As  I  stand  here  a  memorable 
episode  rises  before  my  eyes.  When  the  Emperor  Leopold  of  Austria  handed 
over  the  supreme  command  of  his  army  to  the  famous  Prince  Eugene,  and  gave 
to  the  latter  the  marshal's  baton.  Prince  Eugene  seized  the  crucifix  and  held  it 
aloft  with  the  words,  'This  shall  be  our  generalissimo.' 

"  I  expect  similar  sentiments  from  you.  1  want  pious  and  gallant  soldiers  in  my 
army,  not  mockers." 


PIGTAILS  AND   DISEASE,, 

London,  Saturday,  Oct.  21. — A  new  warnmg  note  to  women  who  go  auto- 
mobiling  has  been  sounded  at  an  inquest  at  Bradford  on  the  body  of  a  woman 
who  died  from  anthrax,  caused  by  wearing  artificial  hair  made  from  a  Chinese 
pigtail,  and  it  came  out  in  the  evidence  that  Chinese  pigtails  were  largely  imported 
for  the  purpose  of  making,  among  other  things,  fringe  nets  for  automobiling. 

The  Coroner  remarked  that  as  the  case  in  question  showed  how  serious  was 
lhe  danger  from  the  wearing  of  these  fringe  nets,  all  this  hair  ought  to  be 
bacteriologically  examined,  and  that,  in  fact,  this  would  be  done  now  at  the 
factory  where  the  fatal  case  of  anthrax  had  been  caused,  and  an  application 
would  be  made  at  the  Home  Office  for  an  order  requiring  special  precautions 
to  be  taken  at  all  factories  where  artificial  hair  was  made  up. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  621 


"bOCIALISTIC"  AND  "SOCIALISM." 

Editor  Secular  Thought. 

Sir  : — Apropos  of  your  editorial  entitled  "  Socialistic  Progress,"  in  your  issue 
No.  17,  allow  me  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  danger  of  confusing  "  Socialistic  " 
with  "Socialism."  Society  might  advance  in  Socialistic  progress  and  still  be  as 
far  away  from  Socialism  as  ever.  Take,  for  instance,  the  trusts  and  corxorations. 
These  organizations  are  socialistic,  hut  they  are  the  opposite  of  Socialism. 
Socialistic  means  the  co-operation  of  capital  and  men  in  business  or  industries 
for  profit.  This  profit  is  derived  from  those  who  are  outside  these  organizations. 
Socialism  means  the  cooperation  of  wealth  and  men  in  the  producion  of  com- 
modities for  use,  without  any  profit  whatever  to  any  one  individual  more  than  to 
any  others  ;  and  since  Socialism  includes  all  mankind,  so  would  there  be  no  one 
outside  to  derive  profits  from  !     Can  you  see  the  difference  between  the  two  ? 

Fraternally  yours,  .  J.  S.  Odegaard 


DESERVES  TO  BE  UNFROCKED. 

The  good  sisters  of  St.  Joseph's  Episcopal  church,  Jersey  City,  have  been  in 
the  habit  for  the  last  few  months,  during  the  absence  of  the  rector,  of  dispensing 
with  their  hats  at  church  service.  Rev.  Dr.  Stoddart,  just  returned  from  a  long 
vacation  in  Europe,  was  shocked  at  the  sight  of  his  uncovered  sisters,  so  he 
pretended  to  have  found  in  the  dictum  of  the  bow-legged,  hooked-nosed  bachelor 
Paul,  in  r  Corinthians,  chap  7,  the  declaration  :  "The  glory  of  a  woman  is  her 
hair."  Had  there  been  such  a  text,  which  to  the  credit  of  Paul  there  is  not,  it 
would  have  proved  that  he  ignored  brains,  intellect,  modesty,  chastity  and 
philanthropy,  and  every  other  virtue,  to  glorify  the  hair,  just  as  the  great  strength 
of  Sampson  was  ascribed  to  his  hair  instead  of  his  muscles.  Many  a  simpleton 
has  sported  long  hair,  hoping  thereby  to  gain  strength  as  did  the  B  ble  Hercules. 

The  passage  the  dominie  misquoted  will  be  found  in  i  Cor.  12:15: 

"  But  if  a  woman  have  long  hair,  it  is  a  glory  to  her;  for  her  hair  is  given  to 
her  for  a  covering." 

In  saving  "  a  woman's  hair  was  given  her  for  a  covering,"  Paul  certainly  ig- 
nored any  other  covering. 

The  preachers  have  a  habit  of  misquoting  to  carry  some  favorite  measure, 
knowing  the  average  church  attendent  will  accept  their  false  rendering  without 
investigation. 

Should  the  lawyer  practise  the  same  imposition  on  jurors  in  quoting  law,  he 
would  be  disbarred  by  the  judge,  and  justly.  Should  not  a  priest  be  unfrocked 
for  a  s^imilar  vile  practice? — I'rogressive  Thinker. 


BASEBALL  IN  THE  BIBLE. 
Somebody  has  found  the  origin  of  baseball  in  the  scriptures,  thus  : 
The  Devil  was  the  first  coacher.     He  coached  Eve.     She  stole  first.     Adanv 

stole  second.     When   Isaac   met   Rebecca  she    was   walking   with  the   pitcher. 

Samson  struck  out  a  good  many  times  when   he  beat  the  Philistines.      Moses 

made  his  first  run  when  he  slew  the  Egyptian.     Cain  made  a  base  hit  when  he 

killed  Abel.     Abraham  made  a  sacrifice.     The  prodigal  son  made  a  home-run. 

David  was  a   long-distance   thrower,  and   Moses  shut  out  the  Egyptians  at  the 

Red  Sea. 


622  SECULAR    THOUaHT. 

I.EST  WE  FORGET. 

Some  of  us  who  are  especially  proud  of  our  Puritan  ancestry  may  he  interested 
in  the  following,  a  copy  of  a  letter  in  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society  :  When  we  see  the  spirit  of  worship  as  illustrated  by  the  Rev.  Cotton 
Mather,  we  can  understand  that,  while  there  may  be  fewer  to-day  to  "do  the 
Lord  great  service,"  there  are  more  willing  to  aid  humanity. 

"  To  the  Aged  and  Beloved  John  Higginson  : 

"  There  be  now  at  sea  a  shipp  (for  our  friend  Elias  Holcroft  of  London  did 
advise  me  by  the  last  packet  that  it  would  be  some  time  in  August)  called  the 
Welcome,  which  has  aboard  it  a  hundred  or  more  of  the  hereicks  and  malig- 
nants  called  Quakers,  with  William  Penn  the  scauip  at  the  head  of  them.  'I'he 
General  Court  has  accordingly  given  secret  orders  to  Master  Malachi  Haxett  of 
the  brig  Porpoise  to  waylay  said  Welcome  as.  near  the  end  of  Cod  as  may  be 
and  make  captives  of  the  Penn  and  his  ungodly  crew,  so  that  the  Lord  may  be 
glorified  and  not  mocked  on  the  soil  of  this  new  country  with  the  heathen 
worshipps  of  these  people.  Much  spoil  may  l>e  made  by  selling  the  whole  lot 
to  Barbadoes,  where  slaves  fetch  good  prices  in  rumme  and  sugar,  and  we  shall 
not  only  do  the  Lord  great  service  by  punishing  the  wicked,  but  shall  make 
great  gayne  (gain),  for  his  ministers  and  people. 

"Yours  in  the  bonds  of  Christ,  "  Cotton  Mather." 


ONE  ON  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

The  story  is  told  in  the  Springfield  Republican  that  Andrew  Carnegie  asked 
a  young  man  who  was  about  to  become  a  student  at  Jena  to  get  for  him  an 
autograph  of  Professor  Haeckel.  When  it  arrived  it  read  thus  :  "  Ernst  Haeckel 
gratefully  acknowledges  the  receipt  from  Andrew  Carnegie  of  a  Zutupt  micros- 
cope for  the  biological  laboratory  of  the  Jena  University."  Mr.  Carnegie  made 
good,  admiring  the  scientist  more  than  ever. 


WICKED,  ANYHOW^ 

A  boy  of  straight  Puritan  extraction  was  called  one  day  by  his  mother  from 
the  yard  where  he  was  playing  with  some  other  boys.  In  a  tone  of  mingled 
sadness  and  severity,  she  said  :  "  Noble,  my  son,  I  never  thought  to  hear  you 
use  a  swear  word."  "  VVhy  mother,"  said  the  boy,  "  I  didn't  use  any  swear 
word.  I  only  said  the  devil.  Nobody  thinks  that's  swearing."  "  I  don't  care," 
cried  the  mother,  quickly ;  "  it's  making  light  of  sacred  things." — Hartford 
Times. 


TED'S  BEGINNING. 

The  new  assistant  rector  was  trying  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  his  young 
son  the  difference  between  his  own  position  and  that  of  his  superior.  "  Now, 
Ted,"  he  ended,  "  I  want  you  to  remember  to  be  very  polite  to  the  rector.  We 
are  strangers,  and  I  am  only  the  assistant  ;  it  becomes  us  to  be  extremely  cour- 
teous.    Some  day,  perhaps,  I  shall  be  rector  myself" 

The  next  day  the  boy  was  walking  with  his  father  when  they  met  the  dignified 
rector. 

"Hello  I"  promptly  began  Ted.  "Pop's  been  tellin'  me  'bout  you— how 
you're  the  real  thing,  an'  he's  just  the  hired  man  an'  we  got  to  knuckle  under. 
But  some  day  he  may  be  It  himself,  an'  then  you'll  see  !  " —  Woma^i's  Home 
Compamon. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  623 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  JAP  \NESE  WAR. 

After  all,  the  true  lesson  of  this  war  will  be  the  religious  warning  it  will 
ultimately  enforce.  It  is  a  knock  down  blow  to  the  national  professions  of 
Christianity.  The  churches  and  their  political  allies  are  forever  telling  us  that 
nothing  but  their  prayers  and  incantations  can  inspire  courage,  duty,  virtue,  and 
honor  in  nations.  The  Gospel  of  Peace  has  much  to  answer  for  in  allowing 
itself  to  become  the  watchword  and  battle-cry  of  tyrants,  pirates,  and  slave- 
drivers.  Even  a  hundred  years  ago  our  national  hero  was  taught  to  believe  that 
his  duty  toward  his  God  «vas  "to  hate  a  Frenchman  as  he  would  the  Devil  !" 
And  the  morbid  fanatic  who  involved  us  in  the  Soudan  believed  himself  to  hold 
private  miercourse  with  his  Maker,  and  had  from  him  personal  missions  unknown 
to  the  governments  he  served  History  can  show  no  contrast  more  flagrant  than 
that  of  the  brutal  bigotry  of  Russia,  with  its  ferocious  fetichism  like  that  of  a 
Dahomey  savage,  its  blasphemous  mummeries,  and  its  horrid  execrations,  as 
compared  with  the  human  and  social  religion  of  patriotism  and  family  that 
animates  Japan.  No  God,  no  heaven,  no  sacraments,  no  priest  led  the  Japanese 
soldier  to  battle.  To  him  the  intricate  machinery  of  theology  is  alike  irrational 
and  absurd.  He  fights  and  dies  for  his  Mikado,  his  ancestors,  for  Bushido,  for 
Japan. — Frederic  Harrison,  in  Positivist  Review. 


THE  M.\TRIARCH ATE  SYSTEM. 

A  topsy-turvy  system  of  home  rule  is  in  existence  among  the  Navins,  one  of 
the  most  exclusive  tribes  of  India.  There  the  mother  is  the  head  of  the  family. 
The  Navins  live  along  the  coistof  the  Indian  Ocean,  from  Cape  Comorin 
northward  to  Mangalore,  and  are  the  aristocrats  of  the  tribes.  They  are  proud, 
they  are  strong,  despising  wounds,  scorning  weakness,  and  they  are  declared  by 
students  to  be  the  most  nearly  perf.ct  race  physically  in  all  the  world.  Chris- 
tian and  Mussulman  have  made  converts  at  many  points  along  the  coast  from 
the  Ghats  to  the  ocean,  but  the  institute  of  the  matriarchate  has  remained  un- 
shaken. The  Mussulmans  have  adopted  the  system  after  intermarrying,  and 
recognized  the  inheritance  in  the  female  line,  establishing  the  mother  and  the 
maternal  uncle  as  the  heads  of  the  family. — London  Globe. 


THE  GEOGRAPHY  LESSON. 

A  teacher  in  one  of  our  public  schools  was  giving  a  lesson  upon  latitude  and 
its  effect  upon  chmate. 

"  Now,  who  can  tell  me,"  she  inquired,  "  why  it  grows  colder  as  we  travel 
toward  the  north?"  A  youngster  cried  out,  "  It's  because  you  get  further  away 
from  the  creator." — Philadelphia  Ledger. 


"BEFORE  MARCONI." 

An  Egyptologist  and  an  Assyriologist  were  disputing  about  the  relative 
advancement  of  the  two  ancient  peoples  whom  they  were  studying. 

"  Why,  sir,"  cried  the  Egyptologist,  '*  we  find  remains  of  wires  in  Egypt,  which 
prove  ihey  understood  electricity  !  " 

"  Pshaw  !"  answered  the  Assyriologist,  "we  don't  find  any  wires  in  Assyria, 
and  that  shows  that  they  understood  wireless  telegraphy  !  " 


It  is  the  wild  curiosity  of  our  nature  to  grasp  at  and  anticipate  future  things^ 
as  if  we  had  not  enough  to  do  to  digest  the  present. — Montuigne. 


624  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


BOOKS  THAT  YOU  SHOULD  BUY 


The    Age  of   Reason.     By  Thomas  Paine.     25c      Presentation    Edition,  $2  00. 

The  Bible.     By  John  E.  Remsburg.   Large  handsome  volume,  500  pages,  $1.25. 

The  Riddle  of  the  Universe.     By  E.  Haeckel,  transl'd.  by  J.  McCabe,     $1.50. 

Bible  Myths,  and  their  Parallels  in  Other  Religions.      By  J.  W.  Doane.      $2.50. 

Adam's  Diary.      By  Mark  Twain.      Finely  Illustrated  by  F.  Strothmann.    $1  00. 

The   Jefferson    Bible.     Selected  from  New 'i'est.  by  Thomas  Jefferson.     $1.00. 

Four  Hundred  Years   of   Freethought.     Illust'd.     By  Samuel  Putnam.     $5.00 

Infidel    Death    Beds.      By  G.  W.  Foote.      25c. 

Self  Contradictions  of  the  Bible.     By  W.  H.  Burr.      15c. 

Ingersoll    As    He  Is.      Refutation  of  Slanders.     By  E.  M.  Macdonald.       25c. 

God    and    My    Neighbor.      By  Robert   Blatchford.     Paper,  50c. ;  cloth,  $1.00. 

Confucius  ;  his  Life  and  Moral  Maxims.      By  M.  R.  K.  Wright.      25c. 

Woman  :  her  Glory,  her  Shame,  and  her  God.     By  Saladin      2  vols.,  cl.,  $2.50. 

God    and    His    Book.     By  Saladin.     $1.25. 

The   Confessional.     By  Saladin.     25c. 

The    Earth's    Beginning.     By  Sir  Robert  S.  Ball.     Many  illustrations.     $2.00. 


CHEAP  REPRINTS  OF  THE 

RATIONALIST  PRESS  ASSOCIATION. 

Each  with  Portrait.  Finely  printed  on  good  paper. 

Paper,  25c.  ;  cloth  (except  4,  6,  14,  15),  50c. 

1  Huxley's    Lectures    and    Essays    (a    Selection).       With    Autobiography. 

2  The    Pioneers    of   Evolution.     By  Edward  Clodd. 

3  Modern    Science   and    Modern    Thought.      By  Samuel  Laing.     Illustrated. 

4  Literature    and    Dogma.     By  Matthew  Arnold. 

5  The  Riddle    of    the  Universe.     By  Prof.  Ernst  Haeckel. 

6  Education  :   Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical.     By  Herbert  Spencer. 

7  The  Evolution  of  the  Idea  of  God.     By  Grant  Allen. 

8  Human  Origins.     By  Samuel  Laing.     Revised  by  Ed.  Clodd.     Illustrations. 

9  The  Service  of  Man.     By  J.  Cotter  Morison.     Introduc.  bv  Fred.  Harrison. 

10  Tyndall's  Lectures  and  Essays.     A  Selection.      With  Autobiography. 

11  The  Origin  of  Species.     By  Charles  Darwin. 

12  Emerson — Addresses  and  Essavs.    A  Selection.    Intro,  by  Dr.  Stanton  Coit. 

13  On    Liberty.     By  John  Stuart  Mill.     With   Biographical  Sketch. 

14  The  Story  of  Creation.     By  Edward  Clodd.     Tables  and  Illustrations. 

15  An  Agnostic's  Apology.     By  Sir  Leslie  Stephen. 

16  The  Life  of  Jesus.     By  Ernest  Renan. 

17  A  Modern  Zoroastrian.     By  Samuel  Laing. 

18  Herbert  Spencer's  Philosophy — Introduction  to.      By  Prof.  Hudson. 

19  Three  Essays  on  Religion.     By  John  Stuart  Mill. 

20  The  Creed  of  Christendom.    By  W.  R.  Greg.     Introduction  by  Dr.  Sullivan. 

21  The  Apostles.     By  Ernest  Renan.     New  Translation  by  W.  G.  Hutchison. 

Order  from    SECULAR    THOUGHT,  Toronto,  Canada. 


SEC  ULAE  THOUGHT 

A  Fortnightly  Journal  of  Rational  Criticism  in 
Politics,  Science,  and  Religion. 

J.  5.  ELLIS,  Editor.  NEW  SERIES.  C.  n.  ELLIS,  Bus.  Mfr. 

Vol.  XXXI.  No.  23.  TORONTO,  DEC.  23,  1905.  loc;  $2  per  ann 

(Ebrtetianiti?  an&  (ton5uct 

:<): 

What  little  recognition  the  idea  of  obligation  to  the  public 
obtains  in  modern  morality  is  derived  from  Greek  and  Roman 
sources,  not  from  Christian  ;  as,  even  in  the  morality  of  pri- 
vate life,  whatever  exists  of  magnanimity,  high-mindedness, 
personal  dignity,  even  the  sense  of  honor,  is  derived  from  the 
purely  human,  not  the  religious,  part  of  our  education,  and 
never  could  have  grown  out  of  a  standard  of  ethics  in  which 
the  only  worth  professedly  recognized  is  that  of  obedience. — 
John  Stuart  Mill. 


EDITORIAL    NOTES. 

''  CHRIST  "  AND  CHRISTMAS. 

While  millions  of  nominal  Christians  are  stuffing  themselves  with 
turkey  and  plum  pudding,  wine,  beer,  and  whisky,  and  other  **  good 
cheer,"  all  "  to  the  greater  glory  of  God,"  and  in  honor  of  the  1905th 
anniversary  of  the  alleged  birthday  of  that  same  God,  or  of  his  virgin- 
born  son,  how  few  stop  to  inquire  what  foundation  there  is  for  the  story 
on  which  their  present-day  celebration  is  based. 

How  many  have  heard  that  the  season  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
considering  the  alleged  circumstances,  is  an  impossible  one  ? 

How  many  have  heard  that  the  means  of  fixing  the  date  of  the  birth 
are  so  uncertain  and  conflicting,  that  even  the  best  Christian  authorities 
differ  widely  in  their  estimates  of  it,  the  difference  amounting  not  only 
to  weeks  and  months,  but  to  many  years. 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  says  :  **  Christians  count  one  hundred 


626  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

and  thirty-three  contrary  opinions  of  different  authors  concerning  the 
year  the  Messiah  appeared  on  earth — many  of  them  celebrated  writers." 
(Art.  Chronology.) 

How  many  Christians  have  heard  that,  outside  of  the  New  Testament 
narratives,  Jesus  and  his  disciples  are  utterly  unknown  to  authentic 
secular  history  ? 

How  many  are  there  who  stay  to  think  that  the  story  bears  all  the 
ear-marks  of  myth  and  legend  ? 

No  rational  and  unprejudiced  man  can  read  the  Gospel  narratives,  we 
think,  without  being  impressed  with  the  utterly  unreal  and  artificial 
character  of  the  whole  of  the  incidents  connected  with  the  life  of  the 
reputed  Savior  of  Man,  the  promised  Messiah. 

It  is  easy  enough  for  a  man  like  Goldwin  Smith  to  assume  the  exist- 
ence of  Jesus  as  a  historical  fact  needing  no  definite  evidence,  to  dismiss 
the  miracles  as  mere  additions  to  an  originally  true  story,  and  to  laud 
the  moral  sentiments  attributed  to  Jesus  as  the  most  sublime  ever  given 
to  mankind. 

The  fact  is,  there  is  no  consistency  in  such  a  method  of  'dealing  with 
the  foundation  of  the  Christian  religion,  any  more  than  there  would  be 
in  so  dealing  with  that  of  any  other  religion.  In  that  case,  we  should 
have,  not  one  only,  but  probably  fifty  Saviors  or  Messiahs. 

It  is  impossible  to  separate  the  miraculous  from  the  life  of  Jesus 
without  destroying  the  whole  fabric.  Jesus  has  been  created  a  god  on 
the  strength  of  his  alleged  miracles ;  to-day  his  miracles  are  believed 
because  he  is  believed  to  be  a  god. 

The  birth,  life,  and  death  of  Jesus  are  all  so  interwoven  with  miracle, 
that  if  miracles  be  disbelieved  Jesus  disappears. 

Miracle  is  the  ear-mark  of  myth.  Myths  are  all  ancient,  of  course, 
because  present-day  intelligence  does  not  permit  belief  in  present-day 
miracles.  Intelligent  men  understand  priestly  trickery  better  than  they 
did  formerly,  and  only  believe  the  miracles  of  nature  and  science. 

Ignorant  Catholics,  Dowieites,  Salvationists,  Eddyites,  Spiritualists, 
and  many  well-educated  if  thoughtless  members  of  even  the  orthodox 
churches,  are  firm  believers  in  present-day  miracles  ;  superstition  has 
been  born  and  bred  into  them  ;  and  while  this  is  so,  the  Jesus  myth,  as 
well  as  other  myths,  will  certainly  survive. 

And,  while  the  Jesus  myth  survives,  the  man  of  prayers  and  sermons 
— and  collections — will  find  a  soft  snap  with  the  pious  women  and  the 
hypocritical  men  of  his  church. 

Think  of  the  birth  of  Jesus— the  Miraculous  Conception. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  627 


Why  do  not  men  believe  in  vir^jin  births  to-day  ?  Why  do  they  be- 
lieve such  a  birth  occurred  nineteen  centuries  ago,  when  all  we  know 
about  it  is  the  story  of  some  unknown  writers  who  lived  long  after  the 
alleged  event  ? 

Look  at  the  "  Star  of  Bethlehem,"  blazing  like  a  50,000-candle-power 
arc  light  just  over  an  open  stable.  To  show  the  extent  to  which  this 
story  is  believed,  we  have  had  learned  astronomers  putting  out  a  theory 
that  the  '*  star  "  was  a  conjunction  of  Jupiter  and  Venus  ! 

As  if  by  any  possible  means  a  star  could  stand  as  an  index  over  any 
locality  or  building  on  the  earth's  surface,  or  move  so  as  to  guide  tra- 
vellers across  a  desert  ! 

Go  to  the  Temple,  and  hear  the  infant  Jesus — Jesus,  who  was  never 
even  reported  to  have  written  a  word  in  his  whole  life — disputing  with 
the  doctors  learned  in  the  law ! 

Go  to  the  Feast  at  Cana,  and  see  Jesus  converting  the  kegs  of  water 
into  wine ;  to  the  Raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead  ;  to  the  feeding  of 
five  thousand  with  two  small  loaves  and  five  small  fishes ;  to  the  Sea  of 
Genesareth,  and  see  the  storm  calmed  and  Jesus  walking  on  the  water  ; 
to  Gadara,  and  see  the  bedevilled  swine  being  drowned. 

Go  to  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  watch  the  Agony  and  Bloody 
Sweat ;  to  Calvary,  and  hear  Jesus  tell  the  Good  Thief,  '*  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise,"  when  he  must  have  known  that  he  had 
to  *'  descend  to  hell  "  for  three  days  ;  and  finally  to  Mount  Olivet,  and 
watch  the  risen  Josus  mount  to  the  clouds  on  his  way  from  hell  to 
heaven. 

In  the  whole  range  of  literature,  no  narrative  can  be  found  which 
shows  more  marks  of  fiction  and  less  similarity  to  true  history  or  real 
biography.  Even  the  .utterances  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  possess 
a  stilted  and  strained  style,  and  have  none  of  the  characteristics  of  a 
real  address.  They  are  evidently  a  mass  of  sayings  current  among  the 
ethical  teachers  of  the  world,  and  which  have  been  collected  and  revised 
probably  many  times  before  being  put  into  their  present  shape. 

But,  even  if  we  could  accept  the  existence  of  Jesus  as  a  historical 
fact,  how  many  Christians  are  there  who  even  attempt  to  analyze  his 
utterances,  to  reduce  them  to  concrete  and  consistent  shape,  and  to  put 
them  into  practice  ? 

How  many  are  there  who,  like  Goldwin  Smith,  take  those  parts  they 
imagine  to  be  good,  pronounce  them  to  be  the  basis  of  "  the  true  reli- 
gion of  Jesus,"  and  reject  the  remainder  as  spurious  ? 

But  how  many  Christians  have  there  been,  how  many  are  there  to- 


628  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

day,  who  accept  this  remainder  as  being  the  direct  commands  of  Jesus, 
and  the  divine  authority  for  the  vilest  persecutions  their  power  enables 
them  to  carry  out  ?     Who  shall  say  which  view  is  right  ? 

Is  it  not  about  time  that  Christians  should  begin  to  read  their  Bible — 
to  read  it  with  some  intelligence,  and  to  find  in  it  all  the  varied  and 
conflicting  utterances  that  have  produced  all  the  sectarian  quarrels  of 
Christendom,  and  will  continue  to  produce  them  while  it  is  accepted  as 
an  inspired  work  with  divine  authority  ? 

REVIVALISTS  TORREY  AND  ALEXANDER  IN  TORONTO. 

Bob  Torrey  and  Charley  Alexander,  the  notorious  revivalists  ('*  Bob  In- 
gersoll  and  Tom  Paine,  the  notorious  infidels,"  is  the  way  Torrey  speaks 
of  two  men  immeasurably  his  superiors),  are  to  open  a  new  crusade  in 
favor  of  Christianity  in  Toronto  on  the  31st  of  December.  Toronto  has 
been  a  profitable  quarry  for  the  peripatetic  Bible-banging  soul-saver  and 
sky-pilot  for  many  years  past,  but,  though  there  has  been  an  almost 
unceasing  succession  of  them,  the  problems  of  crime,  vice,  disease,  and 
insanity  seem  even  further  away  from  solution  than  they  ever  were. 

Torrey  arrived  at  New  York  on  the  8th  of  December,  having  finished 
a  four  years'  tour  of  the  world,  during  which  he  '*  revivalled  "  in  China, 
Japan,  Australia,  and  Great  Britain.  He  has  doubtless  had  a  glorious 
holiday,  and  a  profitable  one  as  well.  Though  he  makes  no  statement 
as  to  the  '*  simoleons  "  he  pocketed — that  is  a  matter  between  him  and 
his  god  and  what  stands  to  him  for  a  conscience — he  is  fairly  precise  as 
to  the  soul-saving  part  of  his  venture.  He  cannot  guess  the  number  of 
attendants  at  his  meetings,  he  says,  but  a  cablegram  he  had  just  received 
informed  him  that  "  the  number  of  those  registered  in  the  different 
churches  after  our  services  is  102,000,  including  82,000  in  Great  Britain. 
In  London,  17,000  were  converted." 

As  Torrey  bargained  for  a  subscription  of  at  least  ^£17,000  before  he 
would  consent  to  open  his  meetings  at  Albert  Hall,  and  as  that  sum  was 
raised,  it  would  seem  that  it  just  costs  about  "  one  pound  a  nob,"  as  the 
Cockneys  say,  to  convert  a  pagan  Londoner  to  Torreyized  Christianity. 
Why  do  not  a  few  Christian  multimillionaires  like  Rockefeller,  Morgan, 
etc.,  subscribe  five  or  six  millions  and  let  Torrey  convert  all  the  pagans 
of  London  at  one  lick  ?  What  a  city  it  would  be  1  All  the  saloons, 
police-courts,  prisons,  theatres,  brothels,  and  workhouses  converted  into 
churches  and  Sunday-schools  1  Why,  the  saving  on  these  items  would 
repay  the  outlay  in  less  than  a  year.     And  what  a  demand  there  would 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  629 

be  for  preachers,  and  Suiiday-school  teachers,   and   missionaries  !     But 
where  would  the  revivalist  come  in  ? 


TORREY'S  CREED. 

If  Torrey  has  really  converted  102,000  pagans  to  his  Christianity  in 
four  years  (though  we  suspect  they  were  mostly  just  as  good  Christians 
before  as  after  conversion),  it  would  require  a  good  many  Torreys  to 
make  much  impression  upon  the  j  opulation  of  the  world.  Apart  from 
the  increasing  numbers,  the  average  births  in  the  world's  present  popu- 
lation in  four  years  number  about  150,000,000.  Of  these,  at  least  two- 
thirds  are  those  of  non-Christians.  So  that  each  of  Torrey's  converts 
is  offset  by  999  non-Christian  new-comers  into  this  paradise  of  fakers. 
At  this  rate,  the  revivalist  may  convert  the  world  in  how  many  years  ? 
And  when  it  is  converted,  will  it  really  be  less  full  of  Christian  parasites 
and  fakers  than  it  is  to-day  ?     We  trow  not. 

We  may  form  some  estimate  as  to  what  the  answer  should  be,  how- 
ever, if  we  look  at  Torrey's  stock-in-trade.  Doubtless  thousands  of  men 
and  women  have  listened  to  the  clap-trap  of  the  preacher,  the  songs  of 
Alexander,  the  choruses  of  the  choir,  and  their  own  singing  and  groans 
with  the  idea  that  they  have  had  an  "  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
We  need  not  dispute  this.  We  do  not  know  anything  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  do  not  know  how  he  or  it  pours  out  or  pours  in. 

But  when  we  look  at  what  Torrey  actually  preaches,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
wherein  it  differs  from  the  product  of  the  ordinary  gospel-monger,  nor 
can  we  see  what  ground  there  is  for  expecting  any  better  results  from  it. 
Here  is  a  copy  of  "  A  Little  Sermon,"  published  by  Torrey  in  the  Daily 
Mirror  of  London,  England,  on  beginning  his  campaign  there  : 

"  I  can  sum  up  my  creed  in  a  very  few  words.  I  believe  in  the  Word  of 
God.  I  believe  in  the  Bible  as  God's  absolutely  reliable  revelation  of  Himself 
to  me,  and  I  believe  in  the  power  of  the  Bible. 

"  I  know  the  old  book  is  not  worn  out.  I  know  the  old  book  is  just  what 
this  old,  perishing  world  needs  to-day  just  as  much  as  it  ever  needed  it,  and 
when  men  stick  by  the  book  and  distrust  their  own  opinions  and  everybody 
else's  opinions,  and  just  approach  God's  truth  as  He  has  revealed  it  in  His 
Word,  it  meets  the  need  of   the  hour. 

"  I  believe  that  there  is  power  in  that  blood  {sic)  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  the 
vilest  sinner  ;  and  in  a  moment,  as  soon  as  he  accepts  Christ,  that  shed  blood 
will  blot  out  every  sin,  and  make  his  record  as  white  in  God's  sight  as  that  of 
the  purest  saint  in  glory. 

"  T  believe  in  prayer.  I  know  God  answers  prayer  ;  it  is  no  theory  with  me. 
I  know  God  does  definitely,  in  answer  to  prayer,  the  very  thing  that  you  ask 
Him  to  do.     I  know  it ;  it  is  no  guesswork. 


630  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

"  I  am  not  able  to  explain  the  philosophy  of  it,  but  I  do  not  care  anything 
for  the  philosophy.     What  I  am  concerned  with  is  not  philosophy,  but  facts. 

"  I  know  that  when  a  company  of  God's  people — it  does  not  need  to  be  every- 
body in  the  community  that  professes  to  be  a  Christian — but  when  even  a  small 
company  of  God's  people  get  really  right  with  God,  and  begin  to  cry  to  God 
for  an  outpouring  of  His  Spirit  in  mighty  power,  I  know  God  hears. 

"  I  believe  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     That  is  my  creed." 

So  that,  after  all,  Torrey  and  Alexander  have  nothing  new  to  give  us 
— not  even  a  new  style.  It  is  Moody  and  Sankey  over  again.  The  same 
old  Bible,  the  same  old  blood,  the  same  old  prayer,  the  same  old  *'  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  the  same  old  collection. 

There  is  no  hint  of  moral  teaching  in  the  whole  business.  Rather,  we 
should  say,  it  is  the  apotheosis  of  immorality.  Indeed,  if  justice  were 
done,  we  think  Torrey  should  be  charged  with  immoral  teaching.  He 
beats  Fagin.  Fagin  certainly  taught  the  boys  how  to  pick  pockets,  but 
he  instilled  into  them  also  a  wholesome  dread  of  the  policeman. 

Torrey  removes  all  restraint  upon  the  vices  of  his  converts.  What- 
ever crimes  a  man  may  have  committed,  "in  a  moment,  as  soon  as  he 
accepts  Christ,  that  shed  blood  will  blot  out  every  sin,  and  make  his 
record  as  white  in  God's  sight  as  that  of  the  purest  saint  in  glory." 

Such  teaching  should  render  a  man  liable  to  prosecution  and  punish- 
ment for  encouraging  vice  and  crime. 

And  what  has  been  the  effect  of  such  teaching  ?  Let  Torrey  himself 
answer.  **  I  know  the  old  book  is  just  what  this  old  perishing  world 
needs  to-day  just  as  much  as  ever  it  needed  it."  That  is  to  say,  after 
nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  soul-saving,  the  world  is  just  as  bad  and 
needs  the  soul-saver  just  as  badly  as  ever.  And  with  such  teaching,  this 
will  continue  to  be  the  case. 

:o: 


RAILWAY  SLAUGHTER  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  United  States  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  just  issued 
its  statement  of  the  railway  accidents  in  the  United  States  during  the 
last  fiscal  year,  which  shows  that  537  passengers  and  3,261  employes 
were  killed  and  that  10,040  passengers  and  45,126  employes  were  injured 
on  the  railroads — an  increase  of  117  passengers  killed  and  1,863  injured 
and  2,160  employes  injured,  but  a  decrease  of  106  employes  killed. 

Thus  the  railway  companies  of  the  United  States  have  to  answer  for 
the  slaughter  of  3,798  persons  during  one  year  and  the  injury  of  55,166 
others — a  total  of  58,964  casualties.  With  such  a  record  as  this  for  a 
year  of  peace,  may  we  not  ask,  Is  not  a  considerable  amount  of  ignor- 


SECULAR    THOUGHT.  631 

ance  or  hypocrisy  involved  in  the  objections  to  warfare  on  the  ground  of 
its  cruel  and  bloody  character  ?  Why,  the  railways  kill  an  average  bat- 
talion every  six  weeks,  and  maim  more  than  a  full  regiment  every  week. 
Only  a  first-class  war  could  exceed  this. 

Then  look  at  the  destruction  of  property.  Collisions  numbered  6,224 
during  the  year  (nearly  120  per  week  !),  entailing  a  money  loss  of  nearly 
$5,000,000,  and  5,371  derailments  (over  100  per  week  !)  caused  the  loss 
of  another  $5,000,000  ;  a  total  of  11,595  accidents  (nearly  32  per  day  !) 
with  a  money  loss  of  about  $10,000,000. 

When  it  is  considered  that  most  of  these  accidents  could  have  been 
prevented  by  easily  carried  out  provisions,  it  seems  incredible  that  the 
men  who  are  responsible  for  the  waste  of  life  and  property  should  allow 
it  to  continue,  and  that  the  sufferers  should  longer  submit  to  it. 

That  "  corporations  have  no  souls  "  is  an  aphorism  that  seems  amply 
justified  by  these  records ;  but  we  think  some  attempt  should  be  made 
to  find  out  if  it  is  not  possible  to  develop  souls  in  them  by  holding  their 
managers  personally  and  criminally  responsible  for  the  immense  loss  of 
life  their  bad  management  causes.  This  appears  to  us  to  be  the  only 
way  that  contains  any  promise  of  the  inauguration  of  a  better  state  of 

things. 

:o:^ 

"NEVER  HEARD  OF  A  GOD." 

Rev.  S.  G.  Inman,  a  minister  of  the  **  Christian  "  Church  at  Monte- 
rey, Mexico,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  a  village  of  a  thousand 
souls  exists  in  Mexico  the  inhabitants  of  which  have  never  heard  of  a 
god.  Nestling  in  a  deep  valley,  25  miles  from  Saltillo,  and  shutofif  from 
the  outer  world  by  high  and  almost  impassable  cliffs,  the  Indians  have 
Uved  for  generations  still  worshipping  their  stone  and  wooden  images, 
and  **  utterly  unlearned  in  everything  pertaining  to  a  Supreme  Being." 

Mr.  Inman  discovered  the  village  in  the  course  of  a  journey  to  Sal- 
tillo. Coming  to  a  deep  cut  in  the  mountains,  he  followed  it,  and  finally 
reached  '*  Santo  Domingo,"  as  the  village  is  named  by  its  inhabitants, 
though  how  such  a  name  came  to  be  acquired  by  a  place  where  even  a 
god  is  unknown  the  villagers  could  not  say. 

White  men,  however,  they  had  seen,  if  not  gods,  and  Mr.  Inman  was 
cordially  received  and  hospitably  entertained.  If  they  were  not  Chris- 
tians, at  least  they  were  civilized  ;  if  they  knew  nothing  of  religious  zeal 
and  persecution,  they  understood  charity  and  hospitality. 

Then,  finding  through  an  interpreter  who  accompanied  him,  that  the 


632  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


people  really  could  not  understand  his  talk  about  inscrutable  beings  and 
things,  he  began  to  wish  he  could  teach  them,  but  acknowledges  that  he 
had  not  gall  enough  to  make  the  attempt  on  this  his  first  visit.  He  will 
make  arrangements  for  accomplishing  this  object  at  some  future  time. 
Alas,  poor  Indians  ! 

AA^e  should  like  Mr.  Inman  to  tell  us  how  much  better  it  will  be  for 
these  Indians  to  worship  or  pray  to  his  god  than  to  the  gods  they  now 
possess.  So  far  as  he  or  any  one  else  knows,  the  stone  and  wooden  gods 
can  do  as  much  good  for  man  as  any  god  that  has  ever  been  heard  of. 

What  better  effect  can  it  have  upon  them  if  they  believe  in  one  su- 
preme god  instead  of  in  a  dozen  or  more?  So  far  as  we  have  heard, 
the  people  who  worship  a  number  of  gods  are,  if  anything,  more  moral, 
if  less  pugnacious  and  progressive  than  those  who  have  only  one. 

Why,  too,  should  Mr.  Inman  say  the  Santo  Domingo  villagers  have 
never  heard  of  a  god,  when  in  the  same  paragraph  he  tells  us  they  pray 
to  idols  ?  Have  not  this  praying  to  or  worshipping  idols  and  similar 
practices  been  used  as  proof  that  man  instinctively  and  universally  be- 
lieves in  "  God  ?  " 

THE  MODERN  GROWTH  OF  INSANITY. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  a  conference  of  Medical  Superintendents  of  Asylums 
for  the  Insane  was  held  in  Toronto,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Government 
of  Ontario,  looking  to  an  improvement  in  the  methods  of  dealing  with 
insanity  in  asylums  and  charitable  institutions.  Among  those  present 
were  Premier  Whitney  and  Ministers  Pyne  and  Hanna,  the  last-named 
asking  the  medical  men  to  speak  out  without  reserve,  so  that  the  best 
possible  results  could  be  attained  in  the  Provincial  institutions. 

Dr.  W.  N.  Bernhardt  suggested  the  establishment  of  a  Pathological 
Museum  and  Laboratory,  for  the  research  work  he  deemed  necessary  to 
check  the  rapidly-increasing  number  of  lunatics  and  idiots,  of  whom 
there  were  6,000  at  present  in  Ontario,  or  about  3  per  1,000  of  the  popu- 
lation. He  thought  Canadian  asylums  were  ten  years  behind  those  of 
New  York  and  others ;  but  several  of  the  other  medical  men  defended 
them  as  being  fully  up-to-date. 

Dr.  McCallum  (the  chairman)  admitted  the  increase  in  insanity,  and 
said  its  chief  causes  were  alcohol,  heredity,  and  disease,  He  advocated 
the  passing  of  stringent  laws  to  prevent  the  marriage  of  unfit  persons, 
and  also  to  stop  i-nmigration  of  alien  degenerates.  An  experienced  man 
should  be  appointed  to  pick  these  out  and  turn  them  back. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  633 


Dr.  Meyers,  of  Toronto,  agreed  with  Dr.  Russell,  of  Hamilton,  that 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  spread  of  insanity  was  that  the  disease 
was  not  treated  in  its  incipient  stages,  and  he  advocated  the  placing  of 
the  asylums  on  a  purely  hospital  basis,  and  the  creation  of  psychopathic 
wards  in  hospitals,  where  nervous  diseases  among  the  poor  could  be 
treated  ;  and  Mr.  Flavelle,  chairman  of  the  General  Hospital  Board  of 
Toronto,  offered  space  for  such  a  ward,  and  said  the  Board  would  provide 
nursing  and  maintenance  if  Government  would  make  needed  alterations. 

PROPAGATION  OF  THE  UNFIT. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  we  think,  that  there  has  been  such  a  large 
increase  in  lunacy  in  recent  years,  that  some  strong  measures  are  be- 
coming necessary  to  cope  with  it.  Most  of  the  suggestions  made  are  not 
new,  but  they  need  repetition  until  something  substantial  is  done. 

The  suggestion  that  the  marriage  of  unfit  persons  should  be  prohibited 
is  one  that  has  often  been  made,  and  unquestionably  it  should  be  acted 
upon.  Marriage  is  certainly  as  important  as  life  insurance,  and  should 
only  be  allowed  to^ persons  who  can  satisfactorily  pass  a  personal  exami- 
nation and  inquiry  into  family  record.  If  unfit  persons  desire  to  marry, 
they  should  only  be  permitted  to  do  so  on  complying  with  conditions  that 
would  render  procreation  impossible. 

There  can  surely  be  no  worse  crime  than  that  of  bringing  into  the 
world  a  family  of  mental  and  physical  degenerates,  who  must  inevitably 
find  their  way  into  the  prisons,  asylums,  or  hospitals.  And  if  ignorance 
on  the  subject  be  pleaded,  whether  on  the  side  of  the  medical  profession 
or  on  that  of  the  laity,  then  our  only  course  is  to  act  on  the  best  know- 
ledge at  present  available,  and  investigate  to  obtain  better. 

Of  course,  the  church  hitherto  has  advocated  unlimited  procreation  as 
a  God-given  injunction  ;  but  it  seems  certain  that  when  men  and  women 
fully  appreciate  their  responsibility  in  the  matter,  they  will  take  a  com- 
mon-sense view  of  their  duty  both  to  themselves  and  to  society. 

In  regard  to  immigration,  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  country  to  pre- 
vent the  incoming  of  a  crowd  of  the  diseased  and  illiterate  scum  of  the 
old  world,  many  of  them  tainted  with  incurable  diseases. 

Dr.  Helen  McMurchy,  speaking  on  "  The  Care  of  the  Feeble-minded" 
at  the  Conference  on  Charities,  etc.,  in  Toronto,  Nov.  16,  pointed  out  the 
menace  to  future  generations  involved  in  the  milder  cases  of  mental  de- 
fect, which  could  not  be  reached  by  asylum  authorities.  She  said  she 
knew  of  one  hundred  children  mentally  deficient  that   had  come  from 


634  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 

four  Ontario  maternity  institutions.  This  points  to  one  important  fea- 
ture of  the  marriage  as  well  as  of  the  insanity  question.  If  it  is  impos- 
sible, under  present  conditions,  to  prevent  feeble-minded  and  otherwise 
unfit  persons  marrying  or  becoming  parents,  sterilization  should  be  at 
once  enforced.  What  many  married  women  submit  to  for  the  purpose 
of  avoiding  maternity  should  be  no  hardship  to  those  manifestly  unfit 
for  the  role  of  parentage. 

Dr.  McMurchy  suggests  the  permanent  care  of  all  affected  persons  as 
the  only  remedy,  though  she  cites  two  prolific  causes  of  insanity  which 
should  admit  of  favorable  treatment — the  too  early  education  of  children 
in  the  old  country  and  the  employment  of  married  women  in  factories. 
Both  of  these  causes  should  be  dealt  with  promptly.  The  first  is  over- 
doing civilization  ;  the  second  is  sheer  barbarism. 

Dr.  W.  R.  Bruce-Smith,  Inspector  of  Hospitals  and  Prisons,  gave  an 
address  on  "  Suggestions  for  the  Prevention  of  Insanit}'."     He  said  : 

"In  fifty  per  cent,  of  all  cases  of  developed  insanity,  we  find  such  evidence 
of  ancestral  defect  or  disease  as  would  lead  us  to  expect  at  some  point  in  the 
line  of  descent  a  reappearance  of  this  defect  in  the  form  of  active  disease  of 
the  mind.  The  awful  responsibility  of  imposing  tainted  heredity  upon  offspring 
should  be  clearly  understood  and  carefully  avoided.  In  one  county  in  Ontario, 
through  indiscriminate  marriage,  insanity  has  become  most  frequent ;  and  I 
have  known  several  members  of  one  family,  with  numerous  other  relatives  from 
the  same  section  of  country,  to  be  inmates  at  the  same  time  of  one  institution." 

In  decent  social  conditions,  all  of  these  sources  of  mental  degeneracy 
could  be  easily  dealt  with  ;  but  we  are  not  yet  sufficiently  civilized,  we 
are  afraid,  to  prohibit  the  employment  in  factories  of  married  and  preg- 
nant women,  or  sufficiently  enlightened  to  prevent  children  being  driven 
into  insanity  by  the  overtaxing  of  undeveloped  brains. 

This  question  has  assumed  such  proportions  in  all  Western  nations, 
and  the  facilities  for  emigration  have  been  of  recent  years  so  immensely 
extended,  that  it  is  becoming  imperative  upon  every  self-respecting  com- 
munity, not  only  to  attempt  to  deal  effectively  with  it  at  home,  but  to 
prevent  the  incoming  of  the  unfit  from  other  countries,  sent  out  by  their 
own  Governments  as  the  easiest  and  cheapest  way  of  dealing  with  them. 

Some  opinions  given  in  England  before  the  Royal  Commission  on  the 
Care  of  the  Feeble-minded  are  worthy  of  note.  Compulsory  registra- 
tion, careful  classification,  and  constant  supervision  were  strongly  urged 
by  several  witnesses  ;  while  Dr.  Holmes,  the  London  police-court  mis- 
sionary, assigned  the  defective  housing  of  the  poor  and  the  incessant 
.oil  of  married  women  as  the  great  causes  which   produced  mental  and 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  635 

physical  weaklings.  Dr.  Douglas,  medical  officer  at  a  Lancaster  asylum, 
thought  the  importance  of  alcohol  in  producing  mental  degeneracy  had 
been  much  exaggerated  ;  and  certainly,  if  half  of  what  is  stated  on  this 
matter  were  true,  the  human  b»*ain  should  have  disappeared. 

It  is  noticeable  that  throughout  these  discussions  little  is  said  about 
the  effect  of  religion  in  promoting  insanity,  though  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that,  apart  from  the  constant  recurrence  all  over  the  world  of  reli- 
gious mania  in  various  more  or  less  acute  forms,  religious  "  revivals  " 
invariably  result  in  a  large  increase  in  the  number  of  lunatics.  This  is 
one  of  those  matters  that  must  be  allowed  to  take  their  own  course  in 
a  "  free  "  country.  We  may  understand,  too,  that  religion  is  common 
at  all  times  because  the  masses  are  weak-minded  and  ignorant,  and  may 
thus  be  regarded  as  rather  an  effect  than  a  cause  ;  but  the  acute  forms 
of  dementia  that  accompany  and  follow  the  "  revivalist's" -progress  are 
distinctly  traceable  to  a  religious  excitement  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will 
some  day  be  prohibited,  as  a  menace  to  the  public  welfare. 

:o: 


REVIVALIST  TORREY'S  FALSEHOODS. 

Among  the  falsehoods  uttered  by  "  Dr."  Torrey  when  in  London,  and 
most  of  which  were  promptly  and  ably  exposed  by  our  friend,  Mr.  G.  W. 
Foote,  the  editor  of  the  London  Freethinker,  was  a  statement  that  when 
in  New  Zealand  he  had  converted  the  secretary  of  a  Freethought  or 
Atheistical  society  in  Christchurch,  New  Zealand.  In  response  to  an 
inquiry,  the  editor  of  the  Los  Angeles  Humanitarian  Review  has  received 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Henry  Allen,  the  honorary  secretary  of  the  Canterbury 
Freethought  Association,  who  emphatically  denies  Torrey's  statement. 

Mr.  Allen  has  been  secretary  of  the  association  for  the  past  two  years, 
and  his  immediate  predecessor  was  a  Mr.  Charles  Stowell,  who  held  the 
office  for  the  preceding  ten  years,  and  died  a  staunch  rationalist  at  the 
age  of  fifty  years.  So  that  Mr.  Torrey  has  a  good  opportunity  for  doing 
justice  to  himself  by  acknowledging  his  error  or  his  falsehood  in  this 
case,  though  his  refusal  to  do  so  when  pressed  by  Mr.  Stead  in  the  cases 
of  Paine  and  Ingersoll  gives  small  hope  of  his  doing  so. 

At  a  town  Council  they  were  discussing  the  advisability  of  consecrating  a 
portion  of  a  new  cemetery.  A  member  suggested  it  would  be  a  very  good  idea 
to  consecrate  the  whole  of  the  cemetery.  ^*  I  had  my  b;ick  yard  consecrated, 
Mr.  Mayor,  and  it  has  worn  well  J"' 


636  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


flD^  Convereion* 

:o: 

BY    AN    IDLER 

:o: 

We  were  sitting  one  evening  in  the  dimly  lighted  hall.  Outside  the  wind 
sighed,  shrieked  and  howled,  and  the  driving  snow  rattled  against  the  windows. 
It  felt  very  snug  and  comfortable  within  the  sheltering  walls  and  by  the  warm 
and  cosy  fireside. 

The  contrast  between  the  discomfort  without  and  the  comfort  within  naturally 
lent  itself  to  laziness  and  talk,  and  we  bandied  back  and  forth  the  shuttlecock  of 
thought, 

"  And  each  in  turn  was  guide  to  each, 
And  fancy  light  from  fancy  caught, 
And  thought  leaped  out  to  wed  itself  with  thought 
Ere  thought  could  wed  itself  with  speech." 

From  Messrs.  Alexander  and  Torrey  the  talk  naturally  drifted  to  the  subject 
of  conversion. 

"  Have  you  ever  been  converted  ?  "  asked  one. 

"  No."  replied  another,  '*  I  never  was  converted.  But  when  I  was  a  very 
young  boy  I  once  tried  very  hard  to  be  converted.  In  those  days  we  were 
Presbyterians  of  the  old-fashioned  kind.  We  believed  in  predestination,  effectual 
calling,  original  sin,  God's  covenant  with  Adam,  and  the  new  covenant ;  and  we 
dozed  placidly  through  polemics  against  sin  and  iniquity,  with  two  annual  disser- 
tations on  sprinkling  and  infant  baptism,  when  our  Baptist  friends  made  their 
annual  foray  and  carried  off  a  weak  member  or  two  and  ducked  them  into 
the  muddy  river  and  eternal  happiness. 

"  It  caused  a  mighty  wave  of  excitement  in  the  quiet  channels  of  our  religious 
life  when  it  was  announced  that  our  minister  had  secured  a  couple  of  imported 
expert  soul-savers.  I  can  well  remember  my  boyish  feelings  as  night  after  night 
I  listened  to  their  fervid  appeals  to  get  salvation.  How  I  envied  the  fortunate 
members  who  night  after  night  stood  up  and  explained  their  conversion.  As  a 
boy,  I  yearned  for  this  new  psychological  sensation  ;  not  that  I  put  it  in  those 
words.  The  well-defined  symptoms  seemed  to  be  days  of  terrible  anguish  and 
remorse  and  sleepless  nights  ;  and  then  a  sudden  feeling  of  a  mighty  joy,  and 
you  knew  you  were  of  the  elect.  How  I  did  try  to  work  up  a  proper  feeling  of 
remorse  !  How  hard  I  did  try  to  keep  awake  at  nights  !  How  I  hankered  after 
that  feeling  of  great  joy  !     Somehow  it  would  not  work." 

"  But  I,"  said  another,  **  was  converted.  We  were  Methodists,  and  I  was 
rather  a  quiet  chap  when  a  boy  and  did  not  care  for  sports.  I  remember,  when 
I  sat  near  the  barn  and  a  cloud  would  blow  up  on  the  sky,  how  I  used  to  snuggle 
down  in  the  darkest  corner  of  the  hay  mow.  I  was  afraid  the  Lord  was  after  me 
with  the  fiery  chariot  as  he  took  Elijah,  and  I  resolved  to  give  him  all  the  trouble 
I  could  to  hunt  me  out.     But  yes,  about  my  conversion.     You  remember  our 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  637 

old  church  :  the  basement  below  and  the  auditorium  above.  I  was  a  Sunday- 
school  scholar,  and  our  quarters  were  the  basement.  They  were  having  revival 
services.  A  worthy  professional  soul-reviver  was  at  work.  He  is  still  living  in 
the  city,  waxing  fat  on  silver  collections.  One  day  he  had  the  Sunday-school 
brought  up  to  the  auditorium  to  be  operated  on  ;  and  of  course  T  went.  As  the 
awful  forebodings  of  the  Hell  to  come  if  we  were  not  converted  sank  into  our 
imperfectly  trained  imaginations,  we  were  doubtless  all  predisposed  to  profess 
'  conversion,'  whatever  it  was 

"  You  remember,  when  we  had  put  a  pan  full  of  pop-corn  on  the  stove*how 
here  and  there  a  grain  would  suddenly  pojj  and  its  white,  flaky  sides  would  bur  t 
and  curl.  Just  so,  here  and  ibere  throughout  the  room,  first  one  and  then  another 
little  form  would  rise  to  its  feet  and  toddle  to  the  penitents'  bench.  At  my  side 
Tommy  Smith — you  knew  Tommy  — arose  and  went  forward.  '  It  is  up  to  you, 
now,  Bill,'  says  1.  Then  his  cousin  Jack  was  seized,  and  again  I  said,  'It  is  up 
to  you,  now,  Bill ;  you  are  as  good  as  any  Sn<ith  !  *  Then  that  beggarly,  mean, 
slouchy  Jones  boy  marched  forward.  Again  I  said,  '  It  is  sure  up  to  you  now, 
Bill,'  and  forward  I  went. 

"  '  Another  soul   for  Jesus  ! '  said  the  soul-saver. 

"Then  I  noticed  that  the  oiher  boys  were  in  tears  ;  and  again  I  said,  '  Bill,  it 
is  up  to  you  ;'  but  my  fount  of  tears  was  'as  a  summer-dried  fountain  when  our 
need  was  the  sorest.' 

*•  But  a  happy  inspiration  seized  me.  Surreptitiously  my  hand  sought  my 
handkerchief.  It  was  a  clean  one,  carefully  placed  in  the  pocket  of  my  little 
coat  by  my  mother.  Surreptitiously  I  brought  it  below  my  nose  to  my  lips, 
where  there  was  a  fount  in  good  woiking  order  ;  then  to  my  eyes  ;  and  when  it 
was  withdrawn  they  too  were  moist. 

"  '  Twenty-five  souls  for  Christ ! '  said  the  soul-saver.  But  from  the  depths  of 
my  inner  consciousness  a  still,  small  voice  cried  :  '  You  are  mistaken,  old  man  ! 
You  haven't  got  me  ! '  " 

9  mm  0 

GOLDWIN  SMITH  ON  JESUS. 

The  mighty  and  supreme  Jesus,  who  was  to  transfigure  all  humanity  with  his 
divin£  wit  and  grace — this  jfesus  has  flown.  To  my  mind  this  fact  has  no 
terror.  I  believe  the  Legend  of  Jesus  was  made  by  many  minds  working  under 
a  great  religious  impulse— one  man  adding  a  parable,  another  an  exhortation, 
another  a  miracle  story.  And  so  Jesus  repre-ents  for  us,  not  a  man,  but  the 
aspirations  of  many  hearts.  If  one  age  can  create  a  Jesus,  another  can.  Our 
age  can.  You  and  I  can  help  in  the  creation.  We  can  join  in  making  not  a 
legend,  but  a  new  idea  of  humanity,  the  figure  of  a  new  man,  a  new  message,  a 
new  prophecy.  All  our  better  thoughts,  all  our  wiser  speech,  and  all  our  truer 
deeds  shall  form  parts  of  this  creation,  which  shall  be  a  gospel  to  those  who 
come  after  us. — Goldwin  Stnith. 


638  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


Zbc  Crow  as  a  jfatber, 

:o: 

BY    HAROLD    S.    DENNING. 

:o: 

When  the  blue  eggs  in  the  crows'  nest  hatched  in  the  middle  of  June,  I  no 
longer  strayed  away  from  the  hickory  knoll.  For  although  the  old  crow,  with  a 
malignant  glance  over  his  shoulder  at  me  as  he  flew,  would  glide  off  down  the 
hill  just  as  often  as  he  discovered  me,  the  mother  crow  would  not  desert  the 
featherless  youngsters.  She  seldom  was  absent  from  the  nest  for  long  while  I 
was  near  :  and  often  when  apparently  she  was  gone  away,  she  was  keeping  close 
watch* on  me.  Usually  I  took  my  post  a  rod  or  two  from  the  base  of  the  pine, 
and  lay  stretched  out  on  a  shadow  flecked  rock,  the  more  easily  to  look  Uj -wards 
at  the  doings  of  the  crow.  If  I  left  my  post  for  a  half  minute,  the  crow  would 
discover  me.  Each  day  I  would  test  her  alertness  by  making  as  if  to  clamber 
up  the  trunk  of  the  pine.  She  might  have  been  gone  one  minute  or  ten,  but  I 
could  never  get  more  than  started  up  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  her  tree  before  she 
would  appear  as  if  out  of  nowhere,  and  with  glittering  eyes  swoop  repeatedly 
past  my  head. 

Although  her  absences  from  the  nest  were  short,  she  seemed  to  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  food  for  her  young.  And  for  one  whole  week  she  fed  her 
youngsters  on  little  less  than  the  tender  kernels  of  maize,  sweet  from  their  first 
sprouting.  The  nearest  cornfield  was  two  miles  away  ;  yet  she  frequently  return- 
ed with  a  fresh  bunch  of  uprooted  sprouts  after  an  absence  of  scarcely  two 
minutes.  This  surprised  me  beyond  all  measure  ;  for  it  meant  a  speed  of  flight 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  an  hour,  without  taking  account  of  the  time 
needed  for  pulling  the  corn.  A  happy  incident  explained  the  puzzle.  I  came 
upon  "Crusoe"  pulling  corn  sprouts  in  a  field  near  "  Brier-town."  He  metho- 
dically dropped  them  in  a  little  heap  on  the  earth,  all  the  roots  together  ;  and 
when  he  had  collected  enough  he  clutched  them  in  his  claws  and  bore  them 
away  in  the  direction  of  the  lone  pine.  Strangely  enough,  however,  he  did  not 
go  all  the  way  to  the  hickory  knoll  but  stopped  on  the  bare  limb  of  an  old  dead 
chestnut,  which  had  been  seared  by  a  lightning  stroke.  There  another  crow 
came  to  him,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  he  returned  to  the  cornfield 
for  another  bunch  of  sprouts.  Meanwhile,  as  I  soon  guessed,  his  mate  was 
carrying  the  first  supply  of  corn  sprouts  up  through  the  hickory  woods,  to  stuff 
them  down  the  expectant  mouths  in  her  nest.  "  Crusoe  "  would  not  go  to  the 
nest  while  there  was  a  chance  of  a  visit  from  me  ;  but  he  would  do  his  duty 
nevertheless,  as  the  father  of  a  family.  His  mate  would  guard  the  nest,  leaving 
it  only  for  short  trips  to  the  dead  chestnut  tree,  where  he  would  bring  her  the 
fruits  of  his  industrious  foraging. — Harper's  Magazine. 


»  ^  » 

A  FALSE  CHARGE. 

A  little  Northern  boy  was  visiting  the  South  for  the  first  time.  His  awe  and 
admiration  for  the  darkies  knew  no  bounds.  Meeting  a  little  negro  boy  one  day, 
he  screwed  up  his  courage  to  ask  him   his  name. 

''  I  is  dun  called  David."  promptly  replied  the  little  negro. 

"  Oh  !  "  exclaimed  the  little  fellow,  his  face  full  of  delighted  surprise,  "  are  you 
the  David  that  killed  Gohath  ?" 

The  little  negro  gave  him  a  terrified  glance,  and,  sticking  his  dusky  knuckles 
in  his  eyes,  shrieked  out,  "  Naw,  I  ain't  nebber  teched  him." — Lippincatt's. 


SECULAK   THOUGHT.  639 


:o: 


BY    THE   LATE    COL.    R     G.   INGERSOLL. 

:o: 

Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men  !     What  effect  has  that  saying  had  upon 
the  earth  ? 

If  we  judge  by  the  history  of  human  beings  since  the  celestial  choir  uttered 
these  words,  "  Peace  on  earth,  goi>d  will  to  men,"  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they 
have  had  any  particular  effjct.  These  words  are  supposed  to  have  been  said  by 
angels  to  the  shepherds  in  commeinuraiion  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  Now,  if  the 
life  of  Christ,  as  it  appears  in  the  New  Testament,  had  been  in  accordance  with 
those  words,  the  effect  might  have,  been  different ;  but  Chnst  himself,  according 
to  the  Testament,  said  :  '"  1  come  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a  sword.  I  come  to  set 
father  against  son  and  mother  against  daughter."  From  this  it  would  appear 
that  the  celestial  choir,  in  commemoration  of  his  birth,  sang  the  wrong  hymn. 

The  New  Testament  is  a  mixture  of  the  generous  and  the  malicious  ;  of  the 
benevolent  and  malevolent.  Side  by  side  with  this  doctrine  of  peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men,  is  found  the  dogma  of  eternal  pain,  so  that  the  message  of 
good  will  seems  to  come  from  a  bemg  who  intends  to  take  eternal  revenge  On 
account  of  this  frightful  dogma,  there  was  no  peace  on  earth,  and  there  was  but 
little  good  will  toward  men.  People  who  said  "  Peace  on  earth,"  waged  war 
against  all  who  differed  from  them  in  belief.  The  people  who  said  'Good  will 
to  men,"  founded  inquisitions,  invented  and?used  instuments  of  torture. 

In    my  judgment,    the  eff^^ct    of  what  is   called    Christianity   has    been   bad. 

When  the  church  had  power  there  was  no  liberty  in  Christendom,  and  there 
was  no  progress.  Science  was  detested  by  the  church,  and  men  who  were 
endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  facts  in  nature  were  denounced  as  blasphemers 
and  infidels.  For  many  centuries  there  was  nothing  but  hypocrisy,  ignorance, 
fear,  cunning,  persecution  and  slavery.  Of  course  there  were  many  who  honestly 
believed  the  creed  ;  many  who  sincerely  worshipped  the  being  they  called  God ; 
many  who  denied  themselves  and  inflicted  tortures  upon  themselves,  thinking 
that  in  that  way  they  could  secure  eternal  happiness  in  another  world  ;  but  the 
general  effect  of  the  creed  has  been  bad. 

Since  the  words,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  are  supposed  to  have 
been  uttered  Christendom  has  been  filled  with  war,  and  people  called  Christians 
— or,  rather,  nations  called  Christians  —are  the  most  warlike  of  the  world. 
Christians  now  have  armies  amounting  to  several  millions  of  men.  They  have 
hundreds  of  iron-clad  monsters  filled  with  nn'ssiles  of  death  floating  from  port 
to  port,  ready  to  destroy  and  kill.  Every  Christian  nation  is  guarded  by  fortifi- 
cations to  prevent  other  Christians  from  cutting  their  throats.  The  Gatling  and 
Maxim  guns,  the  needle  rifles,  the  Krupp  cannon,  the  dynamite  shells  have  all 
been  invented  by  the  people  who  said  '*  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men." 

The  world  is  not  governed  by  a  remark.  A  paragraph  or  two  does  not  fix  the 
condition  or  determine  the  destiny  of  a  nation.  Man  is  governed,  and  nations 
are  governed  by  environment,  by  countless  wants.  Everywhere  there  is  com- 
petition ;  that  is  to  say,  war.  This  war  is  universal.  Every  kind  of  plant  fights 
for  soil  and  sunshine.  Every  animal  is  fighting  for  food  to  supply  its  wants,  to 
gratify  its  passions.  Man  is  no  exception,  and  through  all  the  dead  centuries 
men  have  been  shedding  the  blood  of  each  other.  They  will  continue  to  do  so 
until  the    human  brain   has   devoloped  to   that  degree   that   right   makes  might 


640  SECULAR  THOUGHT. 


instead  of  might  making  right.  When  the  reason  becomes  superior  to  the 
passions  we  will  be  civihzed.  Then  there  will  be  peace  on  earth.  Then  there 
will  be  good  will  to  men,  but  not  before.  Man  does  not  need  preaching,  he 
needs  teaching.  He  does  not  require  faith,  hut  he  is  in  great  need  of  facts  So 
I  think  that  good  sayings,  fine  paragraphs,  have  dor.e  but  little  toward  civilizing 
the  human  race 

Has  "  peace  on  earth,  good  wil  to  men  "  any  parallel  in  ancient  history  ? 
YES.  It  is  said  that  at  the  birth  of  Buddha  there  was  celestial  music  and  there 
was  a  heavenly  choir,  and  this  choir  sang  substantially  the  same  words  They 
proclaimed  peace,  they  proclaimed  salvation  to  the  human  race  and  universal 
delivery  from  ignorance  and  evil.  Substantially  the  same  happened — or  is  said 
to  have  happened  -at  the  birth  of  many  of  the  sun  gods.  Buddha  was  a  sun- 
god,  so  was  Krishna  and  Apollo  and  Hercules,  Samson,  Mithra,  Hermes  and 
many  others. 

The  curious  thing  about  the  sun-gods  is  that  they  all  have  the  same  biography. 
Each  sun-god  had  a  god  for  a  father  and  a  virgin  for  a  mother.  Each  was 
born  in  a  humble  place,  in  a  roadside  inn,  under  a  tree  or  in  a  cave,  and  tyrants 
sought  to  kill  each  of  these  babies.  Every  one  fasted  for  forty  days  ;  every  one 
met  with  a  violent  death  and  every  one  arose  from  the  dead.  Another  fact — 
every  one  was  born  on  Christmas,  at  the  winter  solstice. 

Samson  was  a  sun-god.  His  strength  was  in  his  hair ;  that  is  to  say,  in  his 
beams.  Delilah  was  the  shadow,  the  darkness,  and  when  Samson  was  shorn  of 
his  beams  he  became  weak.  Afterwards  he  rose  above  his  enemies,  as  the  days 
lengthened.     The  Hebrews  changed  this  myth  into  the  biography  of  a  giant. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  life  of  Christ  is  an  old  biography  with  a  new  name. 
Christ  was  not  a  man,  but  a  myth  ;  not  a  life,  but  a  legend.  It  is  the  old 
story  of  the  war  between  darkness  and  light,  between  the  power  of  good  and  the 
power  of  evil.  The  proclamations  made  at  the  birth  of  the  sun-gods  that  man 
was  to  be  redeemed,  to  be  delivered  from  ev.l — that  there  was  to  be  peace — 
seem  to  have  had  but  little  effect  upon  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

Why  was  Christ  to  be  heralded  with  this  message  ?  Because  the  message 
was  copied  from  an  older  biography.  You  see  there  never  was  but  one  religion. 
There  have  been  modifications  and  variations  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  leaves  and  the 
branches  have  been  different,  but  the  trunk  has  always  been  the  same.  Prob- 
ably the  first  religion  that  was  organized  was  the  worship  of  the  sun.  The  sun 
was  the  Sky-Father,  the  All-Seeing,  and,  so  far  as  the  savages  understood,  the 
probable  author  of  all  that  was  good.     On   the  other   hand,  darkness  was  evil. 

And  we  find  that  in  our  own  religion,  called  Christianity,  there  is  nothing 
original.  All  the  doctrines  are  old  ;  all  the  symbols  are  ancient  ;  all  the  cere- 
monies are  mouldy  with  antiquity.  The  cross  was  used  thousands  of  years 
before  Christ  was  born.  Baptism  is  thousands  of  years  older  than  the  Baptists. 
So  the  tree  of  life  grew  in  India  and  China  and  in  Central  America  thousands  of 
years  before  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  planted.  So  the  doctjines  of  the  Fall  of 
man  and  the  Atonement  are  far  older  than  Adam  and  Eve.  So  the  eucharist 
came  from  the  Pagans.  They  used  to  make  little  cakes  of  wheat  and  say, 
*'  This  is  the  flesh  of  the  goddess  Ceres."  Then  they  drank  wine  and  said, 
"  This  is  the  blood  of  our  god  Bacchus."  Bacchus  was  a  sun-god.  In  other 
words,  there  is  nothing  original  in  Christianity.  Salvation  by  belief  is  thousands 
and  thousands  of  years  older  than  the  Christian  religion. 

How  much  of  the  message  "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men"  was  intended 
for  women,  or  was  the  entire  message  for  men  only  ?     I  suppose  that  the  word 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  641 

"  men  "  includes  women  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  human  race.  Of  course  I  have  no 
idea  that  the  heavenly  choir  sang  any  song.  I  have  no  idea  that  there  was  any 
heavenly  choir.  Neither  do  I  believe  that  there  were  any  shepherds  or  that  any 
miraculous  babe  was  born  in  Bethlehem.'  The  whole  thing  is  simply  a  legend — 
a  myth.    Some  of  it  is  good  ;  some  of  it  beautiful ;  some  of  it  absurd  and  cruel. 

There  are  many  things  in  the  Testament  that  I  like.  "  Blessed  are  the  merci- 
ful, for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  That  is  beautiful.  Forgive  others  and  God 
will  forgive  you.  That  is  good  sense.  So  what  is  called  the  golden  rule  is  good. 
*•  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you."  I  do  not 
know  that  we  can  carry  that  out.  For  instance,  if  I  were  in  prison  I  would  like 
to  have  somebody  to  help  me  to  escape.  Ought  I  to  help  others  to  escape  ? 
Maybe  the  golden  rule  would  be  better  if  it  was  "  Do  unto  others  as  you  honestly 
believe  others  should  do  unto  you."  Of  course,  this  rule  has  been  known  for 
many,  many  centuries.  Christ,  not  contented  with  that,  went  even  further.  He 
taught  us  to  love  our  enemies,  and  to  return  good  for  evil.  There  is  no 
philosophy  in  that. 

One  of  the  disciples  of  Confucius  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  doctrine 
that  we  should  return  benefits  for  injuries.  Confucius  replied,  "  If  you  return 
benefits  for  injuries,  what  do  you  propose  to  return  for  benefits  ?"  My  doctrine 
is  this  :  "  For  benefits  return  benefits ;  for  injuries  return  justice."  Now,  that 
seems  to  me  to  be  good,  sound,  sane  common  sense. 

All  these  fine  sayings  are  intended  for  women  — that  is  to  say,  for  all  human 
beings,  for  all  who  have  much  intelligence  to  perceive,  to  understand.  While  I 
do  not  believe  that  these  disconnected  sayings  have  controlled  the  course  of 
human  events,  still  I  believe  that  a  good  thought  has  never  quite  been  lost. 
Every  philosophic  utterance  bears  fruit  Every  good,  kind,  generous  sentiment 
has  its  influence.  Still,  it  is  better  to  do  a  good  thing  than  simply  to  say  one, 
and  a  noble  life  is  more  convincing  than  any  possible  form  of  speech. 


Hit  Honoatic'e  Creeb* 

:o: 

BY    B.    F.  UNDERWOOD. 

[While  B.  F.  Underwood  was  in  Montreal  in  1885,  Rev.  Dr.  Stevenson,  a 
prominent  clergyman,  delivered  a  discourse  on  "Agnosticism,"  reports  of  which 
appeared  in  the  daily  papers.  Mr.  Underwood,  by  request,  devoted  a  portion 
of  the  next  evening  to  a  reply  to  this  discourse.  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  the  reply  as  reported  in  the  Montreal  Star  ;] 


Dr.  Stevenson  says  that  agnostics  have  no  creed.  Creed  is  a  belief ;  but 
because  there  are  subjects  beyond  our  ken,  and  of  which  we  have  no  knowledge, 
it  does  not  follow  that  we  are  without  convictions. 

I  will  give  my  creed,  agnostic  as  I  am. 

I  believe  the  enlightened  human  reason,  and  not  any  one  book,  is  a  man's 
highest  standard  and  best  guide. 

I  believe  that  the  well-being  of  man,  and  not  the  glory  of  God,  should  be  the 
object  of  our  efforts. 

I  believe  that  intellectual,  moral,  and  physical  culture,  not  piety,  is  the  prime 
condition  of  man's  well  being. 


642  SECULAE    THOUGHT. 


I  believe  that  the  means  of  this  condition  consist  in  observation,  experience, 
and  reflection,  and  not  in  a  pretended  book  of  revelation  or  special  inspiration. 

I  believe  that  the  untrammelled  exercise  of  human  reason  is  not  only  an 
inalienable  right,  but  a  duty. 

I  hold  that  beliefs  are  neither  moral  nor  immoral  in  themselves,  but  that  right 
beliefs  m  time  show  their  good  influence  on  character  a-td  conduct,  and  wrong 
beliefs  result  injuriously  ;  that,  therefore,  we  have  every  inducement  to  seek  truth 
and  avoid  error  without  condemning  those  who  have  not  the  truth. 

I  believe  doubt  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom  ;  that  without  a  doubt  man  never 
investigates  ;  without  investigation,  he  never  learns  anything,  and  will  live  and 
die  in  ignorance  ;  that  doubt  leads  to  inquiry,  inquiry  to  knowledge,  wisdom, 
confidence,  and  happiness. 

I  believe  that  we  have  a  right  to  expect  unity  in  things  only  that  can  be 
demonstrated  ;  that  in  things  admitting  of  doubt  th-  re  should  be  free  diversity, 
and  in  all  things  charity. 

I  believe  in  that  faith  which  is  conviction  based  upon  evidence. 

I  believe  that  morality  is  the  science  of  human  relations. 

I  believe  that  the  principle  of  self-sacrifice  admired  in  Jesus  should  be  glorified 
in  humanity,  whenever  men  have  died  for  country  or  race  or  made  sacrifices  for 
the  good  of  others. 

I  believe  that  the  world  is  worthy  our  best  efforts  ;  that  "  one  worl  1  at  a 
time  "  is  all  we  can  attend  to  ;  that,  if  there  be  a  continuance  of  life  beyond  the 
grave  (of  which  I  see  no  proof),  the  best  way  to  fit  ourselves  for  such  a  life  is  to 
attend  to  the  interests  of  this  life. 

I  believe  that  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  life  is  better  than  any  theolo- 
gical preparation  for  death. 

I  believe  that  reliance  on  ourselves  and  the  inviolableness  of  law  is  better 
than  reliance  on  prayer. 

I  believe  that  evil  is  non-adjustment,  and  can  be  continually  lessened. 

I  believe  that  at  birth  none  are  sinners,  but  that  the  experiences  of  ancestors 
are  inherited  by  all,  and  exist  at  birth  in  the  form  of  constitutional  tendencies 
or  aptitudes. 

I  believe  that  the  good  tendencies  can  be  strengthened  and  augmented  and 
the  bad  ones  diminished  by  education. 

I  believe  the  moral  sense  called  conscience  has  been  acquired  by  the  race, 
and  that  its  decisions  depend  upon  education  as  to  what  is  right  or  wrong  ;  that 
it  approves  or  condemns  according  to  the  judgment  and  views  of  the  individual. 

1  believe  that  the  penalties  of  violated  law  are  more  useful  as  restraints  than 
childish  fears  of  hell. 

I  believe  that  working  for  human  happiness  on  earth  is  less  selfish  and  more 
creditable  than  striving  to  get  to  heaven,  and  the  people  who  are  most  concerned 
about  their  own  souls  are  liable  to  have  the  least  valuable  souls  to  save. 

I  believe  that  it  is  better  to  build  halls  and  temples  and  dedicate  them  to  man 
than  to  build  churches  and  dedicate  them  to  God. 

I  believe  that  study  of  the  order  of  nature  is  more  fruitful  of  good  results  than 
studies  regarding  the  origin  of  nature. 

I  believe  that  matter  and  force  are  the  modes  in  which  is  revealed  in  con- 
sciousness the  eternal  power  in  which  we  move  and  live  and  have  our  being  ;  in 
other  words,  given  human  consciousness,  and  what  we  call  matter  and  force 
would  ever  appear  substantially  as  they  now  do. 

I  believe  we  have  nc  means  of  knowing  what  things  are  except  by  and  through 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  64B 


consciousness ;  and  hence  that  tlie  suprenne  absolute  power,  uncolored  and 
unmodified  by  the  conditions  <»f  knowing,  is  unknowable. 

I  believe  that  words,  lite,  species,  language,  society,  morality,  religion,  art, 
and  civilization  have  been  evolved  according  to  law  without  any  miraculous 
intervention. 

I  believe  the  Bible  is  a  product  and  outgrowth  of  human  mind. 

I  believe  the  Christian  theology  is  the  natural  product  of  ages  of  speculatior^ 
concerning  the  ultimate  cause  of  phenomena. 

I  believe  the  word  "God  "  is  the  letter  x  in  an  indeterminate  equation,  and 
that  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  what  the  symbol  stands  for. 

I  believe  science  is  the  providence  of  man. 

I  believe  that  agnostics  know  as  much  as  theologians,  and  have  as  much  right 
to  have  a  creed  and  to  express  it. 

I  believe  that  the  mistake  regarding  creeds  is  in  requiring  men  to  conform  to 
them  on  penalty  of  punishment  here  or  hereafter. 


Ipte6ent=»S)ai^  Cbristian  Superstition. 

From  the  Rochester  (N.Y.)  Democrat  and  Chronicle  we  quote  the  following 
synopsis  of  some  speeches  given  at  a  largely-attended  "  Convention  for  the 
Deepening  of  Spiritual  Life,"  held  at  the  Rochester  Presbyterian  Church,  at 
which  delegates  were  present  from  i  oints  within  500  miles  of  Rochester  : 

Dr.  Pierson  discussed  the  biblical  passage  in  which  Christ  is  represented  as 
descending  into  hell.  He  said  it  was  as  impossible  to  measure  the  huii)i  iation 
of  Chrii»t  as  to  comprehend  his  exaltation.  Dr  Pierson  declared  that  Christ 
went  to  hell  to  show  that  he  was  Lord  of  it  and  could  release  himself  from  its 
dominion."  Dr  Pierson  announced  that,  while  it  is  not  fashionable  to  speak  of 
hell  even  from  an  orthodox  pulpit,  he  believed  in  it*  and  thinks  that  man  has  all 
the  capabilities  of  hell  in  himself.  Some  men,  Dr.  Pierson  asserted,  have  had  a 
foretaste  of  hell  on  earth,  and  the  reason  is  that  memory,  conscience  and  reason 
are  the  ingredients  of  hell.  Dr.  Pierson  said  that  a  certain  bishop  was  right  in 
declaring  that  the  brimstone  of  hell  is  carried  there  by  the  tormented  souls  then) 
selves.  Christ  alone,  said  Dr.  Pierson,  holds  the  keys  of  the  pit  of  perdition,  and 
he  alone  can  deliver  from  it.  Dr.  Pierson  stated  that  in  his  belief  Christ  weiU 
to  the  lowest  depths  of  hell  and  there  mingled  with  the  lost  souls,  so  that  he 
might  show  his  lordship  over  the  lowest  as  well  as  the  highest  in  creation. 

Dr.  Pierson  advanced  the  theory  of  the  air  being  populated  with  spirits.  He 
said  that  Satan  was  in  the  atmosphere.  He  sustained  his  belief  by  quotations 
from  Matthew  i  ^  and  cited  the  reference  to  the  devil  as  **  Prince  of  the  powers 
of  the  air."     Dr.  Pierson  said  : 

"  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  at  this  moment  the  air  of  this  room  in  which  I  am 
speaking  is  filled  with  demoniac  spirits.  If  you  find  yourself  inclined  to  doubt 
and  question  the  truths  preached  here  to-night,  you  may  be  under  the  influence 
of  an  evil  spirit  ;  and  it  your  mind  is  eager  to  grasp  the  truths,  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  an  angelic  spirit  has  been  helping  you.  If  our  eyes  could  only  be  opened, 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  that  we  would  see  the  spirits  of  Satan  and  the 
hosts  of  heaven   contending  in  this   room  at   this  very  moment.     But  we  need 


644  SECULAR    THOUGHT. 

have  no  fear.     Christ  ascended  through  the  air  to  show  his  mastery  of  it  and  of 
its  spirits,  and  he  can  conquer  them." 

Dr.  Pierson  declared  that  Satan  was  the  greatest  being  that  God  had  created, 
and  cited  Ezekiel  28  as  his  authority.  This  chapter  has  been  interpreted  to 
mean  the  monarch  of  Tyre,  but  Dr.  Pierson  denies  this  and  believes  that  the 
person  described  is  none  other  than  Satan,  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  Tyrians, 
whom  Dr.  Pierson  says  were  devil-worshippers.  In  Dr.  Pierson's  opinion  there 
were  originally  three  archangels,  Satan,  Gabriel,  messenger  of  the  redemption, 
and  Michael,  angel  guardian  of  the  bodies  of  God's  saints. 

Rev.  Dr.  Winchester  spoke  briefly  on  Revelations  4  and  5.  He  said  that 
Revelations  2  and  3  dealt  with  the  history  of  the  Christian  church  from  the 
ascension  of  Christ  to  his  return,  and  the  following  chapters  were  prophetical  of 
the  glory  of  the  new  dispensation.  Dr.  Winchester  condemned  current  ideas  of 
heaven  as  tawdry  and  gross,  and  said  that  they  were  "  scarcely  less  sensuous 
than  a  Mahometan  paradise,  or  an  Indian's  hajjpy  hunting  ground."  The  real 
picture  of  Paradise  is  in  Revelation.  Dr.  Winchester  declared  his  belief  in  an 
intermediate  state,  entirely  different  from  the  Roman  Catholic  conception  of 
purgatory.  In  this  state  the  disembodied  spirits  of  *'  those  who  are  asleep  in 
Jesus  "  are  living  a  life  such  as  no  saint  ever  enjoyed,  yet  far  less  desirable  than 
heaven.  The  full  glory  and  reward  was  not  received,  maintained  Dr.  Winchester, 
until  the  bodies  had  been  resurrected  and  had  been  joined  to  the  spirits. 

Who  in  thunder  can  make  anything  out  of  such  senseless  rigmaroles  as  these? 
If  we  cannot  measure  the  humiliation  or  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  how  can  we 
know  anything  about  it  ?  If  Christ  went  to  hell,  "  to  its  lowest  depths,"  can  we 
deny  the  objective  existence  of  hell  ?  And  if  so,  how  can  it  be  true  that  *'  man 
has  all  the  capabilities  of  hell  in  himself?  "  If  "  memory,  conscience,  and  reason 
are  the  ingredients  of  hell,"  what  becomes  of  the  objective  hell  ?  And  if  the 
brimstone  is  carried  to  hell  by.the  tormented  souls  themselves,  what  would  happen 
if  the  tormented  souls  went  on  strike  and  refused  to  carry  it  ? 

Dr.  Pierson  believes,  apparently,  that  the  air  is  full  of  devils  and  angels,  and 
Dr.  Winchester  has  some  sort  of  a  Purgatory  for  us  ;  but  as  the  former  bases  his 
ideas  on  the  mad  prophet  Ezekiel,  and  the  latter  accepts  Revelation  as  both 
history  and  prophecy,  we  cannot  wonder  that  their  speeches  read  like  those  of 
lunatics.  They  appear  to  be  ingenious  men,  both  of  them  ;  but  it  is  a  pity  they 
were  not  sent  to  a  decent  school  when  they  were  children. 


During  the  war  a  lady  distributing  tracts  in  the  wards  of  a  hospital  was  shocked 
to  hear  a  soldier  laughing  at  her,  and  turned  to  reprove  him.  "  Why,  look  here, 
madam,"  said  the  soldier,  *'  you've  given  me  a  tract  on  the  sin  of  dancing,  when 
I've  both  legs  shot  off  !  " 


Good  Minister — So  your  son  has  started  for  Europe.  Do  you  wish  the  prayers 
of  the  church  for  "  Persons  Going  to  Sea  ?  " 

Practical  Parishioner— Oh,  it's  too  late.  He  got  through  the  streets  of  New 
York  all  right,  and  is  safe  on  the  steamer  now. — Good  News. 


SECULAR   THOUGHT.  645 


Zlbe  iKeliQion  for  3apan* 

:o: 

The  terrible  successes  of  Japaji  in  her  war  wilh  Catholic  Russia  have  given  the 
Christian  apologists  a  list  to  starboard.  Most  of  them  would  have  been  glad  to 
see  the  Yellow  Nation  stamped  out  under  Russia's  iron  heel,  but  since  this  is 
not  to  be  in  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  Heaven,  they  are  now  eager  to  extend  to 
Japan  the  blessings  of  the  True  Faith.  By  the  True  Faith,  I  mean,  of  course, 
the  religion  of  peace  under  whose  benign  rule  Christian  nations  borrow  money 
and  make  war  as  savagely  to-day  as  ever  the  old  pagan  peoples  did  under  their 
heathen  gods. 

Our  hypocrisy  will  not,  however,  suffer  us  to  admit  this.  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity generally  sympathizes  with  Japan  because  the  Russian  Church  pays  too 
much  attention  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  Catholic  sympathy  is  with  Russia  for  the 
same  reason.  There  are  no  satirists  in  Japan  to  take  advantage  of  the  situation. 
But  neither  Catholics  nor  Protestants  can  deny  that  they  love  a  winner,  and  so 
for  sheer  love  we  now  propose  to  Christianize  Japan.  She  has  killed  so  many 
brave,  pious,  saint-worshipping  and  ikon-slobbering  Russian  believers  iri  the 
Crucified, —beyond  all  reasonable  expectation,  too, — that  we  can  but  feel  an 
extraordinary  concern  for  her  spiritual  darkness.  Therefore  England  and  America 
burn  with  apostolic  zeal  to  secure  so  worthy  a  convert,  and  they  stand  ready  to 
flood  Japan  with  missionaries  and  bibles  as  soon  as  the  business  with  Russia  is 
thoroughly  cleared  up.  No  doubt  they  are  honest  in  their  conviction  that  such 
good  fighters  should  be  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  possibly  they  have  an  eye  to 
future  national  alliances.  But  first  they  would  like  to  see  the  job  in  hand 
finished  with  neatness  and  despatch.  Their  concern  for  Japan's  spiritual  wel- 
fare and  their  anxiety  to  bring  her  the  gospel  of  good  tidings  would  be  not  an 
iota  less,  of  course,  if  the  positions  were  reversed  and  victory  perched  on  the 
Muscovite  banners.     No  doubt  whatever  about  that ! 

But  if  Japan  be  as  wise  as  she  is  brave — and  she  has  shown  herself  both 
brave  and  wise— the  program  of  evangelization  will  not  go  through  without  a 
hitch  and  the  contempla  ed  invasion  of  round-hatted  men  with  bibles  may  be 
politely  estopped.  For  Japan  has  thinkers  as  well  as  fighters,  and  it  may  well 
occur  to  the  former  that  the  courage  by  which  Nippon  has  gained  those  tremen- 
dous battles,  the  spirit  of  sheer  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  which  shone  out  so 
terribly  at  Mukden,  at  Port  Arthur  and  in  the  Korean  Straits,  kindling  the 
bravery  of  her  soldiers  into  an  irresistible  flame,  might  fail  her  under  the  influence 
of  a  religion  which  does  not  inspire  such  bravery  and  devotion  as  her  own.  The 
paganism  of  Japan  makes  better  soldiers  than  the  Christianity  of  Russia — perhaps 
of  any  Christian  nation, — because  it  is  simply  a  glorified  ideal  ol  country.  Now 
patriotism  is  jealous  of  all  gods,  the  false  as  well  as  the  true  The  name  of 
Rome  was  itself  a  religion  by  whose  terrible  magic  her  legions  conquered  the 
world.  Napoleon  was  the  incarnated,  deified  patriotism  of  France  and  would  suflfer 
no  gods  before  him  ;  when  he  began  to  doubt  his  own  divinity,  the  people 
followed  suit  and  he  was  lost. 

The  religion  of  Nippon  is  a  good  enough  religion  for  Japan.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  she  would  not  fight  so  well  on  another,  and  as  she  will  have  to  put 
forth  her  strength  again  and  again  to  make  her  place  secure,  it  will  not  do  to 
take  any  chances.  Perhaps  she  is  not  blind  to  the  hypocrisy  that  underlies  the 
European  anxiety  for  her  salvation — even  of  her  great  ally  England,  who  not 
long  ago  wiped  out  a  heroic  Christian  nation  in  fire  and  blood.     At  any  rate 


646  SECULAE   THOUGHT. 


she  will  do  well  to  hang  on  to  the  religion  which  has  brought  her  so  gloriously 
through  her  baptism  of  fire— at  least  until  her  Christian  neighbors  shall  produce 
fruits  more  worthy  of  the  gospel  of  peace  and  lovt.  — The  Papyrus  foy  August. 


Xtttle  Jobnnp  on  tbe  IRatural  Ibistor^  ot  tbe  Bat 


BY   AMBROSE    BIERCE 

:o: 

I  SED  did  Uncle  Ned  kno  wot  for  bats  has  wings,  like  thay  was  a  herd. 

Uncle  Ned  he  thot  a  long  time,  and  bime  bi  he  up  and  sad,  "  Well,  Johnny, 
it  was  about  this  way,  near  as  I  can  recklect.  One  day,  after  the  anmals  was  all 
created  and  Addam  had  given  them  names,  the  s  k  ck  mouse  it  came  to  him 
and  sed,  the  sneek  mouse  did,  '  The  gravvle  paths  in  this  garden  is  mity  bad 
walkin  for  a  little  feller  like  me.' 

"  Adam  he  knew  that  the  little  wrascle  dident  have  no  use  for  gravvle  paths, 
cos  it  always  snook  acros  lots,  amung  the  reddishes  and  the  tomattoses  and 
under  the  leafs  of  the  pi  plant,  but  he  only  jest  sed,  '  Contentment  is  the  king  of 
being  good.  Let  evry  creepy  thing  be  thankified  with  the  stashion  in  life  that 
he  has  been  fitted  in  to,  and  no  talkin  back.' 

"  Then  the  sneek  mouse  he  sed,  '  If  I  was  gave  dominnion  over  the  beests  of 
the  feel,  and  the  fishes  of  the  se,  and  the  herds  of  the  foul  air,  that's  jest  the  way 
I  wuld  talk  my  own  self.' 

"So  Addam  he  sed,  wot  did  the  sneek  mouse  want,  and  the  sneek  mouse  he 
sed,  *  Nothing  only  but  just  a  pair  of  whings,  so  that  I  can  sore  in  to  the  welkin 
and  meet  the  litening  i  to  i,  the  monnerk  of  the  blu  impyrean  and  bruther  to 
the  thunder  and  storm  ! ' 

"  Addam  he  looked  down  at  him,  real  sollem  out  of  his  eys,  and  sed,  Addam 
did,  '  I  dont  kanow  about  turnin  loos  sech  a  holy  terrer  to  pray  upon  the  com- 
erce  of  the  skys,  but  if  yu  will  spare  the  big  se  herds  and  the  conder  of  the 
Andees  it  is  whack.' 

"So  Addam  he  cut  up  a  pair  of  old  kid  gluvs  and  made  the  wings  and  fassend 
them  to  the  sneek  mouse  laigs  and  tole  him  to  fli  and  be  gam  doodled  !  But 
the  first  time  he  sored  in  to  the  whelkin  the  ja  berd  got  after  him  and  nearly 
tore  him  in  to  rags,  and  evry  time  he  tried  for  to  be  a  bruther  to  the  thunder 
and  the  storm  the  turkle  duv  and  the  linnit  and  the  hummer  thay  tackeld  him 
like  he  was  sum  thing  to  eat  and  chased  him  in  to  a  cave,  and  thats  whare  he 
Uves  to-day,  xcept  sum  times  he  slips  out  at  nite  and  dodges  in  to  a  belfry." 

*Bats  is  a  quodderped  and  the  tagger  is  a  monster  of  the  deep,  but  the  whale 
she  is  a  fish  an  spouts  gore !  An  that's  wy  I  say  wot  ever  yure  hand  fines  to  do 
do  it  all  yu  mite  ! — The  American. 


A  perfect  pun  makes  good  sense  both  ways  ;  the  edges  meet  with  a  click  like 
the  blades  of  a  sharp  pair  of  shears.  Sometimes  the  very  thoughts  fit  tight 
together  in  antagonistic  identity,  as  when  the  man  said  of  the  temperance  ex- 
horter  that  he  would  be  a  good  fellow  if  he  would  only  let  drink  alone  ;  or  when 
Disraeli  (if  it  was  he)  wrote  to  the  youth  who  had  sent  him  a  first  novel  :  "  I 
thank  you  very  much.     I  shallJose  no.  time  in  reading  it'j  or  as  when  a  man, 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  64T 


seeing  a  poor  piece  of  carpentry,  said,  "  That  chicken-coop  looks  as  if  some  man 
had  made  it  himself."  Exquisite  perverse  literalness  of  thought  !  And  the  same 
absolute  punning,  the  very  self-destruction  of  a  proposition,  was  the  old  death- 
thrust  at  a  poor  poet  by  a  friend  who  said:  "His  poetry  will  ba  read  when 
Shakespeare  and  Homer  are  forgotten."  It  was  a  fine  double-edged  blade  of 
speech  until  some  crude  fellow,  Heine,  I  think,  sharpened  it  to  a  wire  edge  by 
adding,  "and  not  till  then,"  a  banality  that  dulled  its  perfection  forever. — 
Atlantic. 


prot  Xoeb's  IResearcbes  on  tbe  QviQin  of  %itc. 

:o: 

Th?:   following  synopsis  of  Professor   Loeb's  researches  into   the  fertilization  of 
sea  urchins'  eggs  is  taken  from  the  New  York  Titles  : 

It  was  well  known  to  Prof.  Loeb  when  he  began  his  investigations  on  sea 
urchin  eggs,  that  one  constant  accompaniment  of  its  normal  development  was 
the  formation  of  a  delicate  transparent  membrane  about  the  egg.  This  mem- 
brane appeared  with  such  rapidity  as  to  seem  literally  to  jump  away  from  the 
egg  surface.  The  space  between  the  membrane  and  the  egg  surface  always  was 
filled  with  transparent  fluid. 

At  the  beginnmg  of  his  attempts  to  solve  the  mystery  of  fertihzation  Dr.  Loeb 
was  convinced  that  he  must  discover  some  means  of  imitating  the  essential 
details  of  the  process  by  physico-chemical  methods.  Since  the  membrane 
formation  a[)peared  to  be  one  of  those  essential  details  it  became,  first  of  all, 
necessary  to  produce  that  membrane  by  physico  chemical  means  so  perfectly  that 
it  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  membrane  normally  produced.  This 
was  accomplished  at  length  with  great  success  on  the  sea  urchin  egg  in  simple 
fashion.  Unfertilized  eggs  were  treated  with  a  solution  of  acetic,  butyric,  or 
other  similar  acids,  followed  usually  by  solutions  of  common  salt.  Benzol, 
amylene,  and  other  chemicals  of  this  character  acted  similarly.  Would  they 
produce  the  membrane  of  the  star-fish  egg  also  ?  Since  under  appropriate 
conditions  Dr.  Loeb  was  able  to  fertilize  sea  urchin  eggs  with  the  active  elements 
of  starfish,  producing  thereby  a  hitherto  impossible  hybrid,  it  seemed  to  him 
that  the  latter  must  carry  into  the  egg  substances  similar  to  those  carried  in  by 
the  active  element  of  the  urchin. 

He  was  not  long  in  showing  conclusively  that  the  same  substances  which 
produce  the  fertilization  membrane  artificially  in  the  urchin's  egg  act  similarly 
on  the  star-fish  egg.  In  some  cases  star-fish  eggs  would  develop  when  no  mem- 
brane had  been  formed.  Their  development,  however,  was  abnormally  slow 
and  imperfect.  The  facts  pointed  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  the  membrane 
formation,  or  the  process  underlying  it,  was  a  necessary  accompaniment  of 
normal  development,  the  membrane  itself  merely  resulting  as  a  mechanical  con- 
sequence of  the  extrusion  of  its  substance  from  the  egg.  It  appeared  to  contain 
a  substance  which,  when  in  the  egg,  prevented  its  development.  Mr.  Loeb 
found  that  the  presence  of  oxygen  kills  unfertilized  eggs,  but  develops  those 
which  have  been  fertilized.  The  entrance  of  the  active  element  into  the  egg  in 
normal  fertilization  obviously  produces  a  profound  change  in  its  internal  affairs. 
Oxidation  after  fertilization  leads  to  the  formation  of  different  chemical  products 
from  those  formed  in  the  unfertilized  but  mature  egg.  All  facts  at  j^resent 
indicate  thai  this  change  is  not  due  to  the  mere  addition  of  a  new  chemical 
substance,  but  to  the  fact  that  this  additional  substance  drives  out  another. 


648  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


WocB  tbe  flDoon  IRealli?  ''  IRotate  ? '' 

:o: 

BY    J.    H.    WEATHERBE,    TORONTO. 

— — :o: 

The  article  in  Secular  Thought  of  Nov.  25th  in  reference  to  planetary 
niotion,  written  by  my  dear  friend  Mr.  Elvins,  indicates  maturity  and  indepen- 
dence of  thought,  and  is  worthy  of  more  than  one  reading. 

The  question  of  the  moon's  motion  has  been,  and  is  hkely  to  be,  an  open 
question  until  a  word  is  coined,  and  accepted  by  astronomical  thinkers,  to 
define  the  motion,  and  by  which  the  motion  of  the  moon  may  be  distinguished 
from  the  proper  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  and  other  planets. 

Rotary  motion  should  have  an  applied  meaning  distinct  from  revolutionary 
motion.  Dictionaries  of  the  English  language  do  not  niake  a  clear  distinction  in 
ihese  words,  as  in  many  others,  I  suppose  because  of  their  similar  root  formation. 
This  is  an  advancing  age,  in  which  practical  thinkers  are  not  tied  down  to  ancient 
fogyism.  1  don't  propose  to  go  into  the  question  of  the  meaning  of  words,  but 
I  desire  to  show  that  there  are  three  distinct  motions  which  (ancient)  writers  on 
the  science  of  astronomy  often  confound  by  the  interchange  of  the  two  words, 
Rotation  and  Revolution. 

Our  sun  is  the  centre  of  a  system  of  planetary  motions,  and  any  one  with  an 
ordinary  telescope  can  soon  satisfy  himself  that  the  sun  turns  all  parts  of  its 
equatorial  surface  to  all  points  of  view  on  the  plane  of  its  equator.  This  should 
always  be  referred  to  as  rotary  njotion.  All  orbs  moving  in  this  way  should  be 
described  as  rotating  on  their  centres.  We  all  say  that  the  sun  and  the  earth 
rotate  on  an  axis  passing  through  their  centres,  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of 
their  equators.  The  earth  also  passes  around  the  sun  in  a  curved  path,  keeping 
ninety  odd  millions  of  miles  from  it  at  all  times.  This  motion  should  always  be 
called  "  revolution."  In  this  particular  instance,  we  always  say,  the  earth 
*'  revolves  "  around  the  sun.  I  do  not  remember  hearing  it  said  that  the  earth 
"  rotates "  around  the  sun.  Writers  and  speakers  often  refer  to  planets 
"  revolving  around  an  axis."  This  use  of  the  word  confuses  the  learner.  The 
motion  of  one  body  moving  around  another  at  a  given  distance  surely  is  not  the 
same  as  the  motion  of  a  body  turning  aro«md  upon  its  centre.  Call  it  by  what 
name  you  please,  it  is  not  a  similar  motion  of  the  body. 

We  find  the  earth  performs  both  these  motions  ;  so  do  others  of  the  planets. 
Does  the  moon  perform  both  these  motions  ?  Some  say  it  does  ;  others  (the 
few)  say  it  does  not.     Now,  let  us  see  which  is  right,  or  if  either. 

Suppose  we  take  a  position — say,  fifty  thousand  miles  from  the  earth — along 
the  plane  between  the  moon  and  the  earth,  keeping  the  same  distance  from  the 
earth.  We  will  see  the  earth  turning  every  part  of  its  equatorial  surface 
repeatedly  towards  us,  the  oceans  and  continents  coming  into  view  on  the  one 
hand,  and  disappearing  in  regular  order  on  the  other  hand.  That  is,  we  find  the 
earth  is  tnrning  around  like  a  top  spinning.  We  do  not  see  the  surface  near  the 
poles,  because  they  are  on  a  plane  with  our  eyes. 

Now,  what  about  the  moon  ?  Would  we  see  all  of  its  equatorial  surface  ? 
W^ould  we  see  it  spin  around  like  a  top?  All  who  know  anything  of  astronomy 
will  admit  at  once  that  we  would  see  but  one  side  of  it,  and  that  it  does  not  spin 
around  like  the  earth.  We  would  see  that  it  does  not  turn  around  at  all.  It 
may  go  out  of  sight  behind  the  earth,  but  as  soon  as  it  comes  in  sight  again  the 
same  markings  on  its  surface  would  show  that  it  had  not  turned  around  one  inch. 


SECULAK  THOUGHT.  649 


The  rotary  motion,  then,  of  the  earth,  is  not  what  we  find  in  reference  to  the 
moon. 

Now,  suppose  the  moon  always  kept  the  same  side,  or  surface,  towards  the 
sun,  regardless  of  the  earth  ;  then  we,  still  keeping  our  position  fifty  thousand 
miles  from  the  earth,  would  see  both  earth  and  moon  showing  all  sides  to  us> 
the  earth  every  24  hours,  the  moon  every  28  days  (earth  days,  of  course). 

There  is  no  centre  or  circumference,  no  north  or  south,  no  east  or  west,  no 
up  or  down  to  space,  no  geographical  points.  Why,  then,  make  any  difference 
between  space  in  a  circle  and  space  out  of  a  circle  ? 

It  is  true  that  what  we  call  the  north  pole  of  the  moon  is  continually  facing, 
the  star  we  Earthians  call  the  North  Star.  And  it  is  also  true  that  in  the 
process  of  the  moon  being  carried  around  the  earth  it  is  forced  to  turn  all  parts 
of  its  equatorial  surface  to  all  points  of  view  from  outside  of  its  orbit ;  but  not 
so  to  any  point  of  view  inside  of  a  circle  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
miles  in  diameter.  That  is,  any  person  keeping  within  this  circle  (which  is  really 
not  a  circle)  could  never  see  any  but  one  side  of  the  moon. 

To  show  6eyond  all  doubt  that  the  moon's  motion  is  not  similar  to  the  earth's 
motion,  I  will  give  another  illustration. 

Let  us  take  two  concentric  rings ;  let  the  space  between  the  rings  be  equal  to 
the  diameter  of  a  globe  placed  between  them,  fitting  so  close  that  in  turning  the 
bail,  or  globe,  on  an  axis  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  rings,  it  will  cause 
the  inner  ring  to  travel  one  way  while  the  other  ring  will  be  forced  to  go  in  the 
opposite  direction  This  would  represent  the  motion  of  the  earth.  Then,  again, 
instead  of  turning  the  globe  on  its  axis,  let  us  move  it  in  either  direction,  following 
the  curve  of  the  rings,  and  we  will  find  both  rings  will  move  in  the  same  direction. 
This  will  represent  the  moon's  motion.  Thus  we  see  the  earth  and  moon  each 
have  a  distinct  motion,  and  each  of  these  motions  is  distinct  from  the  motion 
which  carries  each  around  its  primary. 

My  proposition  is  this  :  As  we  have  found  three  distinct  motions,  each  differing 
from  the  others,  we  need  three  names  so  as  not  to  confuse  the  learner. 

Say  we  call  the  motion  of  a  body  going  around  another  in  an  orbit  "  Revolu- 
tion ;  "  and  that  of  a  body  turning  like  a  top  spinning,  '*  Rotation."  Then  we 
must  coin  a  word  for  the  motion  of  a  body  forced  by  its  orbital  motion  to  turn 
one  side  always  to  the  centre  of  its  orbital  motion.  Say  we  call  it  a  Turnairy 
motion. 

The  rotary  motion  of  a  planet  is  an  independent  motion,  not  being  interfered 
with  by  other  members  of  the  system. 

The  moon  has  day  and  night  certainly.  The  day  at  any  one  place  is  about 
as  long  as  fourteen  of  our  days  and  nights  ;  that  is,  14  x  24  hours.  It  takes  the 
sun  a  long  time  to  rise  or  set  at  a  given  point  on  the  moon  ;  much  longer  just 
before  and  after  the  "  quarter  "  moons  with  us,  than  about  the  time  of  "  full " 
and  "  new  "  moons.  This  fact  is  another  help  to  show  that  the  moon  does  not 
rotate  like  the  earth. 

I  believe  there  is  no  dispute  as  to  the  actual  motion  of  the  moon.  It  is  the 
name  given  for  the  motion  that  causes  the  confusion  of  talk. 


Kid — Well,  Kadley  is  dead.     He  was  a  mighty  tough  character. 
Khadd— Yes ,  killed  out  West  by  a  premature  explosion  of  dynamite,  eh  ? 
Kid — It  was  an  explosion  of  dynamite,  but  I  wouldn't  call  it  "  premature." 


650  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


Xllpwar^  an^  ®nwar^♦ 

:o: 

When  a  deed  is  done  for  Freedom,  through  the  broad  earth's  aching  breast 

Runs  a  thrill  of  joy  prophetic,  trembhng  on  from  east  to  west, 

And  the  slave,  where'er  he  cowers,  feels  the  soul  within  him  climb 

To  the  awful  verge  of  manhood,  as  the  energy  sublime 

Of  a  century  bursts  full-blossomed  on  the  thorny  stems  of  Time. 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties ;  Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth  ; 
They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast  of  Truth  ; 
Lo,  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires  !  we  ourselves  must  Pilgrims  be, 
Launch  our  "  Mayflower,"  and  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate  winter  sea. 
Nor  attempt  the  Future's  portal  with  the  Past's  blood-rusted  key. 

-    ^ames  Russell  Lowell. 


IRobett  JSurns, 

:o: 

He  felt  scant  need 
Of  church  or  creed, 
He  took  small  share 
In  saintly  prayer, 
His  eyes  found  food  for  his  love  ; 
He  could  pity  poor  devils  condemned  to  hell, 
But  sadly  neglected  endeavors  to  dwell 
With  the  angels  in  luck  above  ; 
To  save  one's  precious  peculiar  soul 
He  never  could  understand  is  the  whole 

Of  a  mortal's  business  in  life, 
While  all  about  him  his  human  kin 
With  loving  and  hating  and  virtue  and  sin 

Reel  overmatched  in  the  strife. 
"  The  heavens  for  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  for  the  earth  ! 
I  am  a  man — I'll  be  true  to  my  birth — 

Man  in  my  joys,  in  my  pains." 
So  fearless,  stalwart,  erect  and  free. 
He  gave  to  his  fellows  right  royally 

His  strength,  his  heart,  his  brains  ; 
For  proud  and  fiery  and  swift  and  bold  — 
Wine  of  life  from  heart  of  gold, 
The  blood  of  his  heathen  manhood  rolled 
Full-billowed  through  his  veins. 

—yames  Thomson  ("B.  F."). 


Stranger  (in  Brooklyn)— Where  are  all  these  gentlemen  going? 
Resident — They  are  going  to  bid  farewell  to  a  missionary  in   China  who  has 
been  very  successful  in  teaching  the  heathen  the  gospel  of  love  and  peace. 
Stranger — I  see.     And  where  is  this  gang  of  boys  going  ? 
Resident — They  are  going  to  stone  a  Chinese  funeral. 


SECULAR  THOUGHT.  651 


MISCELLANEOUS 


A  BOY'S  WAY. 

"  Say  Mister,  do  you  s'pose  they's  goin'  to  be  some  wind  soon  ?  " 

••  I  really  couldn't  say,"  replied  the  old  gentleman,  smiling  benevolently  down 
upon  the  spick-and-span  small  boy  who  had  strayed  away  from  the  other  Sunday 
school  picnickers  to  this  remote  side  of  the  lake. 

*'  I've  been  standin'  here— oh,  most  a  year,  waitin'  for  the  wind  to  blow,"  said 
the  boy,  looking  wistfully  at  the  water. 

"  Is  that  so  ?     But  why  are  you  so  anxious  about  wind  ?" 

••  Why,  I  want  to  go  swimmin'  awful  bad." 

'*  But  you  don't  need  wind  in  order  to  go  swimmin'.  Isn't  the  water  suffi- 
cient for  your  purpose,  my  little  man  ?  " 

"  I  guess  it's  a  long  time  since  you  was  a  boy,"  remarked  the  "  little  man," 
contemptuously. 

'•  Well,  yes,  it  is  a  considerable  period,"  admitted  the  old  gentteraan,  with  an 
air  of  candor.  **  I  certainly  recall  no  vital  connection  between  wind  and  swim- 
ming— just  explain,  if  you  please." 

"  W'y,  it's  like  this,"  said  the  boy,  returning  to  his  trouble.  "  Ma  won't  let 
me  go  swimmin' — she  never  does,  but  if  a  big  wind  'ud  come  along  and  blow  my 
hat  off  into  the  water,  w'y  I'd  have  to  swim  fer  the  hat." — Mobile  Register. 


Judge — You  are  charged  with  profanity.      Prisoner — I  am  not.     Judge — You 
are,  sir  !     What  do  you  mean  ?     Prisoner  —  I  was,  but  I  g.ot  rid  of  it. 


BRITAIN'S  WORK  IN  THE  WORLD. 

Whatever  may  be  our  opinion  as  to  the  way  in  which  Britain's  empire  has  been 
acquired  and  consolidated  ;  whatever  mistakes  and  crimes  have  been  committed 
by  her  governors  and  soldiers,  her  missionaries  and  merchants^  it  may  be  said 
with  truth,  we  think,  that  whether  in  the  East  or  West, — in  India,  China,  Africa, 
America, — her  rule  has  been  less  oppressive  and  more  beneficial  to  the  con- 
qu.red    peoples  than  that  of  any  other  conquering  power   known  to   history. 

"  New  York,  Dec.  6.  —The  Entertainment  Club  which  Prince  Louis  recently 
joined  as  honorary  member,  held  a  reception  last  night  at  the  Waldorf,  the 
British  ambassador,  Sir  Mortimer  Durand,  being  the  guest  of  honor.  General 
Nelson  A.  Miles  and  Borough  President  Littleton,  of  Brooklyn,  spoke,  and 
General  Woodford  then  introduced  General  Joe  Wheeler.  General  Wheeler 
talked  on  the  friendly  feeling  between  the  United  States  and  England.  Ambas- 
sador Durand  talked  mostly  of  India,  and  gave  some  interesting  experiences  from 
his  travels  and  his  diplomatic  career  in  the  East.  He  said  we  seemed  to  be  all 
wrong  in  our  conception  of  conditions  in  India.  *  We  have  been  accused/ 
he  said,  '  of  ruling  India  against  her  will.  Why,  do  you  think  175,000  English- 
men could  rule  400000,000  of  human  beings  without  their  consent?  lam 
proud  of  our  work  there.  I  think,  though  it  may  be  an  insular  conceit,  that  we 
have  done  the  greatest  work  in  India  ever  accomplished  by  any  power.'" 


Batts — As  I  understand  it,  the  first  principle  of  Socialism  is  to  divide  with  your 
brother-man.     Raits — No,  no.     It  is  to  make  your  brother-man  divide  with  you. 


652  SECULAR   THOUGHT. 

A  NEW  SOCIAL  CHURCH  IN  TORONTO. 

On  Sunday,  Dec  to,  was  opened  a  new  church  at  the  corner  of  Davenport 
Road  and  Delaware  Avenue.  Among  the  attractions  at  this  church,  in  addition 
to  the  ordinary  meeting  and  praying  conveniences,  are  to  be  found  a  library  and 
reading  room,  and  a  room  for  games  and  music  for  the  young,  with  a  skating 
rink  in  a  field  adjoining.  It  is  intended  that  this  church  shall  be  opened  for 
.awiusements  every  night  in  the  week.  The  design,  of  course,  is  to  offset  the 
•down-town  attractions  of  the  theatre  and  saloon,  and,  being  in  the  north  end  of 
*the  city,  it  is  probable  that  the  venture  will  be  successful.  We  hope  it  will  be, 
and  that  the  example  thus  set  will  be  largely  imitated  and  extended. 


THE  YORK  LOAN  AND  SAVINGS  CO. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  Ontario  Government  have  decided  to 
appoint  a  competent  accountant  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  this  company,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that,  if  the  investigation  shows,  as  is  altogether  likely,  that  the 
funds  of  the  Company  have  been  handled  recklessly  or  dishonestly,  there  will  be 
no  hesitation  about  putting  the  guilty  parties  on  trial.  It  is  time  that  men  who 
undertake  the  management  of  trust  funds  should  be  made  to  understand  that 
gambling,  stock-jobbing,  or  wild-cat  company  promoting  with  money  entrusted 
to  them  for  safe  keeping  is  no  better  than  burglary  or  highway  robbery.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  winding-up  order  granted  by  Judge  Teetzel  under  the  Dominion 
Winding-up  Act  will  be  acted  upon  with  honesty  and  judgment.  If  this  is  done, 
it  seems  likely  that,  owing  to  the  great  increase  in  value  in  real  estate  in  Toronto, 
the  York  Loan  shareholders  may  not  suffer  very  greatly. 


THE  RUSSIAN  REVOLUTION. 

Judging  from  the  reports  which  are  allowed  to  come  out  from  Russia,  or  which 
are  smuggled  out,  the  country,  so  lately  the  great  bogey  of  civilization,  is  in  a 
most  chaotic  state  of  anarchy.  Town  after  town  is  reported  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  rebels,  and  military  mutinies  alternate  with  diabolical  massacres  of  Jews  in  the 
newspaper  headlines.  What  the  actual  state  of  affairs  is  seems  impossible  to 
guess  ;  but  it  appears  certain  that,  though  the  Emperor  and  his  immediate 
advisers  have  decided  upon  some  measures  of  civilization  towards  the  working 
classes,  the  latter  are  entirely  distrustful  of  their  sincerity.  History  justifies  them, 
certainly  ;  but  as  the  alternative  would  seem  to  be  wholesale  slaughter,  they  are 
apparently  choosing  a  losing  policy.  In  any  case,  however,  the  uprising  cannot 
fail  to  shake  the  power  of  the  priesthood. 


MISSIONARIES  REFUSED  TO  HELP  A  STARVING  MAN. 

Captain  Walter  Jackson,  of  Peterhead,  returned  home  a  few  days  ago  after  a 
perilous  series  of  adventures  in  the  Arctic  regions,  where  he  was  ice-bound  for 
twenty-nine  months.  In  his  account  of  his  adventures  he  says  :  "  I  ruptured  a 
blood  vessel  in  my  leg,  which  limb  gradually  turned  black,  to  my  great  alarm, 
and  an  attack  of  scurvy  caused  my  gums  to  soften  and  my  teeth  to  become  loose 
in  their  sockets,  so  that  to  eat  was  to  suffer.  .  .  .  Provisions  were  so  scarce  that 
I  applied  to  the  missionaries  for  food,  but  for  some  reason  they  refused  me,  and 
I  had  to  accept  native  biscuits  for  my  sustenance,  and  live  with  them  in  their 
igloos  like  an  animal,  and  without  a  doctor,  of  whom  I  stood  in  much  need.  My 
leg  was  so  painful  I  could  scarcely  limp." 


SECULAR  THOUGHT 


653 


FATHER    EARTH. 


BY    REV.    MARK   GUY   PEARSE. 


Old  Father  Earth  was  a  grim  old  thing, 

No  trace  of  beauty  had  he  ; 
Across  his  face  ran  the  furrows  deep, 

As  brown  and  bare  as  could  be. 

Now  it  chanced  one  day  that  a  tiny  seed 
Went  driving  along  that  way  ; 

A  tiny  seed  in  a  great  big  world, 
On  a  shivering  winter's  day. 

This  old  Father  Earth  beneath  his  crust, 

A  pitiful  heart  had  he  ; 
He  whispered,  ''  Little  one,  come,  I  pray. 

Find  rest  and  refuge  with  me." 

The  little  seed  turned  and  trembling  said, 

"  I'm  so  very  small,  you  see, 
Whilist   you    stretch    away   for  many   a 
rood  : 

I'm  afraid  you  won't  care  for  me  !  " 

"  Not  care  for  thee,  little  one  ?  Ha, 
ha  !" 

And  the  old  brown  earth  laughed  he  ; 
"If  I'm  so  big,  the  more  room  there  is 

In  my  heart  of  hearts  for  thee." 

"  What  will  you  give  me.  Father  Earth, 
Pray  what  will  you  give  to  me?" 

Then  the  brown  Earth  folded  the  seed  to 
himself. 
And  made  answerly  tenderly  : 

"  All  that  I  have  I  will  give  to  thee. 

All  that  I  can  be  is  thine  ; 
For  these  the  very  seasons  are  set 

And  the  very  heavens  do  shine." 


"  What    will    you  do    with    me,    Father 
Earth, 

Pray  what  will  you  do  with  me  ?  " 
**  I  will  make   thee  root  and  flower  and 

And  thou  shalt  be  fair  to  see."       [fruit. 

Then  to  rest  the  little  seed  sank  down 
In  the  love  that  held  it  tight  ; 

He  covered  it  up,  and  he  tucked  it  in, 
And  bade  it  a  sweet  good-night. 

So  the  time  slipped  by,  and  Father  Earth 

Held  his  treasure  faithfully. 
Till  the  seed  sent  down  a  tiny  root. 

And  thrust  up  its  head  to  see. 

And  day  after  day  the  sun  it  shone, 

And  gently  fell  the  shower, 
Until  at  last  in  its  stateliness 

There  stood  a  perfect  flower. 

But  still  the  fair  face  is  downward  bent, 

And  it  whispers  tenderly, 
"  Though  my  head  is  in  heaven,  dear  old 
Earth, 

I'm  not  going  away  from  thee." 

And  the  old   brown   Earth    he   laughed 
again  ; 

"  Ah,  what  hast  thou  done  for  me  ! 
I  was  but  a  clod  all  brown  and  bare, 

And  now  I  am  part  of  thee. 

"  A  thousandfold  hast  thou  paid  me  back 
The  little  'twas  mine  to  give  ; 

Uplifted,   transformed    and    crowned   in 
thee, 
Thou  hast  shown  me  how  to  live." 


AMATEUR  REFORM. 

The  mission-workers  on  the  East  Side  frequently  see  the  humorous  as  well  as 
the  sadder  side  of  life.  A  man  prominent  in  reform  work  recounts  the  experi- 
ence of  a  certain  young  woman,  new  to  the  task,  who  set  about  posting  herself 
as  to  conditions  in  a  neighborhood  near  Avenue  A. 

The  ambitious  missionary  had  entered  the  house  of  an  Irishwoman,  and  had 
made  some  preliminary  inquiries,  when  she  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the 
woman,  who  said  : 

'•  Say,  youse  is  fresh  at  dis  business,  ain't  youse  ?  " 

The  amateur  in  mission  work  blushingly  admitted  such  to  be  the  case.adding, 
"  I  have  never  visited  you  before,  Mrs.  Muldoon." 

"  Thin,"  explained  the  Irishwoman,  "  I  tell  ye  what  to  do.  Ye  sit  down  in 
that  chair  there,  ye  read  me  a  short  psalm,  ye  gives  me  fifty  cinls,  an'  thin  ye 
goes." — Harper's  Weekly. 


654  SECULAK  THOUGHT. 


THE  ''CLERICAL  FACE." 

A  certain  clergyman,  who  shall  be  nameless,  tells  the  following  good  s  ory 
against  himself,  relating  to  an  experience  hi  had  when  crossing  the  Atlantic 
recently.  He  had  been  unable  to  get  a  state-room  for  himself,  but,  on  assur- 
ances by  the  purser  that  he  would  have  for  a  room-mate  some  companionable 
gentleman,  he  accepted  what  he  could  get.  "  Now,  after  a  short  while,"  says 
the  narrator,  "  I  began  to  find  myself  thinking  of  some  valuables  that  I  had 
about  me,  and  went  with  them  finally  to  the  purser  to  entrust  them  to  his 
keeping.  '  I  would  explain  to  you,'  I  said  to  the  purser,  '  that  I  am  very 
pleased  with  my  room-mate  That  is — I  find  him  a  gentleman  in  every 
respect,  and  I  wouldn't  have  you  think  that — that  is — I  wouldn't  have  you  think 
that  my  coming  to  you  with  these  valuables  is — er — a — any  reflection  upon  him, 

you  know.     His  appearance  is  in  every  way '     And  here."  the  narrator  says, 

*  the  purser  interrupted  me  with  a  somewhat  broad  s  n  le.  '  Yes,  sir,  it's  all  right ; 
he  has  come  to  me  with  some  valuables  also,  and  he  says  the  very  same  thing 
about  you.'  " 


Old  Friend — What  a  beautiful  horre  you  have  !  Cumrox — You  must  nol  let 
mother  and  the  girls  hear  you  sp.ak  of  it  so  patronizingly.  This  ain't  a  home  : 
it's  a  residence. 


DIDN'T  WANT  TO  DIE  AN  OLD  MAID. 

The  Toronto  Mail's  Flaneur  gives  the  following  extract  from  **  Betsy  Straw- 
berry," by  Ruth  M.  Harrison,  in  National  Magazine  : 

Mother  and  the  girls  were  in  the  throes  of  Spring  cleaning,  and,  as  the  warm 
weather  was  coming  on  apace,  determined  on  employing  extra  help,  so  as  to 
expedite  matters.  Mother  asked  Betsy  if  she  could  get  some  one  of  her  friends. 
The  Strawberry  was  very  loath  to  bestir  herself  and  go  out  and  hunt  a  chore- 
woman,  so  :  "  No'm,  Mis'  Thompson,  I  don'  knows  nobody.  Nune  as  I  kin  jus' 
azactly  trus'.  Nune  o'  'em  triflin  niggas'  wants  to  wuk  dese  days-  Dey's  jes' 
seemen'  mo'  and  mo'  no  'count,"  and  she  comfortably  backed  up  against  the 
door  jamb,  anything  but  the  picture  of  energy.  "  Betsy,  do  try  to  think  of 
someone!  What  has  become  of  Liza  Jane?"  "Liza  Jane?"  said  Betsy, 
awakening  into  momentary  interest,  "  Liza  Jane  ?  Oh!  she  ain't  wukkin' jes' 
now,  she  ain't  so  well."  "  What  is  the  matter  with  heri^"  said  mother.  "Is 
she  sick?"  "No'm,"  answered  Betsy,  "she  ain't  azactly  sick — she's  jus' dun 
had  a  baby."  "  What  !  "  said  mother.  "  Why,  I  didn't  know  that  Liza  Jane 
was  married."  "  She  ain't,"  slowly  admitted  Betsy.  "  No'm,  she  ain't  married. 
She  jus'  didn't  want  to  be  er  old  maid  !  " 


Elsie — So  you  consider  him  misleading  and  disappointing?     Why? 
Edie — Well,  he  had  me  on  tenter-hooks  last   night   in  expectation  that  he  was 
going  to  ask  me  to  go  to  the  theater. 
^Isie— And  didn't  he  ? 
Edie — No ;  he  only  asked  me  to  marry  him. 


The  Passenger — What  do  you  think  of  President  Roosevelt's  advice  to  young 
colored  men  to  become  farmers,  or  learn  trades,  on  account  of  the  professions 
being  overcrowded  ?  Car  Porter — He  am  dead  right  agin  !  Any  cah  porteh,  er 
barbeh,  er  waiteh  will  tell  yo'  he  has  hard  work  dese  days  makin'  bof  ends  meet  ! 


SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


G55 


REMORSE. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  AVERAGE  ARTICLE. 


One  night  it  so  happened  that  I  had 
a  certainty  on  Hatiz.  I  had  three 
cards  aHke  in  my  hand — that  is  to  say, 
three  aces — and  when  the  cards  were 
helped,  as  the  phrase  is,  I  took  an- 
other. Hafiz  drew  one  card  to  the 
four  that  he  held,  and  the  betting  be- 
gan. Now,  four  aces  is  a  strong  hand, 
there  being  only  one  that  can  beat  it, 
namely,  a  stratephlush.  I  wagered  a 
kopeck  to  help  Hafiz  on  to  his  ruin. 
How  I  gloated  over  those  four  aces.  I 
saw  nothing  wrong  in  those  four  aces, 
nor  in  making  out  of  Hafiz,  the  bellows- 
mender,  all  that,  he  should  make  by 
his  trade  for  a  year.  He  saw  my 
modest  kopeck  and  said  he  would 
wager  a  dirhem  in  addition.  Exulting 
in  the  strength  of  my  four  aces,  I 
gladly  put  up  the  dirhem,  and  remark- 
ed that  such  was  my  faith  in  my  hand 
that  I  would  impoverish  him  to  the 
extent  of  ten  dirhems  more.  Hafiz — 
on  whose  head  light  curses  ! — saw  the 
ten  dirhems,  and  boosted  me  (boosted 
is  a  Persian  phrase)  one  hundred 
dirhems.  I  made  sure  that  the  four 
aces  was  not  an  optical  delusion,  and 
went  him  one  thousand  dirhems, 
which  he  saw,  and  came  back  at  me 
five  thousand  dirhems,  which,  feeling 
that  it  would  be  cruel  to  utterly  ruin 
him,  I  called  without  further  gym- 
nastics. 

Smilingly  I  laid  down  my  four  aces 
and  reached  for  the  property.  Smil- 
ingly he  put  away  my  outstretched  and 
eager  hand,  and  laid  down  beside  ray 
four  aces  his  accursed  hand,  which 
was  a  stratephlush. 

"The  property  is  mine?  "  said  he. 

"  It  is  !  "  said  I. 

riicii  T  experienced  a  feeling  of 
reniors(i.  Then  I  felt  that  drah- 
poquier  was  gambling,  and  that  gam- 


bling in  any  form  was  a  sin  of  the 
most  heinous  nature,  and  that  I  had 
been  guilty  of  a  crime. — Ecbstern  Fruit 
on  Western  Dishes,  by  Petroleum  V. 
Nashy. 


BRIBERY. 

"  I  am  afraid  your  case  is  hopeless;"^ 
said  the  lawyer  to  his  client,  "but  if 
you  insist  upon  it  I  shall  take  it  up, 
and  do  my  best  to  win  it." 

"  Say,  would  it  be  of  any  use  to- 
send  a  box  of  fine  cigars  to  the  Judge  \  " 
asked  the  client. 

"  Man  !  are  you  crazy  ?  "  said  the 
lawyer.  "  You  are  living  in  Canada^ 
and  not  in  Morocco.  If  you  did  that 
you  would  not  only  lose  your  case,  but 
be  fined  for  contempt." 

"  I  see,"  said  the  client.  "  Well^ 
you  go  ahead  anyway." 

The  lawyer  to  his  own  astonishment 
won  the  case,  and  told  his  client  that 
he  could  not  quite  understand  how  he 
had  been  so  fortunate. 

"I  do,"  said  the  client;  "didn't 
take  your  advice,  but  sent  a  box  of 
cigars  to  the  Judge  !  " 

"  What !  "  gasped  the  lawyer,  "and 
sent  your  name  with  it  \ " 

"  Oh,  no ;  I  sent  the  other  fellow's 
name." 


Teacher  —  Tommy,  where  is  the 
North  Pole  ? 

Tommy — Don't  know. 

Teacher — You  don't  know  ? 

Tommy — No'm.  If  Peary  and  Ber- 
nier  and  Nansen  and  all  those  couldn't 
find  it,  how  do  you  expect  me  to  know- 
where  it  is  ? — Inyleside. 


I  speak  what  I  think  is  truth,  but 
of  course  when  I  express  ungracious 
facts,  I  try  to  do  so  in  what  will  be 
regarded  as  not  a  nasty  manner. — 
John  Tyndall. 


656 


SECULAR   THOUGHT. 


OBEDIENCE. 

The  first  item  in  the  common-sense 
creed  is  Obedience. 

Do  your  work  with  a  whole  heart  ! 

Revolt  is  sometimes  necessary,  but 
the  man  who  mixes  revolt  and  obedi- 
ence is  doomed  to  disappoint  himself 
and  everybody  with  whom  he  has 
dealings.  To  flavor  work  with  protest 
is  to  fail  absolutely.  When  you  re- 
volt, why,  revolt — climb,  get  out,  hike, 
defy — tell  everybody  and  everything 
to  go  to  hell  1  That  disposes  of  the 
case.  You  thus  separate  yourself  en- 
tirely from  those  you  have  served — no 
one  misunderstands  you — you  have 
declared  yourself.  But  to  pretend  to 
obey,  and  yet  carry  in  your  heart  the 
spirit  of  revolt,  is  to  do  half-hearted, 
slipshod  work. 

If  revolt  and  obedience  are  equal, 
your  engine  will  stop  on  the  centre, 
and  you  benefit  nobody,  not  even 
yourself.  The  spirit  of  obedience  is 
the  controlling  impulse  of  the  recep- 
tive mind  and  the  hospitable  heart. 

There  are  boats  that  mind  the  helm 
and  boats  that  don't.  Those  that 
don't  get  holes  knocked  in  them  sooner 
or  later.  To  keep  off  the  rocks  and 
reefs,  obey  the  rndder. 

Obedience  is  not  to  slavishly  obey 
this  man  or  that,  but  it  is  that  cheer- 
ful mental  condition  which  responds 
to  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  does 
the  thing  without  back  talk — mut- 
tered or  unexpressed. 

Obedience  to  the  institution — loyal- 
ty !  The  man  who  has  not  learned  to 
obey  has  trouble  ahead  of  him  every 
step  of  the  way.  The  world  has  it  in 
for  him,  because  he  has  it  in  for  the 
world 

The  man  who  does  not  know  how 
to  receive  orders,  is  not  fit  to  issue 
them.  But  he  who  knows  how  to  exe- 
cute orders  is  preparing  the  way  to 
give  them,  and,  better  still — to  have 
them  obeyed. — The  Philistine. 


STOPPINQ  A    RAILWAY  TRAIN 
WITH  WIND. 

An  old  story  of  George  Westing- 
house  is  that  when  he  had  completed 
his  air-brake  he  took  it  to  Commodore 
Yanderbilt.  Westinghouse  was  only 
twenty-three.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
great  railroad  manager's  office,  and 
was  permitted  to  explain  his  mission 
while  the  Commodore  opened  his  mail. 
Occasionally  Mr.  Yanderbilt  uttered  a 
grunt  merely  to  signify  that  he  was 
listening  to  the  enthusiastic  recital. 
When  the  inventor  paused,  Yander- 
bilt was  ready  with  his  decision. 

"Young  man,"  he  said,  "do  I  un- 
derstand that  you  propose  to  stop  a 
train  of  cars  with  wind  1 " 

Westinghouse  admitted  that  was 
the  fact. 

"  Well,  young  man,  I  have  no  time 
to  bother  with  damn  fools,"  declared 
the  Commodore. 

(Nevertheless,  they  are  using  the 
air-brake  on  the  New  York  Central 
to-day.) 


"Well,  old  Si  Perkins,  the  feller 
who  wunst  bought  a  gold  brick,  has 
been  the  laughin'-stock  of  this  county 
fer  twenty  year,  but  his  turn  has 
come  at  last." 

"  How's  that  1 " 

"  He's  about  the  only  man  in  the 
township  that  hain't  got  a  life-insur- 
ance policy,"  —  Louisville  Courier- 
Journal. 


The  following  correspondence  recent- 
ly passed  in  the  lumber  trade  : 

Lumber  Dealer — Please  ship  me 
another  car  of  stock,  same  as  last. 

Wholesaler — Cannot  ship  anything 
until  last  car  is  paid  for. 

Lumber  Dealer — Cancel  the  order. 
Can't  wait  so  long. — Lumber  Trade 
Journal. 


/